Comment: Families must adopt governance

Such is the breadth of family businesses around the world that giants such as Fiat, Wal-Mart and Michelin can be bracketed alongside the small neighbourhood bakery or cycle repair shop.

And their economic importance cannot be doubted. In the Gulf, Tharawat, a non-profit organisation, estimates that family businesses control over 90 per cent of commercial activity, and in Dubai alone there are more than 30,000 registered family concerns.

They come in all shapes and sizes: from the humble father-and-son shop to blue-chips that trace their roots back over decades, often have connections to high office and have spread themselves over a wide range of sectors.