Three generations, one balance sheet, and no written agreement about any of it.
Family businesses fail on governance far more often than on trading. We put structure and a documented understanding in place while the relationships are still good.
Dinmore Bell separates business decisions from family ones and puts a documented structure around both: shareholder and family charters, succession planning, and the commercial and employment work a family business carries alongside them. Wills, probate and estate administration are reserved activities it does not undertake.
How we own it
Governance that fits the family
A charter and a board that reflect how this family actually makes decisions, not a corporate template.
Ownership and succession
Share classes, dividend policy, entry and exit for family members, and a sequence for handover.
The commercial function
Contracts, disputes, property and cost recovery run by us, so the next generation is not learning it under pressure.
Where specialists come in
Wills, probate and estate administration are reserved activities we do not undertake. Private-client solicitors and tax advisers are instructed and coordinated.
Related results
All results →Services we run here
Related insights
All insights →What a fully loaded General Counsel actually costs
The comparison is not our fee against an hourly rate. It is our fee against the hire you would otherwise make.
Free zone or mainland: the question founders ask last
The decision is usually made by whoever incorporated first, then lived with for years.
- What does an outsourced General Counsel do for a family business?
- Separates the business decisions from the family ones and puts a structure around both — shareholder and family charters, succession planning, and the ordinary commercial and employment work that a family business carries alongside them.
- Do you deal with wills and estates?
- No. Wills, probate and estate administration are reserved activities we do not undertake. Private-client solicitors and tax advisers are instructed and coordinated by us.
- How do you handle a disagreement between family members?
- By returning to what was agreed when everyone was aligned. That is the point of a charter written in advance: it makes the disagreement a question of interpretation rather than of loyalty.