Family-owned gaming firms seek growth without losing identity, congress panel hears

A panel at the XIX Congreso de Juego de Castilla y León in Soria discussed how family-owned gaming companies can adapt to new business demands while keeping their identity. The roundtable, titled "El futuro de la empresa de juego: transformar sin perder la esencia", was moderated by Ramón Cubián, director general de Suelo de the Comunidad de Madrid and delegate for the ordering and management of gambling. The speakers were Eduardo Estévez, director of Empresa Familiar Castilla y León; Mónica Palomares, general director of Grupo Cocamatic; and Pedro García, director of institutional relations, communication and corporate social responsibility and general secretary of Grupo Orenes.

The panel focused on how family companies can secure continuity at a time that requires increasingly organised and professional management structures. Participants stressed the importance of keeping the values and corporate culture that have accompanied these organisations since their origins while adopting new ways of working and making decisions. On succession, the panel said the entry of new generations involves not only taking on the functions of predecessors but also adapting the company to a reality in which responsibilities must be defined, tasks distributed and management procedures established. The discussion highlighted the need to move from models heavily dependent on individuals towards organisations with delimited functions and systems that support joint work.

According to the report, defining who takes decisions, who assumes each responsibility and how information is shared reduces dependence on individual knowledge and strengthens the company structure. Professionalising management also means bringing in specialised profiles and using talent regardless of whether a person belongs to the owning family, with the aim that each person contributes value from their function. The panel said a clear separation between ownership and professional management should be maintained when the organisation's needs require it.

Succession was described as one of the most delicate moments for any family company, requiring preparation, planning and a gradual adaptation of management methods. The panel said it is not enough to transfer the founders' model to their successors; a structure capable of responding to the new dimensions and needs of the business must be built. Participants also pointed to sharing knowledge through databases and common procedures so that relevant information stays within the organisation and does not depend exclusively on particular people, which the panel said helps preserve accumulated experience and supports continuity of activity.

The report said family companies have strengths including agility in decision-making, closeness and a consolidated corporate identity, but must also address challenges related to investment planning, the distribution of responsibilities and adapting their structures as they grow. The panel concluded that transforming a family company does not mean renouncing its origins but finding a way to preserve its identity while preparing for the future, a point the report described as particularly relevant for gaming companies, whose continuity depends both on accumulated experience and on the capacity to professionalise and adapt to new requirements.