Safeguarding the Family Business – Back to Basics Workshop Series

Back to Basics Workshop Series

Safeguarding the Family Business – Ask the Experts

Family businesses are the cornerstone of the NI economy and are often so successful because everyone involved shares the same vision and long-term goals. There’s trust, commitment and unified leadership.

But family businesses also bring challenges. If owners bring family members into the business, do they have the right skills to ensure continued success?  If a non-family member is recruited for a key role, do they share the same vision for the business and how can they integrate into the business?  Are the right structures in place to ensure effective decision making in the future?

Often family members are shareholders but are not active in the day-to-day running of the business.  How can you have appropriate reward structures in place to reward individual contribution to the business without creating conflict in the family?

CavanaghKelly have gained extensive knowledge in how to best support their clients, including those who operate as part of a family business.

This workshop will include discussions around the following key areas of focus:

• Characteristics of family businesses (benefits, challenges & conflicts)
• Tax considerations including protection of wealth and succession planning
• Legal considerations including an overview of key agreements

Experts from CavanaghKelly’s Advisory and Tax departments will look at the challenges which family businesses face and the steps which can be taken to overcome these challenges. The team will also illustrate how appropriate legal and tax planning can reduce the risk of conflict and how to develop a business strategy to ensure the continued success of the family business.

The Experts

Steven leads CavanaghKelly’s Governance, Risk and Consulting team, and is responsible for providing outsourced and co-sourced internal audit services to clients in the public and charitable sectors and consulting services to clients in the private, public, and not for profit sectors.

Steven is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, a Member of the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors, a qualified Executive coach and holds a BSc in Accounting and Economics. Steven has a wealth of experience in senior roles. Prior to joining CavanaghKelly, he established and led the internal audit and consulting section in a mid-tier accountancy practice and was also Managing Partner of the firm from 2010-2017. He also spent 12 years working in the NI Public sector (Health and Social Care), including 5 years at Chief Executive level.

Leona is a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Tax Advisor (CTA and AITI Chartered Tax Advisor (CTA)) in both Ireland and the UK. She joined CavanaghKelly in 2010 after having completed her training with PwC in Dublin.

Leona advises individuals and businesses in a wide variety of sectors in both the UK and Ireland on all aspects of taxation. She has experience in advising on corporate restructuring, incorporations, succession and Inheritance Tax planning, Research and Development, personal tax planning. She also has significant experience in personal and corporate tax compliance and in dealing with tax enquiries.

Claire joined CavanaghKelly in March 2018 and works as a Manager in our Advisory Department.

Claire qualified as a Solicitor in 2008 and has a breadth of experience having previously managed an office for a leading litigation firm in Northern Ireland. In 2011 Claire was recruited by an Australian law firm, living and working in Melbourne for over two years providing advice in relation to complex litigation matters. In 2013 Claire was awarded the Erin Brokovich Award. This award was presented to Claire by the American environmental activist who was played by Julia Roberts in the Oscar winning movie.Claire moved back to Northern Ireland in 2014 and worked as a solicitor in the disputes department of a global law firm, before joining CavanaghKelly in 2018 (as a non-practising solicitor).

At CavanaghKelly Claire specialises in corporate and employment matters. Claire also assists our forensic accounting team with the preparation of reports, for example the assessment of financial loss in personal injury and fatal accident claims, fraud, matrimonial disputes and breach of contract cases.