Succession planning: Preserving choice
Succession is sometimes treated as tomorrow’s issue.
For many businesses across the food and agribusiness sector, it is already today's.
Are you actively taking steps on succession in the ownership and/or control of your business?
Yes
No
What is the main driver behind your succession plans?
Tax and estate planning
Business resilience/continuity
Family dynamics
Planned retirement or exit from the business
Other
Governance and risk management
Talent retention
The findings reveal an interesting tension.
While 70% of businesses are actively planning for succession, tax and estate planning remains the leading driver. Tax may prompt the conversation, but a successful transition depends on much more than ownership structures alone.
Clear governance, leadership development and a well-managed transfer of ownership all play a part. Starting early can also help businesses manage family expectations, maintain continuity and avoid key decisions being forced by retirement, ill health or another trigger event.
For agricultural and landed businesses, these questions can become particularly complex because business ownership can be closely connected to land, housing, family relationships and operational control.
Succession is not solely an agricultural issue. Food manufacturers, family-owned businesses and other privately owned organisations face many of the same questions.
"While tax and estate planning are important, long-term success also depends on clear governance, a well-managed transfer of ownership and the development of future business leaders."
Lauren Parker Head of Landed Estates and Private Client Lawyer, Mills & Reeve
Creating options before they are needed
The real value of starting early is not simply completing a transfer more efficiently. It is preserving choice.
A business considering succession, while several viable options remain open, has greater scope to align tax, family dynamics, ownership and commercial objectives. Leaving those questions until a retirement, transaction or unexpected event forces them to act and can narrow those options considerably, reducing the chance of such objectives being met.
The takeaway
Succession planning should not be regarded solely as an ownership or tax exercise. Done well, it strengthens business readiness and continuity.
"One of the most interesting M&A findings is actually the focus on succession. With around seven in ten businesses already taking steps around future ownership or control, there is potentially a significant pipeline of strategic decisions ahead. Not every succession leads to a sale, of course, but for some businesses the right answer may ultimately be external investment, consolidation or a change of ownership. Starting early means owners can choose the right route rather than having circumstances choose it for them."
Craig Hodgson Corporate Partner and Joint Head of Food and Agribusiness Sector, Mills & Reeve
