Stephen Woodhouse, partner at Pett Franklin, hosted a webinar on 1 October 2015 discussing the best approach to share schemes for a family business.

The dynamics of a family-owned company can require a different approach to share schemes and long term incentives.

On one hand there are opportunities to be had such as the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS), with its tax benefits for family businesses. But there are a number of issues to address too. For instance, who do you leave your shares to if only some of your children are involved in the business? Who will take control of the business once you decide to retire? How does providing for succession fit with wider family and estate planning?

With this in mind, this webinar covers how best to approach share schemes and financial planning for a family business, the opportunities and the pitfalls to watch out for.

Topics under discussion included:

• Defining objectives and planning for succession;
• Share Valuation;
• Enterprise Management Incentive share options;
• Growth Shares; and
• creating an internal market using an Employee Share Ownership Trust.