Engagement model
How a succession engagement unfolds
Private firm succession is rarely a single meeting. This page outlines the stages we use for a Full Succession Engagement so owners know what to expect before papers are drafted elsewhere.
Stages
From first interviews to a handover briefing
Timelines stretch or compress with firm complexity, number of shareholders, and travel between Laura and client sites. The sequence below is the spine we keep intact.
Discovery interviews
We meet owners, key managers, and — where appropriate — family shareholders separately. The goal is to hear what each person believes is settled and what is still contested before group sessions begin.
Structure and readiness assessment
Ownership, voting, and informal authority are mapped. Leadership readiness is scored against concrete signals — client relationships, bank introductions, and staff issues already handled without the founder.
Option workshops
Facilitated sessions compare ownership paths (family transfer, management buy-in, staged sale) against the firm’s constraints. Decisions are recorded in a living decision register.
Plan drafting and review
We produce a written succession plan and handover calendar. Owners review cycles until the document matches what they will actually do — not an aspirational timeline no one believes.
Handover briefing
Nominated successors receive a briefing on authority stages, open decisions, and how the founder’s remaining role will work. Your solicitor and accountant then take the legal and tax instruments from a clearer brief.
What we ask of principals
Access to decision-makers matters more than a perfect document pack. Engagements stall when owners send papers but avoid the rooms where conflict lives. We schedule on-site time for regional firms and protect confidentiality between family members until joint sessions are agreed.
What stays with other advisors
Share sale agreements, wills, and tax structuring remain with your legal and accounting advisors. Haven Base Succession Advisory coordinates the succession narrative and decision trail those professionals need — we do not replace them.