The Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg, in collaboration with its member company IE University, is organising on Monday 16 November, from 12.30 to 14.00, the onsite conference “The partner who thinks in generations: Why some alliances with family firms last for decades, and others never begin”, to be held at the Chamber’s offices (Avenue des Arts 1-2, 9th floor, 1210 Brussels).

Some of the longest partnerships in European business are with family-owned companies. One of them, signed in Brussels in 1948 between a local family firm and a foreign carmaker, is still running today, across several generations of the family.

Yet research on US companies finds that family firms form around 20% fewer alliances than other firms, largely because potential partners find them hard to read. And a European study of nearly 1,000 alliances suggests that with family firms, trust does work that contracts cannot.

So why do some alliances with family firms last for generations, while others never start, or fall apart at the first succession? And what should each side do differently? Research offers only partial answers. The best evidence sits with the people who live these partnerships every day: entrepreneurs who run family businesses, and the executives and advisors who work with them. This event is designed to bring that experience into the room.

Stefano Orioli, Adjunct Professor at IE University and former private banker and wealth adviser to business-owning families in Europe, Latin America and Asia, will open each part of the discussion with a short case or finding, then hand the floor to participants, who are encouraged to bring one story: an alliance that lasted, or one that did not.

A light lunch will be served during the conference. The session will be held in English.

Free entrance, compulsory registration. Places are limited, with priority for members of the Chamber.