New research results from business and financial adviser Grant Thornton show that younger UK SMEs have different attitudes to their businesses than their older counterparts.

Grant Thornton's European Business Survey (EBS), now in its tenth year, found that SMEs under ten-years-old are far less family-oriented than those which have been in business for over a decade.

Less than half (40 per cent) of the younger firms in the UK regard themselves as family businesses, compared to nearly two thirds (58 per cent) of older firms. And just five per cent of younger businesses expect to hand on their ventures within the family, against the 22 per cent of older firms who may do

A more fundamental shift in business attitude indicates that the younger firms are more open to allocating business stakes to outside investors and management executives. The younger firms are less likely to have family members as shareholders (19 per cent), compared to the 43 per cent of older firms who do.

Younger businesses are less likely to have private individuals as shareholders (20 per cent vs 27 per cent for older firms), and to have management executives as shareholders (25 per cent against 26 per cent).

Business constraints are broadly the same for both younger and older firms, sharing concerns about the cost of finance, shortages of orders and skilled labour, domestic legislation and taxes, and accessing new

markets.

However, older firms have stronger concerns about the future of their business than their younger counterparts. 27 per cent of older firms feel that management succession is one of the long-term constraints on their ability to expand the company, compared to 18 per cent of younger firms.

Darryl Whitehead, partner at Grant Thornton's Solent office said:

"Younger firms clearly aspire to build capital for their owners more quickly than in the past, rather than building the traditional 'family' business to hand on to the next generation. They are therefore more open to outside finance and outside shareholding if that will help achieve their goal. These interesting changes in emotional response mean no less need for smaller firms to address the many issues and challenges they will face - regardless of whether they are family businesses or not."