Family businesses often benefit from a unified vision, low staff turnover, and an engaged workforce. At the same time, however, they face unique challenges, including navigating complex relationships and devising effective succession plans. To overcome these issues and ensure the continued success of your family business, you need a legal team that understands your commercial goals and knows how to realise them. That’s where we can help.
At Ashton’s Legal, we specialise in working with family businesses. Our highly-regarded solicitors’ experience covers all relevant practice areas, including corporate, employment, and property. With our deep sector know-how, we can help you take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way, tackle issues swiftly and effectively, and move your business forward.
Our team of family business solicitors regularly appears in the leading law directories, the Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners, which rank the top legal professionals in the UK. We are noted not only as ‘one of the leaders in the region’, but also as being ‘capable of matching if not besting the big London firms’.
Our Cambridge family business solicitors can help you with:
- Business acquisition or sale
- Business restructuring and reorganisation
- Ownership governance issues and governance documents
- Succession and estate planning, including wills and wealth preservation
- Protecting business from relationship breakdown, including pre-nuptial and post-nuptial arrangements
- Shareholder/partner relations and commercial disputes
- Trust creation and administration
- Commercial contracts
- Property ownership and planning issues
- Employment issues and HR Consulting
- Regulatory, licensing, health & safety and criminal defence
- Business recovery, insolvency and debt collection
- Debt funding and refinancing
Book a consultation with our family business solicitors in Cambridge
For assistance with family business matters, please contact our expert family business solicitors by calling our Cambridge office or using our contact form.
How we can help with family business services in Cambridge
Business acquisitions and sales
Should you or your family be considering buying or selling a business, we have a team of expert family business solicitors ready to advise you each step of the way.
We at Ashton’s take a comprehensive approach to every transaction. Our specialist disposals and acquisitions solicitors will consult with various departments to compile the best advice for your arrangement. On your side, you’ll have our regulatory and disputes team, our commercial property team, and our employment team.
We will assist you however we can, including, but not limited to:
- Carrying out due diligence, related to acquisitions and disposals
- Support with corporate financing matters
- Assistance with tax considerations
- Employment law matters
- Data protection
To find out more about how we can help you with business acquisitions and disposals, please click here.
Business restructuring and reorganisation
Restructuring your family business can not only help if you are facing financial difficulties but can also be useful in streamlining your commercial operations, increasing productivity, and, in turn, improving profits. Our family business solicitors include specialists in both insolvency and corporate law who will devise an effective restructuring strategy, whatever your reasons for restructuring.
Our family business solicitors in Cambridge can assist you with all restructuring and reorganisation issues, including:
- Restructuring strategy
- Mergers and demergers
- Joint ventures
- Refinancing
- Capital reduction
To learn more about how we can help you with business restructuring and reorganisation, click here.
Ownership governance issues and governance documents
Governance is the legal term for how your business is run. By implementing proper rules, procedures, and policies, you can ensure your family business is managed efficiently and promote confidence both within your organisation and externally.
Our family business solicitors in Cambridge are adept at devising practical governance policies and procedures that effectively address our client’s needs. We assist clients with all matters relating to corporate governance, including:
- Developing governance processes
- Drafting governance policies
- Preparing governance documentation, such as shareholders agreements and articles of association for your family owned company
To learn more about how we can help you with governance issues, please click here.
Succession and estate planning, including wills and wealth preservation
Succession planning is integral to your family business. It is the process by which you intend to pass your business to the next generation. Early succession planning is vital in facilitating a smooth transition.
Successful succession planning necessitates expertise in several legal practice areas, including tax, wills, and corporate. As a multi-disciplinary firm, we have specialists in all relevant disciplines who will work together to devise a succession plan that secures the long-term success of your business and safeguards your personal wealth.
Our family business solicitors in Cambridge can assist with all succession planning matters, including:
- Business sales
- Trusts
- Wills and estate planning, including powers of attorney
- Tax
To learn more about how we can help you with succession and estate planning, please click here. For information on our services relating to wills and wealth preservation, please click here.
Protecting business from relationship breakdown, including pre-nuptial and post-nuptial arrangements
The relationship between a family business’s owners can be one of its greatest strengths, but also one of its most significant weaknesses. If a key relationship ends, the business’s future may be at stake.
Pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements provide a quick and cost-effective way for business owners to state what should happen to the business should their relationship end. They significantly reduce the risk of lengthy disputes and reassure everyone involved.
Our family business solicitors have assisted countless clients in implementing measures to protect their business in case of a relationship breakdown. They will advise you on the matters you need to consider and prepare an agreement that accurately reflects your wishes and safeguards your business’s future.
To learn more about how we can help you protect your business from relationship breakdowns, including pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements, please click here.
Shareholder/partner relations and commercial disputes
Family businesses can involve a complex web of longstanding relationships, which sometimes leads to conflict. Disputes, whether between business owners or with third parties, such as suppliers, can severely affect your business. It’s important to address issues early on in order to avoid becoming embroiled in lengthy litigation. We view Court proceedings as a last resort, instead seeking commercially workable settlements that maintain the parties’ relationships and protect their business interests.
Our family business solicitors in Cambridge can assist you at all stages of a dispute, including:
- Advising on the strength of your position
- Negotiating a settlement, including through alternative dispute resolution methods
- Representing you in Court
To learn more about how we can help your family business with shareholder/partner relations and commercial disputes, please click here.
Trust creation and administration
Trusts offer family business owners many vital benefits, particularly regarding succession planning and wealth preservation. However, trusts law is notoriously complicated, so expert advice from specialist trusts lawyers like ours is crucial. We will advise you on the type of trust required to achieve your aims, set up the trust, and administer it for you.
Our family business solicitors in Cambridge are experienced in all matters of trusts law, including:
- Advising on the appropriate trust arrangement
- Setting up a trust
- Administering a trust
- Ending a trust
To learn more about how we can help you create and administer a trust, please click here.
Commercial contracts
The success of your family business depends heavily on having favourable, clearly drafted contracts with key parties like suppliers. Unclear contracts are a common cause of commercial disputes, so it’s important to work with experienced commercial contracts when negotiating and preparing contractual documentation in order to ensure clarity and avoid disagreements.
Our family business solicitors in Cambridge include specialists in contract drafting and disputes. We can assist with all commercial contract matters, including:
- Consumer contracts
- Joint ventures
- Supply contracts
- Licensing agreements
- Disputes
To learn more about how we can help you with commercial contracts, please click here.
Property ownership and planning issues
Your family business will likely require commercial property support sometime during its lifetime. Whether you intend to invest in property or rent premises from which to work, it’s essential to be aware of any risks and any planning issues that may impede your plans.
Our family business lawyers include expert commercial property solicitors whose vast experience in the property sector will ensure your transaction proceeds swiftly and that your rights are fully protected.
Our family business solicitors in Cambridge can advise you in relation to all contentious and non-contentious property issues, including:
- Buying and selling property
- Landlord and tenant matters
- Managing your property portfolio
- Planning issues
- Dispute resolution
To learn more about how we can help you with property transactions and planning issues, please click here.
Employment issues and HR Consulting
Smaller family businesses often lack the personal and expertise required to deal with HR issues. We offer a comprehensive HR consultancy service to fill that void. Our HR specialists effectively become part of your organisation and deal with the issues that come with being an employer. In addition, our team of dedicated employment lawyers can provide ad-hoc advice on all employment law issues, including unfair dismissal claims.
Our family business solicitors in Cambridge can support you with all HR and employment law matters, including:
- Drafting employment policies and contracts
- Disciplinary procedures
- Succession planning
- Redundancy
- Legal proceedings
To learn more about how we can help you with employment law issues, please click here. For more information on our HR consultancy services, please click here.
Regulatory, licensing, health & safety and criminal defence
Regulatory law is always evolving, and ensuring your business remains compliant can be time-consuming and overwhelming. However, given the potentially severe penalties for non-compliance, it’s crucial that you understand your obligations and implement policies to ensure adherence.
Our family business solicitors have particular expertise in the road transport sector, but we assist clients across all industries with regulatory law issues. We can ensure compliance, deal with potential breaches, and represent you in enforcement action.
Our family business lawyers in Cambridge support clients with all matters of regulatory law, including:
- Health and Safety Executive investigations
- Trading Standards investigations, including unfair commercial practices
- Planning notices
- Alcohol licencing, including temporary event licences
- Fraud and business crime
To learn more about how we can help you with regulatory issues, please click here.
Business recovery, insolvency, and debt collection
If your family business needs assistance in effectively recovering debt, we can help. We have a dedicated debt collection department supported by cutting-edge technology that allows us to provide a first-class service at an affordable cost.
If your family business is in financial trouble, then you need strong, decisive legal advice to help you turn things around. Our team of family business lawyers includes insolvency experts and corporate restructuring specialists who will work together to devise a strategy that enables you to trade out of your difficulties.
If insolvency is inevitable, your family business lawyer will guide and support you through the relevant processes, protecting your family’s interests at each stage.
Our family business solicitors in Cambridge are experienced in all business recovery, insolvency, and debt collection matters, including:
- Debt recovery
- Enforcing Judgments
- Restructuring options
- Liquidations
- Administrations
- Defending proceedings against directors
To learn more about how we can help you with business recovery and insolvency matters, please click here. For information on our debt collection services, please click here.
Debt funding and refinancing
When used correctly, debt funding can offer an invaluable cash source for your family business. However, you must manage your debt correctly to reap the full benefits and avoid repaying more than you need to. Refinancing allows you to consolidate your existing debt, benefit from lower interest rates, and improve cash flow.
Our family business lawyers in Cambridge can help you obtain the debt funding you need, advise you on your refinancing options, and implement an effective strategy.
To learn more about how we can help you with debt funding and refinancing, please click here.
Why choose our family business solicitors in Cambridge?
Our family business solicitors offer:
- A wealth of experience in all legal issues applicable to your business and family; the Legal 500 refers to our ‘leading reputation in terms of experience and expertise’.
- Straightforward, solutions-focused advice; the Legal 500 notes that our approach is ‘commercially savvy and pragmatic’.
- Outstanding service: we are commended by the Legal 500 as being ‘unequalled in client care’.
Our family business solicitors’ fees
Our firm policy is to provide exceptional family business advice at a reasonable cost. Your family business lawyer will ensure you understand our charges from the start of your matter and provide ongoing fee quotes and breakdowns.
To read more about our pricing, please click here.
Contact our family business solicitors in Cambridge
To find out more about our services and speak to a family business lawyer in Cambridge, you can call our office or complete our contact form, and a member of our team will be in touch.