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Family Business

Family businesses are key to the local and global economy, driving the growth of private capital across the world.
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Hayden Bailey +44 (0) 20 7079 8235 View profile
Katie O’Callaghan +44 (0) 20 7079 8278 View profile
Clare Stirzaker +44 (0) 20 7079 8170 View profile

Boodle Hatfield has been a long-term strategic advisor to family businesses for generations, guiding families and their businesses to help achieve their commercial objectives. We provide a well-established private client legal practice serving some of the largest family businesses in the UK and internationally.

We are able to blend our private client advice seamlessly with our corporate and dispute expertise to help family businesses navigate the evolving private capital landscape.

With regulation around the world increasing for privately-owned businesses, corporate governance is now being balanced with the passion that drives a successful family business. Combined with an increased focus on ESG endeavours – particularly around philanthropy, and the day-to-day running of the business and managing the shareholder’s needs – a holistic approach across the family and the business is critical. Forward planning, innovative thinking and risk mitigation all executed efficiently is key.

Whether you are looking at how marriage and divorce could affect the family business, considering bringing in non-family senior executives or want to restructure your business alongside other family assets we are able to help.

Our family business group provides an all-encompassing legal service to family businesses and their shareholders, with a specific focus on legacy and succession. We specialise in providing joined up advice to both the shareholder and the business with a targeted focus on the needs of the family. We are proud of our ability to be the long-term strategic advisory partners for our clients, really understanding both their family and commercial objectives.

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A Legacy Intact: a guide to safeguarding your family business in the event of divorce

Written by Partner, Katie O’Callaghan the guide – A Legacy Intact: safeguarding your family business in the event of divorce, details the legal mechanisms that are available to family businesses to protect their assets and avoid them losing control in future. It covers pre- and post-nuptial agreements, using trusts and Family Investment Companies (‘FICs’) as vehicles for holding shares and corporate governance. These instruments can be employed to avoid the severe repercussions of divorce that in the worst case scenario can lead to the sale or transfer of shares, pensions and property. The guide highlights risks family businesses can face around loss of privacy, with the possibility of media access to financial proceedings and the measures that companies can consider to limit this exposure.

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Recommended reading

4 min read 27 Jul 2022 Boodle Hatfield publishes guide to help family businesses to survive the impact of divorce

Boodle Hatfield has today published a comprehensive legal guide to help family businesses manage the fallout of divorce. Written by Partner, Katie O’Callaghan the book – A Legacy Intact: safeguarding your family business in the event of divorce, will be distributed and made available online today, as part of the firm’s series of 300-year anniversary initiatives.

 Read more 3 min read 26 Mar 2021 Family Business: The third pillar of the UK economy

The Family Business report looks in greater depth at Britain’s Top 100 family businesses, looking at who they are, and how they are built. We reflect on how Britain can ensure these entities remain strong contributors to economic growth as we look ahead, following the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

 Read more 5 min read 15 Jun 2022 UK’s Top 100 family businesses stay strong through pandemic – turnover drops just 4% compared to UK average of 11%

In The Times, Private Wealth Partner, Hayden Bailey comments on how the top 100 family-owned businesses stay strong through pandemic compared to all UK businesses.

 Read more 5 min read 22 Nov 2021 Divorce & the family business: The lessons that can be learnt from The Archers

As the divorce storyline in the country’s favourite radio soap opera, The Archers, unfolds Family Partner, Harriet Errington highlights that the best way to ensure that family business assets are protected in the event of a divorce is to enter into a pre-nuptial agreement, which ring-fences the shares and provides alternative ways of meeting the other party’s needs.

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