Family businesses have several distinct advantages and disadvantages. On the upside, they benefit from their owners’ common values, commitment, and loyalty. On the downside, they sometimes face issues such as family rivalry and power struggles. To maximise the unique opportunities your family business presents and minimise the risks posed by its disadvantages, you need experienced solicitors with a deep understanding of the nuances of family businesses.
At Ashton’s Legal, our family business solicitors can provide all the legal support your family owned business needs. We are noted in the Legal 500 for our ‘leading reputation in terms of experience and expertise’. Our depth of knowledge of the sectors we work in is second to none, and we are known for our ‘commercially savvy’ and ‘pragmatic’ approach (Legal 500).
Our Ipswich 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 Ipswich
For help and support with family business matters, please call our Ipswich office or use our contact form and we will be in touch.
How we can help with family business services in Ipswich
Business acquisitions and sales
The expert family business solicitors at Ashton’s are ready to help you at every step of the way if you are considering buying or selling a business.
We take an interdepartmental approach to helping our clients, so our whole team will work together in consultation with our acquisitions and disposals solicitors to provide clear and comprehensive advice. Our commercial property team, our employment team, and our disputes team are all ready to get started and can provide assistance in lots of ways, including, but not limited to:
- Conducting buyer due diligence
- Support with corporate financing
- Support to make the necessary tax considerations
- Assistance with employment matters and considerations
- Guidance on licensing and regulatory compliance matters
For more information about the ways in which we can help with your business acquisitions and sales, click here.
Business restructuring and reorganisation
Restructuring can be an effective solution if your family business is struggling financially. By streamlining your operations, it can also make the business more profitable.
Ashton’s is a member of R3, the Association of Business Recovery Professionals, and our family business solicitors include corporate lawyers who are highly ranked by the Legal 500 for their work in the area. Our corporate team works closely with our recognised insolvency law experts to devise effective restructuring strategies that achieve our client’s objectives.
Our family business solicitors in Ipswich can assist with all restructuring and reorganisation issues, including:
- Refinancing
- Restructuring strategy
- Mergers and demergers
- Capital reduction
To find out more about our business restructuring and reorganisation services, click here.
Ownership governance issues and governance documents
Clear governance structures are essential to your family business’s success. Implementing procedures that control your operations ensures transparency, integrity, and unified decision making.
Our family business solicitors in Ipswich can advise on all matters of corporate governance, including:
- Appropriate governance processes
- Drafting governance policies
- Preparing governance documentation, including articles of association and shareholders agreements for your family owned company
To find out more about our corporate governance services, please click here.
Succession and estate planning, including wills and wealth preservation
Succession planning can be a significant challenge for family business owners who are keen to avoid stirring up family rivalry and affecting morale. However, early succession planning is essential to furnish the next generation with the skills and know-how they need to move the business forward.
Our team of family business lawyers comprises of leading solicitors specialising in all areas relevant to succession planning, including tax, family, and corporate. We will work closely with you to develop a succession plan that ensures a smooth transition and safeguards your family business’s future.
Our family business solicitors in Ipswich can assist in all matters relating to succession planning, including:
- Trusts
- Business sales
- Tax
- Wills and estate planning, including powers of attorney
To find out more about how we can help with succession planning matters, please click here. To learn more about our Wills and wealth preservation services, please click here.
Protecting business from relationship breakdown, including pre-nuptial and post-nuptial arrangements
Protecting your businesses against the potential fallout from a key relationship breakdown is essential. If the relationship is a marriage or civil partnership, pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements offer a straightforward way for the parties to document what should happen to their business interests if they separate.
Our family law department is one of the region’s largest and most highly regarded. Supported by our corporate law experts, our family specialists will assess your circumstances and implement all available measures to mitigate the effects of a relationship breakdown.
To find out more about our pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreement services, please click here.
Shareholder/partner relations and commercial disputes
Commercial disputes can have a catastrophic effect on your family business. When the shareholders or partners are also family members, the potential for power struggles can increase the risk of conflict. Addressing issues as soon as they arise is vital in limiting their impact.
Our dispute resolution lawyers regularly act for family businesses involved in both internal and external disputes. We avoid litigation wherever possible, focusing instead on assisting the parties to reach a commercially workable resolution. However, if litigation is unavoidable, we will guide you through the court procedure, fighting your corner at every stage.
Our family business solicitors in Ipswich have experience in all types of commercial disputes. Our services include:
- Assessing the strength of your position
- Conducting settlement negotiations and pursuing alternative dispute resolution methods
- Representing you in litigation
To find out more about our commercial dispute resolution services, please click here.
Trust creation and administration
Trusts can assist family-owned businesses in achieving many crucial aims, including wealth preservation and succession planning. Because trusts are complicated legal structures, it’s important to seek advice from solicitors with expertise in this niche area.
Members of our trusts team consistently feature in the leading law directories, who commended us as being ‘very knowledgeable’ in the area. We are members of the Association of Tax Technicians, Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), a global professional body comprised of leading lawyers and other professionals.
Our family business solicitors in Ipswich have expertise in all areas of trusts creation and administration, including:
- Advising on trust arrangements
- Setting up a trust
- Administering a trust
- Ending a trust
To find out more about the work undertaken by our trusts team, please click here.
Commercial contracts
Contracts permeate every aspect of your commercial operations and are the basis on which you do business. Unclear contracts can cause confusion between the parties and are a leading cause of commercial disputes.
Our team of family business lawyers in Ipswich include specialist commercial contracts solicitors with vast expertise in all commercial contract issues, including:
- Consumer contracts
- Joint ventures
- Supply contracts
- Licensing agreements
- Resolving contractual disputes
To find out more about our commercial contracts work, please click here.
Property ownership and planning issues
Commercial property law covers a vast array of issues, including buying and selling premises, landlord and tenant work, and planning matters. To ensure you make the right decisions regarding your property investments and effectively mitigate any risk, you need support from specialist commercial property solicitors who can translate complex law into plain English.
Our expert commercial property solicitors understand the diverse challenges property transactions raise. We work closely with a trusted network of property professionals, including land agents and surveyors, to provide comprehensive commercial property advice to family businesses of all types and sizes.
Our family business solicitors in Ipswich advise clients on all contentious and non-contentious commercial property matters, including:
- Buying and selling property
- Managing your property and estate portfolio
- Landlord and tenant matters
- Dispute resolution
- Planning issues
To find out more about our commercial property expertise, please click here.
Employment issues and HR Consulting
People can be your family business’s greatest asset, but they can also present a significant challenge. The complex dynamics of family relationships can be tricky to manage, and impartiality can be difficult when the individuals involved are family members.
At Ashton’s, we offer a comprehensive HR service to help you navigate your family business’s employment issues. Our specialist advisors will act as your HR department, ensuring your policies are fair, transparent, and lawful. We also have a team of exceptional employment lawyers ready to provide employment law advice as and when needed.
Our family business solicitors in Ipswich have experience in all HR and employment law issues, including:
- Recruitment policy
- Disciplinary issues
- Employment contracts
- TUPE and redundancy
- Disputes
To find out more about our employment law services, please click here. For more information on our specialist HR consultancy, please click here.
Regulatory, licensing, health & safety and criminal defence
The scope of regulations faced by businesses is ever-increasing, and with it, the potential for severe enforcement action rises. Our team of specialist regulatory solicitors regularly assist family businesses in navigating the regulatory landscape, understanding their obligations, and implementing the necessary procedures. If you are under investigation, we will do everything possible to avoid disciplinary action and criminal prosecutions.
Our family business lawyers in Ipswich are experts in all regulatory law matters, including:
- Business crimes
- Planning notices
- Health and Safety Executive and Environment Agency investigations
- Trading Standards investigations
To find out more about our regulatory law expertise, please click here.
Business recovery, insolvency, and debt collection
Recovering money owed to your business is frustrating and time-consuming, and it diverts resources from your commercial operations. Our debt collection team will take over the task for you, pursuing payment by any means appropriate and protecting your cash flow.
When the entire family relies on a single income stream, financial difficulties must be addressed swiftly. Our leading corporate recovery team will work closely with you to devise a plan that allows you to trade your way out of difficulty and return to profitability. If insolvency cannot be avoided, our expert insolvency lawyers will steer you through the process and protect your family’s interests.
Our family business solicitors in Ipswich provide comprehensive debt collection, business recovery, and insolvency services, including:
- Pursuing unpaid invoices
- Restructuring advice
- Defending insolvency petitions
- Liquidations
- Administrations
To find out more about the services offered by our business recovery and insolvency teams, please click here. For information on how our debt collection services work, please click here.
Debt funding and refinancing
In the right circumstances, debt funding can provide a valuable alternative to securing investment to achieve your business objectives. Refinancing your debt allows debt management flexibility, reducing your repayment obligations and increasing capital.
Our family business solicitors in Ipswich are experts in all issues relating to debt funding and refinancing. To find out more, please click here.
Why choose our family business solicitors in Ipswich?
Our family business solicitors provide:
- A comprehensive service that provides all the legal support your family business needs
- Unparalleled sector know-how
- Commercial, pragmatic advice
- Outstanding client service
Our work is highly ranked by the leading law directories, the Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners. The Legal 500 states we are a ‘leader in the region’ that ‘punches well above its weight’. Chambers & Partners notes that we ‘work at pace’, offer ‘excellent guidance’, and provide ‘proactive status updates’ to our clients.
Our family business solicitors’ fees
We strive to provide outstanding family business advice at affordable rates. Your family business lawyer will explain our fees to you at the start of your matter and provide frequent quotes, updates and breakdowns throughout.
To find out more about our pricing, please click here.
Contact our family business solicitors in Ipswich
To find out more about how we can help your family business, you can speak to a family business lawyer in Ipswich by calling our office or completing our contact form.