The Great Survivors: Can Britain's Oldest Family Businesses Show us a New Way Forward?

From Tiptree jam and Walker’s shortbread to Barbour clothing and the brewer Shepherd Neame, some of the UK’s most trusted brands are still owned by their founding families. How have they endured—thriving for two or three centuries—when so many others have disappeared? Could it be that family-owned firms, free from the relentless demand for short-term profits, are better equipped to plan for the future than publicly traded companies?

Family businesses are the backbone of the UK economy. The...