Succession Planning

It is never too early to start making a plan about the succession of your family business. Clear plans and communication are vital and if you have watched Roy Logan’s children jockey for position within the family empire of the HBO series ‘Succession’ we can all hope that this is an exaggeration of real life.

However, succession planning remains a significant issue for family business owners, with a range of economic and business factors placing increased emphasis on proper planning. Many find that they have left exit planning too late and do not have adequate plans in place.

Our experienced family business team, work with you through every step to ensure that the business and its owners are given the level of support and guidance that is required.

Communication

Communicating your succession plan to those affected is as important as making your plan. Just like your will, those affected should know what your wishes are. So often we assume that we know who our successors in the business will be, how they will run the business, and indeed if they are happy continuing the business. Unless the questions are asked, assumed answers are not always right. It is important that individual and business requirements are discussed and carefully considered within each personalised plan.

When to hand over?

We understand that letting go of the reigns is very difficult for family business owners who have been actively involved for many years.
Thinking about the appropriate time to pass over a business to who you wish it to go to, as opposed to a disaster such as illness or death forcing the issue, can save a lot of stress if the worst happens. All too often an untimely death has forced a sale of a business, and if only the family had a plan in advance then the sale wouldn’t have had to happen. Our approach helps to make this process as smooth as possible, with a focus on the future success of the business.

How we can help

Our team can assist in the implementation of appropriate governance, risk management and reporting systems that are designed to give business owners knowledge and security as they transition to a less hands on role. We can also assist with the recruitment and selection of key personnel and act as a sounding board to management if required.

Our succession experts can work with you to ensure security for your family, your business and yourself, whilst developing the optimum strategy for a successful succession process. There are a number of succession options available to you to ensure the value of your business is protected, including:

• Sale of business
• Generational succession
• Employee/management buy out
• Structured realisation of assets
• Public listing