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DOES YOUR BUSINESS HAVE A FUTURE WITHOUT YOU?

Although some years have passed since its birth, your business continues to do well — still profitable, still growing. Even in maturity it has the impetus of your original vision and the benefit of your leadership.

But for how long?

Whether the company is owned by the founder or a team of founder managers, the question remains: how to keep it independent and operating as you would like. The question is, of course, easily shelved in the day to day matters of management. To face it means recognising that sooner or later you must step away from all you have built up, not a notion that endears itself to the entrepreneur.

Successful succession

Only one third of family businesses reach the second generation, often because they have failed to manage the succession due to conflicts between different interests — personal, family, other shareholders and managers. Yet transition can be a point where a business develops with renewed vigour; and its founder can enjoy not only perpetuating its identity, but a financial reward, too.

3i with its long experience of investing in business at all stages of life, has the resources to make the management of succession happen successfully. Since we started in 1945 we have invested some £5 billion in over 10,500 businesses of almost every kind and size. Equally reassuring is the fact that we have held our investments in many of them for over 20 years. We are in no hurry to sell our shareholding. Our timescales match the needs of the owners.

Although we do not take a controlling interest or interfere, we are happy to become involved in a variety of ways that support the business, helping you to:

•improve its financial performance

•sell to existing management

•sell to new management

•restructure the shareholding

•acquire another business

•fill a management gap