Rocco and Robert .
I WORRY about this Honnery. Dynasties have their place in business life — you expect to find Rothschilds at Rothschild and Hambros at Hambros, and there are enough of them to quarrel with their cousins and still staff the banks. In a family business (your own family, or someone else's) you know where you are. Forte, Hanson or GEC are not, though, family businesses. These are major public com- panies whose ownership is widely dis- persed — republics, where the succession to power may still be hereditary. Lord Forte, who remains executive chairman at the age of 82, is king of the company that has borne his name since he had Trust Houses crossed off, and his son is the crown prince. The Hon. Rocco is in his forties, has a degree and an accountancy qualification, and has come up through the company. It seems almost pointless to ask how far he would have got if he had been called Rocco Jones. Hanson as a company still behaves as if succession were a ques- tion that has yet to arise. Big, strong and ambitious enough to have set its sights on Imperial Chemical Industries, it is domin- ated by the two noble bidders, Lord Hanson and Lord White. They have con- tracts which will keep them going unto they are well into their seventies. There is no obvious successor at hand in the group. If the lords stay the course, and if the Hon. Robert trains on, he could in theory be left with a clear run. In practice, life and business are chancier than that.
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