Corporate

Owner Managed Businesses

Specialist legal advice for privately-owned companies.

Owner managed business legal advice

Every company has its own unique challenges, aspirations, and goals. We recognise that, and that’s why we focus on building meaningful, long-term relationships with you. By truly understanding your business, we’re able to provide tailored legal solutions that address your specific needs.

Whether you’re starting up, securing investment, growing through organic or strategic expansion, restructuring, or preparing for an exit, having a trusted advisor by your side is crucial. We become a key part of your advisory team, helping you navigate each stage of your business journey and working closely with you to reach your goals.

Our services

We support owner managed businesses and private companies with legal advice on:

At every stage of your business journey, we provide pragmatic, commercial advice to help you achieve your goals. Our experienced team delivers seamless service across transactions, collaborating with your advisors to secure optimal outcomes. Acting as an extension of your internal team, we ensure that our guidance aligns with your strategic objectives. Recognised nationally and internationally for mid-market M&A, we focus on supporting businesses with deal values from £5m to £550m. With partner-led teams, a commitment to understanding your vision, and innovative in-house technology, we’re dedicated to providing value, certainty, and cost-effective solutions.

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We navigate lending arrangements from both sides, resolving potential conflicts between lenders and borrowers with pragmatic, commercial advice. Our team advises corporate service providers on loans and capital markets, helping them build long-lasting, workable relationships. With a focus on resolving debt finance issues and managing disputes, we balance legal, reputational, and commercial considerations to deliver practical solutions that further your strategic goals.

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Managing employment and HR complexities—such as contract policies, grievances, redundancies, and senior exits—can be challenging. We provide clear, commercial advice to help you navigate these issues and focus on driving your business forward. From proactive employment strategy to management training, we align our services with your strategic goals to minimise risks and distractions.

Our expertise extends to business immigration, helping you attract and retain international talent. We also offer pension advice, wellbeing programmes, and support with settlement agreements, ensuring you’re covered in all areas. With a focus on reducing risks like discrimination, we equip your team to handle potential issues early and effectively.

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We offer strategic legal support to help private companies effectively manage and resolve disputes. Our dedicated team provides expert guidance on mitigating reputational risks, defending against regulatory actions, and handling both claims and risk management. We specialise in interpreting and enforcing contracts, addressing fraud, navigating tender processes, and protecting intellectual property rights. With a focus on delivering clear and confident solutions, we are committed to ensuring your company’s interests are well-protected and your challenges are managed with expertise.

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Running a business today brings complex challenges, whether or not you have in-house legal support. We provide day-to-day commercial and contractual advice to streamline operations and let your team focus on strategic growth. Our experts can create custom templates for contracts, simplifying processes and enhancing efficiency.

Beyond daily support, we offer strategic advice on brand reputation, risk management, and driving cost efficiencies. Whether it’s securing your intellectual property, navigating data protection laws, or supporting competitive tenders, we provide comprehensive legal solutions that protect your interests and maximise opportunities.

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Future planning and smooth asset transitions are critical for private companies and shareholders. Our tailored tax and succession planning services deliver peace of mind while maximising wealth and minimising liabilities.

Services include drafting trusts, preparing Wills, lasting powers of attorney, and restructuring assets for optimal tax efficiency. We ensure clarity and fairness with expertly crafted partnership agreements. For complex needs, we offer guidance on family investment companies and international tax, with expertise in French, Spanish, Italian regulations, and shariah-compliant planning.

Handling probate matters, deputyships, and Court of Protection issues with precision, our multi-lingual team is ready to address global legal challenges through a trusted international network.

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We provide tailored real estate services for private company owners, offering expert advice on residential properties, real estate investments, and agricultural land.

Whether buying, selling, or leasing, our team ensures smooth residential property transactions, handling everything from contract negotiations to due diligence. For real estate investments, we offer strategic guidance and support in navigating the legal and financial complexities. Specialised expertise in agricultural land allows us to deliver customized solutions that align with your specific goals.

For commercial properties, we manage every aspect from lease management to tenant relations, ensuring your real estate portfolio is optimised for maximum value. Our team also offers comprehensive support for buying and selling commercial properties, with a focus on due diligence and contract negotiation. Expert advice on landlord-tenant relationships, new subsidy schemes, and environmental considerations ensures that your agricultural assets are managed and maximised effectively.

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Navigating relationships as a business owner can intertwine personal wealth, property ownership, and business assets with family dynamics, leading to complex financial and legal challenges. Whether you need prenuptial or postnuptial agreements, or guidance through a divorce or relationship breakdown, clear, actionable legal advice is essential.

We focus on achieving your objectives constructively, exploring alternative dispute resolution methods like mediation or collaborative law before considering litigation. Understanding the importance of empathetic support during challenging times, we prioritize building strong relationships with our clients to offer tailored and effective assistance

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We provide expert legal support for private companies looking to establish and manage charitable foundations. Our team works closely with you to align your philanthropic goals with your corporate mission, offering tailored strategies for maximum impact and compliance.

Our services include establishing foundations with comprehensive legal support, from drafting governing documents to securing tax-exempt status. We also offer ongoing guidance on governance, compliance, and reporting, ensuring transparency and effectiveness. Additionally, we assist with developing grantmaking strategies, impact investing, and forming strategic partnerships to enhance your foundation’s reach and impact.

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Why choose Foot Anstey?

We know that the complexities of managing risk, structuring for efficiencies and achieving potential means that each piece of work needs to be tailored to every client, so that we can understand what value means for you and provide commercial solutions that are actionable.

That is why we take a collaborative approach with clients and their other advisors to invest in and develop a relationship and service that works for you, co-designing a service and a package that’s relevant to your situation, your ideas and your ambitions.

We invest time and integrate with our clients to get to know you, we welcome conversations about your ideas, ideas that let us see your ambitions, ensuring that you are fully supported in achieving them. By being more than about pure transactions, we can support any entrepreneurial private companies in every sector and every industry.

Our people

With extensive experience across a range of industries, we offer the expertise needed to meet your legal challenges head-on and leverage opportunities. Your satisfaction is our priority, and we aim to exceed your expectations by delivering practical solutions that drive results.

Meet our team

Key contacts

What do our clients say?

“Foot Anstey has depth of experience and a wide bandwidth of staff. The team have deep experience; they quickly understand the issues and provide solutions and are responsive.”

Chambers UK 2025

“Foot Anstey are pragmatic and explain things well and clearly to enable us to make the best decisions.”

Chambers UK 2025

“(Foot Anstey’s) depth of knowledge and commercial application to transactions is market leading.”

Legal 500 2025

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