The British 'Personal Capitalism': Some Evidence on Ownership and Control

By analysing the ownership and control structures of 23 Scottish textile companies of national importance this article suggests some hard evidence on the extent to )holm family influence did persist, well into the second half of the twentieth century, in both ownership and control in the British economy. The majority of the companies remained priwite• even in the companies which went public, characteristics of the private company status continued to be dominant Within these organisational forms, the founding families maintained the chairmanship and/or the managing directorship for considerable periods of time continuing to appear in the boards of their businesses for longer periods. They also played a key role in financing thdr businesses in terms of either or-dinary share capital or total share capital Significantly enough, the bulk of family ownership came from family members involved in the management and therefore owner-control remained a realty for long periods.