Autumn Budget 2026: What the latest rumours mean for you and your business
With the Budget approaching, the difficult part is not finding predictions. It is deciding which developments deserve attention and which headlines should not drive a financial decision. Chancellor John Healey is due to deliver the Budget on Wednesday 28 October. For individuals, business owners and families planning succession, our view is straightforward: understand your exposure, […]
Vendor-Funded Management Buyouts: A Practical Exit Route for Business Owners
For some owners, the most natural buyers are already running the company. A management buyout (MBO) can preserve culture and continuity, but management may not have enough cash to fund the full purchase price. Vendor funding can bridge that gap. Vendor funding is also commonly used in a vendor-initiated management buyout, often called a VIMBO. […]
Pre-Transaction Structure Reviews: Why Preparing Your Business Before a Sale Matters
A buyer may want your business without wanting everything currently sitting inside the company or group. Over time, businesses accumulate property, investments, surplus cash, historic subsidiaries, separate divisions and other assets that may not form part of a future sale. A pre-transaction structure review identifies those issues before a buyer’s timetable limits the options. What […]
Business Property Relief: What Business Owners Need to Know About Inheritance Tax
For many owners, the family business is their largest asset. Business Property Relief (BPR), now commonly referred to as Business Relief, can significantly reduce the Inheritance Tax exposure on qualifying business interests. However, the rules changed materially from 6 April 2026. What does Business Relief do? Relief can apply to qualifying unlisted trading company shares, […]
When Business Property Relief Does Not Apply: Investment Assets, Property Companies and Surplus Cash
A company can be a genuine trading business and still contain value that does not qualify for Business Property Relief. In other cases, investment activities can become so significant that the company itself falls outside the relief. The distinction is especially important following the April 2026 changes. Two different tests First, is the business itself […]
Family Investment Companies: Using a Company to Manage and Pass on Family Wealth
A Family Investment Company (FIC) can provide a long-term structure for families who want to invest wealth, begin passing economic value to the next generation and retain control over how the assets are managed. It is not a tax-free wrapper, and its benefits depend heavily on the ownership, funding and investment strategy. How a FIC […]
Non-Residence Planning: What Leaving the UK Can Mean for Your Tax Position
Moving overseas can materially change the UK tax position of business owners, investors and internationally mobile families. Genuine non-residence can affect foreign income, investment gains, a future business sale and, over time, the Inheritance Tax treatment of overseas assets. But simply moving abroad does not switch off UK tax. When are you actually non-UK resident? […]
Family Business Succession: Protecting Shares, Control and Wealth Across Generations
Passing shares to the next generation is only the start of family-business succession planning. The more difficult question is what happens to those shares afterwards — on death, divorce, a shareholder leaving the business or ownership eventually passing to grandchildren. Keeping shares within the family Robust articles can restrict transfers outside the family and require […]
Structuring the Consideration on a Business Sale: Why How You Are Paid Matters
When selling a business, the headline price is only part of the story. A £10 million offer might be paid through cash, loan notes, rollover shares, an earn-out or a combination of all four. The form of consideration can materially change the timing of tax, the risk retained by the seller and the value ultimately […]
Selling to Private Equity: Key Tax Considerations for Business Owners and Management
A private equity sale often looks very different from a straightforward cash exit. Sellers may receive cash, roll part of their value into the new structure, remain involved in management and acquire additional ‘sweet equity’. Understanding how each element works is important before the commercial terms are fixed. Rollover equity Private equity investors commonly ask […]