Family Businesses

On the plus side, the passion and commitment that can come when a close-knit group of family members joins forces in pursuit of a common goal can be extremely powerful and produce extraordinary results.

But with such dynamism there can also be some associated difficulties, such as ensuring that key posts are held by the right people, and not simply handed out through patronage; ensuring that the plan for the business mirrors as closely as possible the personal plans for the family members involved; and of course perhaps the biggest – how to achieve a satisfactory eventual exit.

"You’re worth every penny"

At Dufton Kellner we are experienced in bringing that crucial objectivity into the family business; acting as an independent sounding board and, if necessary, arbitrator!

Key services that we can provide to assist family businesses include:

• Attending or even chairing your management/Board meetings to act as an independent and objective sounding board.
• Advice on systemising your business so that roles become focused on key outcomes rather than personalities.
• Implementing financial reporting systems and controls so that every individual can have access to and full confidence in your key performance numbers.
• Planning for business sale or retirement of key individuals.
• Advice on management buy out and other exit options.
• Business valuation services.
• Tax planning to ensure that funds are extracted in the most tax-efficient way and that the business continues to qualify for valuable tax reliefs such as entrepreneur’s relief and business property relief.

“Our previous accountant was a nightmare – always preparing our accounts at the last minute. Since moving to Dufton Kellner we can sleep easy at night as we know that our accounts are being dealt with way ahead of time!"