Family Businesses

Who will make the critical decisions on the direction of your successful family business five, ten or fifty years from now? How will ownership be structured? What can you do to make sure that the business you have nurtured and grown will continue to sustain your family in generations to come and not become a source of friction or conflict between your children or grandchildren?

For family businesses, the day to day challenges of directing a successful commercial operation are just one part of the picture. We understand that every big decision has to be right: from a commercial standpoint, but also in the wider context of the long-term interests of your family and all those within it – spouses, siblings, parents and children.  

We have worked with family businesses for decades, often over many generations. They choose us because of our ability to blend exceptional commercial expertise with top level family and private client legal advice.

Our clients draw on our expertise at critical points in their business and family lives. We have the skills to support them, whether on M&A and joint ventures, property sales or acquisitions, branding, shareholder disputes or data-protection.

They look to us equally for support as they make fundamental calls that shape the future of their business. We advise on governance and decision-making structures, succession planning, and how best to remunerate those working for the company whether family or non-family executives. We support family businesses putting in place ownership arrangements to help manage transition through the generations, and regularly help design and structure trusts and foundations, and pre-nuptial agreements that protect the interests of both spouses while retaining ownership within the family.

We understand that for family businesses, success means balancing commercial wins today, with stability and cohesion for the long term, and we are adept at creating the efficient, practical solutions you need, whatever the challenges ahead.