John Timpson, who is one of five Timpsons to have owned the family business, stated that he would rather sell the business altogether than hand the reins to someone else.
In an interview with telegraph.co.uk, he declared he would never force the business on a family member who wasn't passionate about it, but he certainly wouldn't risk watching a family business go down the drain in the hands of another household.
He said: "Last year, a business school suggested the economy would benefit if family business owners relinquished control and appointed professional managers. I couldn't disagree more, if we had to hand Timpson to an outsider I would almost certainly sell the business.
"If the university dons dig a bit deeper they will discover the X Factor that comes with family ownership - something which is clearly demonstrated by many companies where professional managers have failed to match the performance of their family based predecessors."
Timpson took a shot at Marks & Spencer, a great British business which has certainly struggled to match its past glories since relinquishing its founding family members.
According to ifamagazine.co.uk, his comments come shortly before news that rumours of an imminent takeover of M&S are "unlikely" to be true.
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