Owners of a family business have been encouraged to seek professional advice when it comes to succession planning.
Geoffrey Todd, who is a family law specialist at London-based law firm Boodle Hatfield, has stated that handing a company down a generation is one of the biggest barriers to the survival of family businesses.
In an interview with Fresh Business Thinking, he claimed that those who get help from professionals generally outperform those who don't and are far more likely to hand their business over without it going under.
He said: "The owners of family businesses do need help in succession planning. Too often they leave it too late, which is quite understandable as it's not always easy being in business with your family.
"One issue which families struggle with is when to bring in professional management to lead the business. There is no reason why a business cannot continue to be family owned and managed with outside expertise."
According to a new report cited by business-heroes.co.uk, Todd's advice could prove useful to over nine million people in the UK - each of whom are employed by family businesses.
He added that Business Property Relief (BPR) was one of the key factors keeping family businesses running from one generation to the next.
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