Accountants for Family Owned Businesses
Advice and Support for Family Owned Businesses
For family enterprises turning over £1m plus, the threats aren’t always headline grabbing.
They’re often the slow, creeping problems that quietly erode value, relationships and your future options.
Yet family owned businesses have advantages over even their largest competitors.
We specialise in helping family owned businesses recognise their unique risks and opportunities. Then we work closely with you to put practical solutions in place, so your business and your family can thrive for generations.
The Challenges and Opportunities
There’s something very special about running a family business, a distinct set of dynamics you don’t see in run-of-the-mill businesses.
Family businesses work differently. The relationships that hold them together are often the same ones that can pull them apart.
Nobody wants to upset their husband or wife, brother or sister. So the difficult conversations get put off, sometimes for years.
When it works, there’s nothing better than building something with people you love and trust. But even the closest families can fall out when you take your eye off the personal dynamics.
And when someone finally raises the issue everyone has been avoiding, feelings can boil over. The loyalty that makes a family business strong can become its weak spot.
Bringing the next generation in adds another layer. It’s hard to manage the people you love, and just as hard to be managed by them.
Meet James, the Head of our Family Businesses Unit
James Marchant, director and Head of our Family Business unit
Meet James, the Head of our Family Businesses Unit
James Marchant, director and Head of our Family Business unit
The Challenges and Opportunities
There’s something very special about running a family business, a distinct set of dynamics you don’t see in run-of-the-mill businesses.
Family businesses work differently. The relationships that hold them together are often the same ones that can pull them apart.
Nobody wants to upset their husband or wife, brother or sister. So the difficult conversations get put off, sometimes for years.
When it works, there’s nothing better than building something with people you love and trust. But even the closest families can fall out when you take your eye off the personal dynamics.
And when someone finally raises the issue everyone has been avoiding, feelings can boil over. The loyalty that makes a family business strong can become its weak spot.
Bringing the next generation in adds another layer. It’s hard to manage the people you love, and just as hard to be managed by them.
Issues that can drain your family business
Some of the unique challenges facing family-owned businesses.
Growth
Stagnation disguised as stability
Many family businesses confuse comfortable turnover for strategic success.
When growth becomes optional, competitors, inflation and market shifts chip away at value.
Relationships
Family dynamics disrupting performance
Personal loyalty can trump business logic.
Promotions, pay, and difficult conversations become emotional battlegrounds.
Talent
Attracting and retaining non-family team members
Non-family team members can feel excluded.
Opaque salaries, limited opportunities and a family-first culture can lead to your best people leaving.
Efficiency
Doing things the way they've always been done
Processes that worked at £500,000 can become costly at £5 million.
Manual systems, duplicated effort, and informal reporting hide inefficiency until it becomes painful.
Wealth
Confusing business value with personal wealth
Many owners have most of their net worth tied to the business.
A poor remuneration strategy, limited pensions and no exit plan can leave them exposed.
Succession
Deciding who takes the reins and when
Succession planning is intensely personal.
Without a clear agreed plan, founders fear losing legacy, the next generation faces uncertainty, and the business becomes vulnerable.
How we help family businesses
We start with the family's ambitions, then make sure the numbers, the structure and the protection are in place to deliver them.
Clear numbers you can act on
Accounts, tax and regular profit and cash-flow reporting, plus fair, tax-efficient pay for family members.
Family and business together
A sounding board for the tricky questions about roles, pay and who decides so they get talked through early and shareholder agreements, with your solicitor.
Planning for the next generation
Succession planning, business valuation, and helping the next generation build the commercial skills to lead.
Protecting what you've built
Inheritance tax and estate planning, wealth outside the business, and cover if a key person falls ill or dies.
Expect More
We believe you should expect more than the "basics" from your accountant.
Your accountant is in a unique position to help you and your family business.
They know you and your numbers, but do they know your ambitions and hopes for the future?
Advisory support can feel like a big investment, which is why we include a foundational level of advice as standard with more available for businesses ready to go further. If you're frustrated with your progress, WayPoint offers an affordable way to help you reach your potential. And for those ready to push forward, our Transformational Advisory Service is the gold standard, designed to get you where you need to be.
"The shareholder value movement has been a catastrophe in business.
The only healthy thing in business is a customer value movement, which is why family-owned businesses do disproportionately better, live longer, and have better brands than PLCs."
Rory SutherlandVice Chairman of Ogilvy UK, and co-founder of the agency's behavioral science practice
Identify your priorities with our Family Business Health Check
Not sure which issue is most urgent? Our five-minute Health Check highlights your strengths, uncovers hidden risks and gives you a tailored summary.
Then book a no-fee Family Business Review, and we'll walk through your results with you and agree the one priority that matters most.
Complete your Health Check now and get a tailored report with next steps.
What happens next?
If you would like to find out how we can help, let's talk.
Get in touch
Click on a button below to call us now, arrange for us to call you back or send us an email.
Get a time in your diary
We'll arrange a convenient time to sit down with you and find out what you are trying to achieve.
Get the ball rolling
Assuming we think we can help and you're happy to proceed, we are up and running together.
Phone
Address
Market House,10 Market Walk, Saffron Walden, Essex, CB10 1JZ
Hours
9:00 AM - 5:30 PM