OWNERS of UK businesses are worried about who will take over the reins in the next generation.

A quarter of owners said management succession is a major stumbling block to future expansion. Ashortage of management ability and a general lack of skilled workers feature highly on the list of constraints. The problem is more acute in the North where four out of ten businesses-owners said that a lack of management succession was holding back business growth. The figures are published as part of the 1998 Grant Thornton Business Strategies European Business Survey. David Fuller, a partner at the Grant Thornton Crawley office, said: "Succession is a serious problem to UK businesses. Many firms do not have a suitable candidate in place while lack of management capabilities coupled with a serious nationwide shortage of skilled labour means that people are not coming up through the ranks. "Management succession is not seen as such a major stumbling block throughout the rest of Europe. Only Ireland shows a similar level of concern in this area and I think this demonstrates the unique position that family businesses have in both countries."

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