Strengthening the UK business succession ecosystem
A good business should not have to close because its owner is ready to step back.
The UK already has many of the organisations, capabilities and resources that can support successful business succession, but they often encounter the issue from different parts of the system. Business Succession UK exists to understand those gaps, bring stakeholders together and explore how the ecosystem can support ownership transitions more effectively.
The gap
The pieces exist. The pathway between them is fragmented.
For an owner considering succession, the journey can involve SME networks, accountants, lawyers, finance providers, prospective successors, universities and other organisations. Considerable expertise already exists across that landscape, but it is not always easy to understand how the pieces connect, where support is missing or how owners and future owners should navigate the journey.
Why it matters
Succession is the mechanism. Economic continuity is the wider goal.
When a viable business successfully transitions to a new owner, more than the company continues. Jobs can remain in communities, customer and supplier relationships are preserved, knowledge stays productive and a new generation of owners has the opportunity to build on what already exists, offering a path to entrepreneurship.
What we are
Business Succession UK is an independent research and stakeholder-convening platform focused on strengthening the UK business succession ecosystem.
We do not begin with the assumption that the answer is another platform, programme or intermediary. We begin by understanding the ecosystem as it exists today: what already works, where gaps remain and where greater collaboration could make succession easier. Any future activity should build on what exists rather than duplicate it.
What we do
Research
Build a clearer evidence base around the barriers, gaps and opportunities shaping business succession in the UK.
Convene
Bring together business owners, SME organisations, universities, advisers, finance providers, policymakers and prospective successors who currently encounter the issue from different parts of the ecosystem.
Explore
Examine collaboratively where existing support works, where pathways remain fragmented and where new forms of coordination could strengthen the ecosystem.
Share
Share insights, frameworks and emerging practices openly so that organisations across the ecosystem can build on what is learned.
The next generation
Starting a business is not the only way to become an entrepreneur.
Universities may have an important role to play as regional gateways into business ownership: helping make acquisition a visible entrepreneurial pathway, developing relevant capabilities among future owners and connecting talent with their regional SME ecosystems. We want to explore that role together with universities, SME networks and other ecosystem actors.
Who we are engaging
Business owners
Understanding where succession becomes difficult for owners, when support is needed and how the wider ecosystem can help businesses prepare earlier.
Prospective and future owners
Exploring what prevents more capable people from considering the acquisition and stewardship of an established business as a route into entrepreneurship.
SME organisations and networks
Understanding how existing networks can support members earlier in the succession journey and connect more effectively with other parts of the ecosystem.
Universities
Exploring how universities can prepare future owners, contribute research and potentially act as regional connectors within the succession ecosystem.
Advisers and finance providers
Bringing the experience of accountants, lawyers, banks, investors and other advisers into a more joined-up understanding of the succession journey.
Public and regional institutions
Exploring how succession intersects with regional development, employment, entrepreneurship and economic continuity.
Who we are
Started at the London School of Economics (LSE), Business Succession UK is being developed collaboratively with contributors from the entrepreneurship, academic and SME ecosystems. It draws on experience across entrepreneurship, innovation, academia and ecosystem development.
Our aim is to strengthen the organisations and networks already supporting SMEs, not to compete with them. We are currently in our research and stakeholder-engagement phase, listening to the ecosystem before drawing conclusions about what may be useful.
Help shape the UK business succession ecosystem.
Business Succession UK is speaking with organisations across the ecosystem to understand where the succession journey currently works, where it breaks down and what stronger collaboration could look like.
