--- title: Business Succession Planning UK | Stratworth Advisory url: https://www.stratworthadvisory.com/succession-planning/ description: Succession planning for UK family and management transitions. Prepare your successors, protect what you have built and step back on your own terms. last_updated: 2026-10-08 publisher: Stratworth Advisory Ltd --- Services · Succession planning # Succession planning for *family and management transitions* Passing a business on is as much about people as it is about ownership. We help you prepare your successors, protect what you have built and step back on your own terms, whether the business passes to your family or to the team that helped you build it. [Take the free Readiness Assessment](https://www.stratworthadvisory.com/readiness-assessment/) [Book a Founder Conversation with Nik](https://www.stratworthadvisory.com/contact/) Who it is for ## For founders thinking about *who comes next* Succession planning is for founders who want the business to continue, and to thrive, after them. It suits founders who: - hope to pass the business to the next generation of their family - have managers who could lead, and perhaps one day own, the business - would rather step back gradually than leave in a single move - care what happens to their people, clients and name after they go - have not yet had the conversations that succession will need Weighing a sale as well? [Exit planning](https://www.stratworthadvisory.com/exit-planning/) covers every route out, and the preparation overlaps. Stepping back ## Succession happens in stages, *not in a day* The founders who hand on well usually start years before the transfer, moving through each stage deliberately while their successors grow into the space they leave. 1. 01 ### Founder at the centre You run the business and make the key decisions. 2. 02 ### Leading through others A second tier runs the day to day; you set the direction. 3. 03 ### Owner, not operator Your successors lead; you hold ownership and advise. 4. 04 ### Handing on Ownership passes, to family or to your team, on terms you planned. ### Family or management: two different paths #### Family succession **Who takes over**: Children or other family members, as owners, leaders or both. **What makes it work**: A successor who is willing, capable and accepted by the team. **Common tensions**: Fairness between family members inside and outside the business, and keeping family and business roles apart. **How it is paid for**: Often a gift or a gradual transfer rather than a sale at full value. Take tax advice early. **What to start now**: Open conversations, a development path for the successor and a realistic timetable. #### Management succession **Who takes over**: One or more senior managers, sometimes alongside an outside investor. **What makes it work**: A capable, committed team with the appetite to own the business. **Common tensions**: Agreeing a price with people you have worked alongside, and their ability to fund it. **How it is paid for**: Typically a mix of the managers’ own money, outside finance and payments to you over time. **What to start now**: Developing the team, and understanding early how a buyout might be funded. **Two other routes.** Ownership can pass to employees, often through an employee ownership trust, which can suit founders who want the business to stay independent; the [Employee Ownership Association](https://employeeownership.co.uk/) explains the model. Or you can keep ownership while a successor runs the business, with ownership passing later, or not at all. Our guide to [family succession, MBOs and other exit routes](https://www.stratworthadvisory.com/insights/exit-routes-explained/) compares them all, and our guides to [management buyouts](https://www.stratworthadvisory.com/insights/management-buyout-explained/) and [exit planning vs succession planning](https://www.stratworthadvisory.com/insights/exit-planning-vs-succession-planning/) go deeper. Tax and succession Succession can have Inheritance Tax as well as Capital Gains Tax consequences. We do not give tax advice: take advice from your tax adviser early. GOV.UK’s pages on [Business Relief for Inheritance Tax](https://www.gov.uk/business-relief-inheritance-tax) and [Capital Gains Tax for business](https://www.gov.uk/capital-gains-tax-businesses) are useful starting points. The questions succession planning answers ## Two sides of *the same handover* Succession is a conversation with two sides. None of these questions has a formula; each has a better answer when there is time to think it through. 1. The founder asks Who could lead the business after me, and are they ready? 2. Your successor asks What would I need to learn first, and how much room will I be given to learn it? 3. The founder asks Should ownership and leadership pass together, or separately? 4. Your successor asks Could we fund a buyout, and what would it involve? 5. The founder asks How do I treat family members fairly, both inside and outside the business? 6. Your successor asks Will I have the authority to lead, or only the title? And what will the founder’s role be afterwards? The question you share How much time do we need, and where do we start? It is the first thing we answer together, and the reason to start early. What the work involves ## Four steps to *a planned handover* Each step makes the next one easier, and each is worth doing even if the transfer is years away. 1. ### Clarify what you want Your goals for the business, for your family and for yourself, and the timescale you have in mind. [Vision & Value](https://www.stratworthadvisory.com/scale2sell/vision-value/) is where the plan starts. 2. ### Assess your successors Who could lead, what they need to develop, and where the gaps in depth and cover are. It is the heart of [Team & Leadership](https://www.stratworthadvisory.com/scale2sell/team-leadership/). 3. ### Build the bench Developing leaders, handing over responsibility and putting in [systems that run without you](https://www.stratworthadvisory.com/scale2sell/operational-efficiency/). Our guide to [reducing owner dependency](https://www.stratworthadvisory.com/insights/reduce-owner-dependency/) covers the practical steps. 4. ### Plan the transfer The route, the timing and the advisers you will need, with tax and legal advice taken early. Why Nik ## An exit in stages, *from experience* Nik’s own exits were not all a single moment. In 2010 he exited Pure Recycling’s operating and land-owning entities to Kier PLC, but kept its commodities arm and ran it as Mission Recycling until 2018. He understands that stepping back is rarely a single moment. It is a sequence of decisions about people, ownership and your own role, and it goes better when each one is made deliberately. 1. 2010Exit 3Pure Recycling’s operating and land-owning entities exited to Kier PLC 2. 2018Kept and runIts commodities arm, run as Mission Recycling until 2018 [Read Nik’s story](https://www.stratworthadvisory.com/about-nik/) How the plans fit ## Where succession sits *in the plans* Succession and legacy planning for family or management exits is part of Bespoke. The groundwork, a stronger team and a business that depends less on you, can start on any plan. ### Essentials £495/month Build the foundations early: the toolkits, monthly scoring and one 45-minute call a month focused on team and systems. [About Essentials](https://www.stratworthadvisory.com/plans/#essentials) ### Advisory+ £1,250/month Two 60-minute calls a month, an exit pathway review and deeper valuation mapping, useful when a management buyout is one option. [About Advisory+](https://www.stratworthadvisory.com/plans/#advisory-plus) ### Exit Programme £2,250/month Up to three hours a month, an exit roadmap updated each quarter and a Strategy Day a year to bring your successors into the plan. [About the Exit Programme](https://www.stratworthadvisory.com/plans/#exit-programme) Includes succession and legacy planning ### Bespoke From£5,500/month Succession and legacy planning for family or management exits, up to six hours of advisory support a month and a quarterly Strategy Day. [How to apply](https://www.stratworthadvisory.com/discovery-session/) Every plan, including Bespoke, begins with the [Founder Discovery Session](https://www.stratworthadvisory.com/discovery-session/) (£500): twelve short questions, then about 60 to 75 minutes with Nik, who recommends the right plan. A [Founder Strategy Day](https://www.stratworthadvisory.com/strategy-day/) (£3,500) can bring your successors and senior team into the conversation. [Compare plans](https://www.stratworthadvisory.com/plans/) Questions ## Succession planning, *briefly* Short answers to common questions about handing a business on. The full FAQ covers plans, the Vault and more. [All questions](https://www.stratworthadvisory.com/faq/) When should succession planning start? As early as you can. Developing a successor, whether a family member or a manager, takes time, and so does making the business less dependent on you. Starting early also leaves room to change course if your first plan does not work out. Can you help with family conversations? We can help you plan them: what needs deciding, in what order and with whom. The decisions remain yours and your family’s. Where legal or tax questions arise, your solicitor and tax adviser should be involved. Do you arrange funding for a management buyout? No. We help you and your team prepare, so the business and the plan are ready for the conversations a buyout involves. We do not raise finance or introduce funders. How is succession planning different from exit planning? They overlap. Exit planning covers every route out; succession planning focuses on handing the business on to family or to your own team. Many founders need both, and SCALE2SELL® covers both. Your starting point ## Plan the handover *while you still have the choice* Start with the complimentary Readiness Assessment, then [book a complimentary Founder Conversation with Nik](https://www.stratworthadvisory.com/contact/) to talk it through. [Take the free Readiness Assessment](https://www.stratworthadvisory.com/readiness-assessment/) [Book a Founder Conversation with Nik](https://www.stratworthadvisory.com/contact/) --- Stratworth Advisory Ltd. Registered in England and Wales, company number 16078743. Registered office: Avon View Offices, 90 High Street, Bidford-on-Avon, Alcester, England, B50 4AF. ICO registration number ZB932222. Stratworth Advisory provides strategic business guidance only and does not offer regulated financial, legal or investment advice. Clients should seek independent professional advice where appropriate. Contact: nik@stratworthadvisory.com. Book a complimentary Founder Conversation: https://www.stratworthadvisory.com/contact/