Family Business Week 2024
In celebration of Family Business Week, we highlight Bryony Morten-Short. Bryony is the 3rd generation member to manage Shorts Group, leading after her grandfather, David Short, who established Shorts Group in 1957. As a shining example of multi-generational entrepreneurship, we asked Bryony for her thoughts on the her unique role and what motivates her to carry on the family business.
“There is no greater sense of pride as I watch one of our trucks pass by me, for many people it is just a truck or a machine with the word “Shorts” on the side, but for me, it means so much more. Having grown up in and around our family business I, alongside my sisters, have seen the business go from strength to strength, year upon year. My goal was always to work in the company as the next generation, taking forward a vision that started with my late Grandad, David Short, 67 years ago. I am aware of the privilege that this comes with, likewise, the sacrifice, hard work, grit and determination it has taken to get us to where we are today.
For myself personally, as the third generation of our business, I live and breathe what we do all day every day. For many the thought of Waste Management, Demolition, Plant & Toilet Hire, Agriculture etc may be quite mundane – but we absolutely love what we do. We take pride in what we do, and how we do it. We are especially grateful to the team we have had around us over the years – none of this would have been possible without the dedication of so many working towards the same goals. This I believe is one of the most rewarding parts of working in a family business, and your colleagues are more like members of your extended family.
As we look to the future, I can see that a big part of our onward journey is challenging what we do to become more sustainable. The global climate is a real concern, and as a parent myself I know we all share the burden of doing our part in ensuring a future for the incoming generations. This is why it is a key focus of ours, having recently achieved our Planet Mark certification, we have committed ourselves to reducing our carbon emissions. This is alongside decisions made at a family level to look at what we can do towards our nature recovery and carbon offsetting.
I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved, and excited to see what the future holds. I will always remember my late Grandad’s favourite saying “2+2=7 – otherwise you are working for nothing’.”
