Family firms hit hard

FAMILY businesses in Ireland have been severely affected by the financial crisis, reporting a 70pc drop in profits this year.

The financial crisis has hurt Irish family firms, with more than two-thirds recording a drop in demand for their products and services, compared with 34pc globally.

A total of 84pc of Irish respondents believed the key challenge facing their business was current market conditions.

And more than half of them have decreased their capital investment compared with just a quarter (25pc) globally.

However, despite these grim findings, the family firms believed it was better to be in a family structure during such a severe downturn.