Start-ups & structurings

We work with many entrepreneurs on the establishment and development of their businesses.  Some of these are serial entrepreneurs with whom we have worked over many years while others are establishing businesses for the first time. Either way we seek to build long-term relationships so we can make a contribution to their businesses which goes beyond giving legal advice.

We guide our clients through the business structures available for their ventures. We help build relationships between those behind the business to provide a framework within which they can work, tensions can be resolved and an eventual exit achieved. 

Where funding is required, we work with our clients on the most appropriate form of funding structure to adopt. This might include grant funding, venture capital, bank finance, funding via the public markets or some of the more complex products now available. We can introduce our clients to potential sources of funding, help them to present their business in the best possible light and then negotiate commercial terms which will underpin (as opposed to hamper) their business success.

Equity incentivisation arrangements are often a crucial part of the structure of a growing business. We have experts who help our clients choose from the many possible arrangements they can adopt, then implement the chosen structure in the most tax-efficient way possible.

If the time comes for an exit, we can advise on how this can be best achieved, the steps which should be taken to prepare for the exit and the negotiation of the terms of any deal. An exit does not, however, mean the end of the relationship. Often it will give rise to the opportunity for an entrepreneur to start a new venture and the process begins again.