Business owners

Having worked hard to establish and develop a successful business, entrepreneurs are often concerned with the need to balance their commercial and personal aspirations, protecting and maximising the value of their business and their wealth.  Sometimes, it can prove a difficult balancing act, but with the right support and advice, it can be achieved.

The specialist business owners’ team at Speechly Bircham brings together experts who are used to advising businesses and individuals to provide a truly integrated service.  Our specific aim is to ensure both the commercial and private interests of the owners are fully protected.

We recognise that the needs of businesses and the individuals behind them alter as the business develops and personal circumstances change. We work hard to build strong, long lasting relationships with our clients, so that we can support them through periods of transition.  This may include when the interests of founding shareholders differ; management and ownership is passed down one or more generations or even outside the family; or when additional investors are introduced.

During these periods of transition, we are particularly adept in advising on the ownership, tax and governance issues. We understand how to make the most of these opportunities and to address the inevitable pitfalls and tensions that can arise.

With successful businesses, no two scenarios will be the same. But the experience we have gained and the integrated approach that we adopt when advising clients mean that we will provide solutions that are commercial, client focused and, most importantly, secure the interests of the different stakeholders in the business.

Some examples of ways we have helped business owners recently, include:

• Latin American family
  Advised on and implemented a major trust and corporate group reorganisation for a multi-billion dollar industrialist family with manufacturing and retail businesses throughout the Americas. The reorganisation was prompted by a need to accommodate changes in US tax and reporting rules for the benefit of US family members and a need to establish family governance procedures to allow for orderly ownership exits by family members of this family now in its 3rd and 4th generation of business ownership.

• UK entrepreneur
  Advised the shareholders of a technology business on a capital reorganisation to effect capital gains tax and inheritance tax savings and on the £40m sale of the business, achieving significant tax savings and wealth protection for the owners.

• UK manufacturing company
  Advised on a dispute between the shareholders as to the management of the company, and on the resulting settlement which included the sale of shares from one shareholder to another. 

• Major UK family
  Advised several generations of a family which owns around £2bn of mixed-use property. For the company, we have recently advised on equity and debt restructurings, property and construction matters, contractual disputes as well as employment issues and management incentivisation. The company is owned by around 20 family members and their trusts, for whom we provide wealth protection and succession planning advice. This integrated commercial and personal advice has helped preserve the family’s wealth for more than 150 years.

• Greek family
  Advised wealthy family, whose involvement in the shipping industry can be traced back over 150 years, on the establishment of a £50m private family investment business.