Q: Is succession planning worth it?

For many businesses finding and keeping productive advisers, administrators and technical staff is a major barrier to growth.

Building a solid recruitment and retention policy for your business as part of a corporatisation of your business will reap dividends for you and your staff, according to Tim Parsons, business transition director of Succession Advisory Services.

He said this was particularly the case if the owner is seeking to exit.

Mr Parsons said: “Any acquirer needs to see firstly, evidence that revenues are sustainable and secondly that there is seamless succession in place to ensure those revenues never miss a beat.”

Keith Richards, distribution and development director of Tenet, said succession planning was generally easier to do in a larger organisation because of the greater opportunities for development and advancement across a broad structure but the general procedures can be tailored to a company of any size.

He said: “The old adage of ‘fail to prepare, prepare to fail’ rings true and if a company has no form of succession planning then it is likely to be detrimental to business if a key staff member leaves.”