Britain's oldest family firm: Royal responsibility

The newest entrant into Britain's most closely held family firm has a tough initiation on the cards. Even if she has been a special invitee on the board for some years — that included dining rights — taking office as a joint managing director , reporting formally to the CEO-designate and the chairman, will be a daunting task.

For, along with the perks of accommodation , entertainment allowances and foreign travel comes the burden of a constant cost-benefit analysis conducted by the media.

The smallest of wrong decisions can have far-reaching effects as it is a private firm with very public businesses where sentiment plays a huge role in determining valuations. So, while disseminating information about the concerns and workings of the company is not imperative, it is often more politic.

Of course, her experience in her own fairly new family firm, which adroitly turned a kitchen-table idea into a successful business , should also stand her in good stead as she gears up to jointly steer a 1,000-year old conglomerate in a new millennium.

Provided she is brave enough to speak up, given her previous experience she may be the best person to persuade the board (whose members also hold majority shares in the firm) to open up to new ideas before the market forces them to, as has happened before. But at the same time, she also has to reassure the longstanding members that she will not try to change the basic nature of the business or make any moves to go public.

The experience the firm had of several earlier joint ventures has made them very chary of those who come into the boardroom by mergers. She has the unequivocal support of at least one member of the firm — the one who got her the job on the board in the first place — so she may be more successful in her new role than her predecessors.