Meet the Family Business Advisers

Tax Adviser & Accountant

The joy of my job stems from my fascination with business in all its forms and with working with great people whose lives are shaped and supported by those businesses.

For me, it’s personal. The key is engaging closely with such a wide variety of interesting business people, all contributing their efforts, knowledge and talents in very different ways.

These clients are the wealth generators in the ‘engine room’ of the wider economy upon which we all depend. I see it as a special privilege to be able to help them to plan and manage their affairs. We professionals play our part in creating prosperity, too, by being an important part of their profit making and profit retention strategies.

Tax planning enables me to make a significant difference to the financial lives of my clients (and their dependants). Taxation is an area which is diverse, complicated and full of opportunities (and risks which need to be addressed). It suits my mind and skill set to become absorbed in these challenges on their behalf.

Within my overall role as Tax Partner I work in tax planning across all areas of the UK fiscal code although, arguably, my particular strengths lie in succession planning, company reorganisations, acquisitions, disposals, estate management and Inheritance Tax planning, and methods of extracting value tax-efficiently from privately-owned business.

I have been Tax Partner here at Jackson Stephen LLP since 2002, having qualified with one of the big firms back in 1988.

Outside the office, I am in my sixth season coaching a junior football squad in a South Manchester League, three sessions a week. Furthermore, with three kids in years 9, 11 and 13 at school, it’s a joy to be kept very busy on the family and domestic fronts, too.

If you would like to chat find out a bit more about us then contact us.

Lawyer & Business Adviser

Owner, Managing Partner of, and Business Growth adviser, at MLP Law Ltd. Proud to lead a fantastic group of people focussed on delivering great service. Expert advice is a given. The firm has recently strengthened and widened its Legal 500 accreditations - another fantastic achievement.

My background is as a specialist business lawyer focused on identifying and delivering success for businesses, business people and successful private individuals. Amongst others, I am:
- Legal 500 listed
- Expert Business Growth consultant taking good businesses to great businesses
- an experienced UK and EU lawyer advising businesses on doing business in the UK and in Europe
- an accredited Family Business Adviser (STEP 2012) and Family Business Succession expert
- an Intellectual Property expert
- a keen runner and hill climber

Recent work includes:
- Implementation of a Family Succession plan that included an MBO to 3rd generation family members
- The sale of a substantial Technology company
- Resolving a complex £multi-million shareholder dispute
- Sale of a niche IT business in under 2 weeks
- Restructuring a significant provider of healthcare services
- advising hi tech business on how to protect their ideas and IP rights

Specialities: Business Growth, Family Business Succession, Exit strategies, Shareholder and Investor Agreements and disputes, hi-tech and IT companies, Professional Practices and disputes, healthcare, complex company, commercial, partnership and employment law issues, Intellectual Property, Corporate Finance, Mergers and Acquisitions, Corporate Restructuring, UK and EU Law, and Brexit.

If you would like to chat find out a bit more about us then contact us.

Financial Planner

The majority of my clients are business people who are in the process of building or have already built a successful business. I see my role as helping them to achieve three things:

- To identify their long-term financial objectives, which generally speaking means working towards a sale of their business, then into retirement and ultimately passing on their wealth to the next generation, as tax efficiently as possible.
- To put in place a financial plan designed to help then achieve those objectives, by using any existing financial arrangements they have, but also identifying additional action needed.
- To underpin this where necessary with protection, to ensure that illness or incapacity doesn’t adversely affect their plans.

As a Chartered Financial Planner, governed by a strict code of ethics, my clients have the comfort of knowing that they can expect the highest level of professionalism. However, despite the often technical nature of our industry, my clients tell me that I have a great way of making complicated subjects understandable.

Outside of work I enjoy family life, looking after a wide variety of pets, horse riding, Karate and the gym.

If you would like to chat find out a bit more about us then contact us.

Business Broker

I have a mission to help client's get their business working for them. As a Certified Value Builder (the first in Europe) we work with business owners to give them freedom from their business. Our aim is to provide a choice of exits, whether that be an outright sale, passing the business onto the next generation of their family or onto a new management team.

Having brokered business sales and acquisitions since 2005, I understand what make a business valuable and have guided many families through the exit process, providing clear and honest advice to achieve the best outcome for them and their family.

With a background as Finance Director of a high growth family owned PLC and various positions within HSBC (Corporate, Credit and Risk and Retail) I have seen and solved many of the pains that family businesses face. This experience allows me to provide clients with a fresh outlook on their business and guide them through managing growth and cash flows as well as that key period of transition, whether it be to the next generation or to brand new owners.

Outside of work Alex and I are bringing up 2 children, now scarily verging on adulthood, and I play an active role in village life as my local community has been and is important to us as a family. For relaxation I play squash and golf (well at least I try!).

If you would like to chat find out a bit more about us then contact us.