Founders & owners
You have built a business, client relationships and a reputation. Allington helps founders and owners of wealth and advice firms explore their options, prepare for change and shape a transition around what matters to them.
Recognise the challenge?
The business still relies on you for key decisions and relationships. You would like to reduce that dependence, develop the next generation of leaders or step back in stages without leaving an unclear handover.
You want to understand how the firm might look to an acquirer: its proposition, recurring workload, investment arrangements and leadership capacity. You need a practical view of the questions to address before a process begins.
Your clients, team and the character of the firm are part of what you have built. You want those priorities to inform the choice of successor or buyer, the transition plan and your own involvement afterwards.
Where we can help
Succession connects strategy, investment oversight, operations, transaction readiness, technology and leadership. All six services are available to help prepare the firm and keep your options open.
Clarify your priorities and what each route would require: internal succession, an ownership transfer, an external sale or a phased reduction in your role. Identify business decisions and questions for your specialist advisers.
Review how investment decisions, provider relationships and research are documented and overseen. Clarify responsibilities so the approach can be understood and maintained as your involvement changes.
Identify client relationships, workflows and decisions concentrated around the owner. Plan delegation, knowledge transfer and capacity improvements that support continuity and give successors a clearer starting point.
Examine the proposition, service economics and operational questions a buyer may raise. Prioritise gaps in evidence or readiness, and consider the practical implications of joining another business alongside your transaction advisers.
Review management information, data ownership and how systems support the firm. Define improvements that help successors or potential buyers assess how the business works.
Assess the capabilities needed in the next leadership team. Agree decision responsibilities, transition priorities and your intended future role, with attention to client communication, team continuity and the firm’s business legacy.
These are examples of how we can help. The full service range is available to every type of firm.
Explore all six servicesWork you can put to use
We agree the outputs before work begins. Depending on your priority, an engagement could deliver:
A practical starting point
You do not need a chosen exit route or fixed date. An initial discussion can explore your priorities, how the firm depends on you and which decisions would give you greater clarity.
Discuss a first stepAn initial conversation is without obligation. Scope, timing and fees are agreed before any work begins.
An agreed review could set out your business options, the preparation each requires and the next decisions to work through.
Direct senior involvement
The practice is led by Tom Wareham, with experience across investment management, corporate strategy, risk management and governance, and team leadership.
You work directly with Tom Wareham to define the question, develop recommendations and agree any support needed to put them into practice.
Meet the practiceBefore we get started
Yes. Clarifying responsibilities, improving information and developing leadership can support several future paths. The work can help you understand your options without assuming that an external sale is the right outcome.
Here, legacy planning concerns the future of the business, its people and client relationships. Personal financial planning, estate arrangements, ownership structures and tax advice remain with your appropriately qualified advisers, with business planning coordinated where relevant.
Allington’s role focuses on business readiness, understanding buyer questions and planning the transition. Buyer sourcing, transaction negotiation and legal execution sit with your appointed transaction and legal advisers; responsibilities are agreed around your needs.
Your next conversation
Tell us what is happening in your firm and the decision you are trying to make. A few sentences are enough to start.