Finish Big by Bo Burlingham — Why the Best Exits Start Eight Years Early

by johnireland | Articles

Most business books about selling a company are written for people who want the highest number. Finish Big is written for people who want to be able to live with themselves afterwards, and that makes it a far more useful book for anyone thinking about succession. Bo...

Property Trust or Will: Which Protects More?

by | Articles

A rental portfolio, family home or share in a business can represent decades of work. Yet many people rely on a will alone without asking whether it gives their family enough protection. The choice between a property trust or will is not simply about paperwork. It is...

Care Fees Asset Protection: What Really Works

by | Articles

A family home, a buy-to-let portfolio or a business built over decades can feel vulnerable when the prospect of long-term care enters the conversation. Care fees asset protection is not about hiding wealth or making last-minute gifts. Done properly, it is about...

What Happens to Your Business the Day You Die: Bank Accounts, Payroll and Contracts

by johnireland | Articles

Most business owners have thought about who gets the shares if something happens to them. Far fewer have thought about what happens on the Monday morning after. Who can pay the wages? Who can sign the cheques? Can the business even trade while probate is sorted out?...

Book Review: Never Split the Difference — What a Hostage Negotiator Can Teach You About Selling Up, Falling Out, and Talking Money With Family

by johnireland | Articles

Every so often a book lands on our desk that has nothing to do with wills, trusts or inheritance tax, and yet ends up shaping half our client conversations that month. Chris Voss’s Never Split the Difference is one of them. Voss spent over two decades as an FBI...

The Always-On Phone: Why Being Permanently Reachable Is Costing You More Than You Think

by johnireland | Articles

I have spent thirty years sitting with families after someone has died, helping them make sense of what was left behind. Time and again, the people I meet are not just grieving a parent or a partner. They are grieving someone who never quite switched off. A business...