Protect Valuable Assets from Business Risks

We can assist in this process by assisting in assessing risk and then advising on introducing appropriate mitigation:

Robust Financial Management

• Undertaking a voluntary or statutory audit as, both, a preventative and detective measure.
• Introducing appropriate financial controls, timely financial reporting procedures and other examples of best practice governance.
• Registering for the Companies House PROOF secure online submission system, to reduce the risk of being a victim of corporate identity fraud.
• Converting higher risk property and equity investments into lower risk asset types.
• Diversifying bank accounts and other assets, to spread your risk exposure and maximise the protection given by government backed investor protection schemes.
• Offering cost health checks, to keep control over your key spends.
• Undertaking competent tax compliance, to make sure you self assess the correct (minimum) amount of tax, declared and paid correctly before the appropriate deadline. This will minimise the risk of any back-taxes being identified through a future HMRC tax enquiry, records check or control visit.
• Protecting your data behind robust a robust IT infrastructure.

Insurance

• Offering tax investigation insurance, to protect against the professional fees that would become payable from defending a claim for back-taxes from HMRC, arising after a tax investigation.
• Advising on and offering appropriate stakeholder protection (life and keyman insurance) cover.

Corporate Finance Restructuring

• ‘Wrapping’ a limited liability company or LLP structure around a high risk commercial activity,
• Creating appropriate trusts and transferring wealth into these (perhaps before full succession to the next generation).
• Establishing a group structure, to ‘ring fence’ the commercial risk into a separate subsidiary, away from valuable assets held within the parent company.
• Holding valuable business assets, such as the tools of the trade, premises, cash and intellectual property in personal (or partnership) ownership.
• Transferring trading premises to a self administered pension scheme.

Legals/Contracts

• Having a succession plan, to cover retirement of key individuals or other planned ‘exit’.
• Amending the company’s Articles of Association to amend the default company law rules on pre-emption rights, share transfers, tag along and drag along provisions, etc.
• Advising in relation to creating appropriate shareholder/partnership agreements.
• Making sure the Wills of key individuals are consistent with such agreements.
• Introducing best practice HR documentation and processes.

Disclaimer - All information in this post was correct at time of writing.