ABSTRACT
In Britain as elsewhere wealth and job creation benefit from a thriving small-firm sector, notably in services. This chapter reports on four small, founder-managed UK firms offering various industrial and commercial services. Here ‘emergence’ simply means coming from obscurity, achieving legitimacy via stability in trading patterns, however fragile. The firms are controlled and, except in one case, largely owned by their chief executive (CEO) founders. They are typical small firms, having limited resources but a wide range of practical skills.
