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Family Business Services

Whatever sector you operate in, your family business will be unique – shaped by your family’s dynamics and aims as much as the work you do. We always take that into account, while we help you build your business and secure your future. 

Contact Feargal McCormack

  • Feargal McCormack
    Meet the team

    The team

  • Energy. Agriculture. Fishing. Business Services. Food & Drink, Hospitality, Technology. Industrial. Transport. Media. Facilities Management. Construction & Property. Manufacturing & Engineering. 

    Who we can help

  • Business Advisory Services. Corporate Tax. M&A Advisory. Private Client. Trust Planning. Succession Planning. Wealth Management. 

    How we can help

UNDERSTANDING YOU AND YOUR GOALS

With well over 30 years’ experience of advising family businesses, we know the importance of taking the time to listen to you and your management team and to thoroughly understand your business. We will be driven by your goals, for you and those you care about, and we’ll work with you to make that vision a reality. 

We know what keeps family businesses awake at night and we’ll give you peace of mind that we have it covered. Using our experience to share best practice and provide the right support when it’s needed, we engage with other advisors and our network of family businesses to connect people who can help each other.  

HOW WE’LL SUPPORT YOU

Family businesses play an important role in the UK economy and our dedicated Family Business Team will provide a comprehensive range of services to support yours. These include the usual business advisory services, such as accounting, tax, VAT and strategic planning, plus those relevant to family-owned businesses such as trust and estate planning, inheritance tax and wealth management.

Consequently, you benefit from a service that seamlessly addresses both family and business issues, such as aligning trust advice with succession planning. Should we need to bring in additional expertise, for example regarding tax for members of your family living abroad, we can simply turn to our International Team. All the family and business support you need is available within AAB.

MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR FAMILY BUSINESS

Many of the family businesses we advise are well-established, but we also support those that start a new enterprise or spin-out a new entity from their existing one. We work hand in hand with these ventures through their full lifecycle, from initial start-up advice to choosing the most tax-efficient routes for withdrawing profits, through succession planning to exit. 

You might also consider growing your family business by acquiring another one. Again, our full mergers and acquisitions expertise will be ready to help. All these services and more are available to you at any stage, with our proactive planning and paying close attention to tax compliance and other crucial aspects. 

MANAGING FAMILY DYNAMICS

It’s not always possible to separate family and business priorities, so as well as supporting on financial aspects, we provide objective and independent advice when it’s needed. By building long-lasting relationships, we are better placed to help our clients address challenges and have difficult conversations, helping to manage conflicts and find solutions, always advising with empathy. We look at the wider picture too, helping our clients to be responsible businesses for their clients and communities.  

 

PROUD MEMBERS OF FAMILY BUSINESS UNITED

Our team keeps up to date on best practice for family businesses by engaging with industry forums and undertaking training. We are also active members of Family Business United, providing insights and advice to their members throughout the year. We see our role as being the advisors you always turn to for the most constructive and equitable advice. We take pride in helping our clients grow their businesses and strive to be their trusted advisor. 

  • The close relationship we have with key AAB team members who demonstrate a clear understanding of our farming business needs and an in-depth knowledge of our family affairs is reflected in the advice and support they continually provide.

    Mathers Family of A.R. Mathers & Sons

  • AAB have acted as tax advisers to our family and businesses for over 23 years and as a result have an in-depth knowledge of the goals and aspirations of each one of us both personally and for our businesses.

    McIntosh Family of McIntosh Plant Hire (Aberdeen) Limited

  • We were delighted to have the support from our Corporate Finance partner AAB on the largest acquisition the Donaldson Group has completed to date. The collaborative support, drive and expert advice from AAB enabled us to complete the acquisition.

    Arlene Cairns, James Donaldson & Sons

  • I was particularly impressed by AAB’s appreciation of the strategic importance of the deal. Additionally, the AAB team quickly understood the very complex structure of the target and were pivotal in advising on how best to approach this.

    Ross Baxter, Harbro Limited

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