When my husband and I first decided to work together, to tell the truth, we faced quite polarised reactions. Some people could never imagine working with their own partner! But others didn’t blink an eye – it made so much sense, given how many family businesses there are in the UK. Over 5m, in fact, according to the latest research.

But as we spoke to companies and thought more about our own family’s experiences – my dad’s family ran a travel business for many years, and my aunt recently sold her cycling enterprise – we realised that many family businesses face a key issue. What happens when the owner(s) want to retire, but there isn’t a clear succession plan within the family? What if the only buyers out there are funds driven by short-term financial incentives, or trade buyers that would subsume the business into a larger entity and risk losing its core identity? 

We know that legacies matter. When something is your life project, you don’t want its culture and identity to disappear when you eventually take a step back. You want to trust that the buyer will preserve your business’ legacy: looking after employees, taking care of customer relationships, and maintaining the culture that is so unique to family-run businesses. 

That’s why we founded Norte Partners: a family team, with our North Star mission (“Norte”, in Spanish) to invest in the legacies of small businesses. We’re not hands-off investors – we’re fully involved day to day, bringing the diverse skills we’ve gained from our professional experience and our amazing team of partners, making sure the business has the best opportunity to grow and succeed in the long run. 

And since we’re a family ourselves, we place family values at the heart of everything we do. Here’s a glimpse into what that really means for us in practice:

• We value the collective before the individual.
• We respect people’s time.
• We are authentic and human.
• We work with the upmost honesty and transparency. 
• We mess up sometimes! But we create a warm, safe environment for learning, and continually look to grow and be the best team we can be.

So what’s next? If any of this resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. We’re on the lookout for the best family-run UK SMEs, looking to sell to a team that will preserve their legacy.  So if you’re a family business owner thinking about your next steps, or an advisor helping them do so, please do reach out. 

We’ll also be sharing thoughts, insights, and learnings along the way, so please do follow along for the journey!