Family business consulting

The relationship between a family and its business is one you don’t find anywhere else. And it has a unique set of challenges.

We offer personal advice to business owners, and also services to the business itself, as part of a cohesive strategy. We help create structures and processes to overcome challenges – while reflecting a client’s culture, values and goals.

Balancing shareholder and family education, communication and governance can be tough for family businesses. Succession and continuity planning can be stressful too.

How we can help

We can help your business address concerns and priorities from all parties, including business owner managers, family or trustee shareholders and non-family managers, then work with the business to put plans in place.

We can be involved as much or as little as you like – but we’ll always tailor our approach to give personal service focused on achieving your goals and reaching new financial heights. We can even come along to family and board meetings. So you can get on with what you do best – running your business.

Our experience

Our previous work in this area includes:

helping a family business avoid conflict by creating a family council to oversee business operations. We negotiated and drafted the terms of a family charter to give them a structure for decision-making.
helping a client protect his family business before non-family members exercised their options, including bespoke articles of association, shareholders’ agreements and new employment contracts
putting arrangements in place to manage a business if the shareholder was to die, while making sure their family would still benefit from the full value of the shares
giving advice on the structure of a group of family companies to make sure shareholdings qualified for 100% business property relief for inheritance tax purposes

Did you know?

Recognition

Our lawyers are highly regarded and regularly feature in the top bands of the legal directories.

High value

We've advised private clients with well over £3 billion of assets between them.

Diverse

Our clients are drawn from a variety of sectors including sport, media, business and investment.

What our clients say about us

“They are perfect in their role as advisers. The technical competence is there but they also demonstrate so much empathy and understanding; it is the soft skills that make all the difference.”

Chief Executive

A family office client

“The ability to explain complex structures and planning in a language that clients understand.”

Legal 500

“They are highly efficient. There is clearly excellent internal communication. Their knowledge and experience in the high net worth sector is second to none.”

Chambers UK

Our clients

Some of our clients include:

the owners of a manufacturing business with global operations
a first-generation tech entrepreneur in the early stages of creating dynastic family wealth
a UK-resident non-domiciled family with very large property investment holdings

Our lawyers

Our team of expert lawyers are armed with the latest know-how in how to help family businesses achieve long-term goals and put structures in place for future generations.