
Owner managed businesses account for approximately 70% of all companies in the United Kingdom yet only about 25% survive the transition to the second generation and less than 15% to the third. Failure to plan for family succession is the primary cause for this scenario.
Consequently upon retirement of the existing family members the new generation of owners are totally unprepared or unsuited to assuming the responsibility of management and ownership. As a result, a viable business often enters into decline and the value with it. Effective succession planning will minimise the potential threat to a business arising from the inevitable change in management and, or ownership.