The great wealth transfer: from founders to future leaders
By Kieran Duffy, client director, Heligan Wealth Management
The UK is entering a defining period of financial change. Over the next 30 years, an estimated £5.5–£7 trillion of personal and business wealth will pass between generations. For owner-managed businesses, a significant portion of that wealth is tied into privately held companies that have driven local employment, innovation and growth for decades. Nowhere is this truer than in the Midlands.
As the first generation of entrepreneurial founders approaches retirement, the decisions they make around succession will determine not only the future of their companies, but the financial well-being of their families. The transition from business creator to wealth custodian is both an opportunity and a risk — and it requires more than operational continuity.
It demands the transfer of capital, governance, purpose and financial capability.
Why the financial dynamics have changed
The wealth contained in private businesses has grown rapidly over the past 20 years due to:
But the path from business value to family wealth is rarely straightforward. Founders often have:
In the past, entrepreneurs could rely on generous inheritance reliefs to preserve business value within the family. Upcoming changes will significantly alter those assumptions. The financial strategy that underpins succession is now as critical as the leadership handover itself.
Preparing for the shift from business wealth to investment wealth
Owners face an important evolution in their lifetime. As they scale back involvement in the business, their wealth shifts from being concentrated in a single enterprise to a diversified portfolio. This raises three questions that every founder should be able to answer:
Answering these questions early creates flexibility. Delay reduces options and increases tax leakage.
Many families are also exploring partial exits — selling a percentage of shares to bring liquidity into the personal balance sheet, while retaining control. Others pursue phased handovers to children or management, supported by business restructuring to separate trading and investment assets.
Every route requires coordination between corporate finance, tax planning, lawyers and wealth management professionals.
Integrating the next generation into financial stewardship
Where succession planning fails, it is often due to a lack of preparation for the responsibilities that accompany wealth — not the wealth itself. Families that navigate financial transition effectively typically:
Leadership succession and financial succession are not the same, but they must run in parallel.
Governance that protects value
Once wealth transitions from business ownership to personal assets, the financial risks change:
Good governance ensures continuity in these new conditions.
This can take the form of investment committees, family councils, or clear shareholder frameworks that prevent the erosion of value through rushed decision-making or fragmented interests.
The role of professional advisors in the new era of family capital
The scale of the coming wealth transfer requires advisors with capability across:
Increasingly, families are recognising the value of advisors who can bridge the point of transition — from the corporate transaction to the stewardship of the proceeds. It is a shift from managing a business to managing a legacy.
A coordinated approach reduces friction, avoids duplication of advice and ensures one strategy is driving both commercial and personal outcomes.
Priorities for business-owning families
The most successful transitions tend to follow five principles:
Begin with financial clarity
Understand current business value, liquidity timelines and tax exposure
Build a diversified wealth plan
Identify the right balance of income, growth and risk for life after exit
Formalise governance
Documented structures avoid disputes and enforce discipline
Prepare successors early
Capability must match control at the point of handover
Review regularly
Succession planning is not a one-time project
A decision point for Midlands entrepreneurs
The Great Wealth Transfer is a historic moment. For Midlands business families in particular, it will reshape the region’s economic landscape. Some will evolve into multi-generational family investment groups with professionalised wealth oversight. Others may see value dissipate through tax, disagreements or poor timing.
There is no avoiding the transition — only choosing whether it is strategic or reactive.
Founders have an opportunity to determine how their success story continues. Structured planning ensures that the value they worked so hard to build becomes a foundation for future family prosperity, not an inherited challenge.
The right decisions, made early and supported by experienced, joined-up advisory relationships, will define whether that wealth endures.
Heligan Wealth Management is a trading name of Hay Hill Wealth Management Ltd, authorised and regulated by the FCA.
