Not that Eamonn Quinn is particularly looking to outdo his father Feargal ­ he's more interested in ensuring that Superquinn makes it into its third generation. "Family businesses don't tend to last through to the second and third generations too well," he says. "They don't have a good track record ­ only about 5% make it." Although it's probably a little premature for the third generation to worry about manning the checkouts just yet, Quinn and his family are keen to ensure that their's is an enduring business: "We've attended courses on how to run a family firm and, since then, have put more structure into the business. My view is that we should be thinking now about the sort of issues that can cause problems rather than waiting until we have a problem and ending up in a panic later down the line." The 38-year-old father of three currently holds the titles of marketing director and deputy chairman, although he remains coy about whether he'll take over from his father. Nothing is certain, he says, adding that he's not even sure if his father will ever actually step down: "I think he's following the Ken Morrison view of management and planning to stay there until he's 100." Superquinn was founded by Feargal in 1960 and has since evolved into a chain of 19 stores and nine shopping centres. "I grew up in the company," says Quinn. "I claim that my first pay packet was when I was ten for collecting trolleys at Christmas, but a lot's changed since then ­ especially the policies on underage employment!" Throughout his childhood Quinn would spend school holidays working for his father, which gave him a good understanding of the family business. However, his experiences as a youngster were not limited exclusively to Superquinn. "When I went to university I spent one summer working for the Ralph's Grocery company in California as a meat cutter. It was very interesting to compare the types of business. They had 24-hour opening and it amazed me that their stores were never as busy as ours." Another summer he found himself working in Atlantic City ­ at an Irish bar. "It was an experience because it was the first time I'd had to find a job on my own. I think the voice and the accent helped and the tips were certainly good, but it was embarrassing coming home and saying I went all the way to America and ended up working in an Irish pub!" Bartending aside, Quinn's experience has not been limited just to the grocery retail trade.After leaving university he started work as a pension fund manager. "My father always said we should have some outside experience before we even considered joining the company ­ if, in fact, that's what we wanted to do. There was certainly no pressure to come in." He adds: "I didn't find the work very exciting initially but, once I realised I would be investing lots of other people's money, it became a little more interesting." However, Quinn quickly moved onto a bank and found the work more inspiring. "I was going out and meeting all the companies in Dublin, so you had a 23-year-old interviewing, or interrogating, the financial controllers and chief executives of some of Ireland's leading companies." Despite his success in the world of finance, the pull of the family business remained strong. "After a few years I decided I had to make a decision. Was I going to stay with the bank or would I go into the business? I had learned quite a lot about how other companies worked and I thought I could bring something to the business." His experiences at the bank also added to his passion to keep the business in the family. "Dealing with the pressures under which public companies have to operate has probably strengthened my resolve that, if at all possible, we should keep the business private." According to Quinn, while a public company provides the discipline of having to account for everything, it also means you are constantly looking at the short term for results. "There's a huge pressure to meet those short term objectives, but family companies can, fortunately, afford to take a longer term view of the business." He returned to the family fold at an interesting time because Superquinn, which had about 12 stores in 1986, was just about to expand again. But, despite being the boss's son, he wasn't allowed to simply waltz into a directorship. "I started as a shelf-filler," reveals Quinn. "We have more sophisticated titles for people nowadays, like assistant duty manager and duty manager but, in those days, you were a number three, a number four or a number nothing. I effectively started as one of the packing crew and moved around the company." This lowly position gave him a good grounding in the company and he quickly progressed through the ranks before taking over as manager of one of the stores which, initially, he found a big challenge. "Education doesn't prepare you for management and I think we certainly equip people better nowadays, but at the time I got through it somehow." After two years working in store, Quinn moved up again, joining the company's operations group, or Monday Morning Table as it's known. He was given responsibility for category management which proved to be a difficult task at the time. "We were a decentralised company and the store manager was very much king of his own palace. This meant we had to convince the managers that this was the right thing to do and explain the reasons for doing it. I think the philosophy of the company is that we get a better job done when people believe in what they're doing." Since those days, Quinn says the company has become much more disciplined but that the managers still have a fair amount of leeway. "We consider them to have the freedom to do better, but not worse. We set goals and objectives and we continually encourage managers to come up with ideas and suggestions." Quinn has now moved into his present role of marketing director while his younger brother Stephen has taken over the duties of category management. The company is certainly a family business in all senses, with other relatives sitting on the board. But does this make life more difficult? Quinn admits that, in some ways, it does. "It's probably tougher working alongside relatives. My father works very hard to separate business and family, but you always have to remember that you have different roles as a family member and executive member, and it's hard work being aware of that. It is definitely more complicated." However, he says it does help that the family is close. "We do all get on and not everyone is involved in the business. I have a sister in New York who works as a fashion designer and another brother who's studying to be an accountant and we've kind of joked about that ­ it's a bit of a death in the family!" All the Quinn clan, whether hands-on or not, retain some form of interest in the company and, when it comes to day-to-day operations, being related does not prove a barrier. "The business is run, I believe, very professionally and it tends to work more by consensus than strict authority. It's very rare that the chief executive uses his power and we normally claim he lost the argument if he has to do that. There's a phrase that we use ­ IOTFC' which means I own the ******* company'. It's a bit like a joker or a wild card and it doesn't come out very often!" Being a family company also means that it's your name above the door, which is something that can work in your favour ­ as long as you're getting things right. "Customers will see you in the shop and give you feedback or they'll write in. So you're more personally accountable to them. The idea that they can speak to somebody who actually owns the business can be very powerful as they know they're getting to the source." A good example is the reputation the company has forged for itself in food safety. It's one of the leading innovators, introducing initiatives such as DNA tracing which means any piece of beef can be tracked back to the source. "It's not just a marketing strategy or gimmick. We live in the community, our name's over the door and it's on the product. I think that's very strong and plenty of people would say they trust Superquinn. Of course it could be a weakness if you start to misbehave!" Despite his conscientious attitude and close family ties at work, Quinn does have interests outside the office; his daughter is keen for them to get into horse riding, and he does have one burning ambition this year. "I had planned to do a triathlon, but a week later I had to go into hospital for an operation on my knee from an old skiing injury. I'm still keen to do it ­ the swimming and cycling shouldn't be too hard, but I'm not really looking forward to the running!" Injuries aside, much like his attitude to business, you can be sure he'll go that extra mile. n {{PROFILE }}