Partnership and Shareholder Agreements

Starting a business is usually a positive experience and the people involved will generally have a high level of trust in each other.  You will have similar ambitions and expectations for your new venture and would not necessarily anticipate encountering issues between you in the future.

Many businesses continue in that manner and can be successful without any disagreement or conflict between the owners.  Due to the complexities and pressures of running a business there can often be differences between the owners which can be difficult to resolve under the pressure of the situation.

The business law department at Martin Tolhurst Solicitors is firmly in support of setting the boundaries and parameters of a business relationship at the beginning.  Before you have started trading you can see issues objectively and without the pressures of the running of the business weighing upon you.  This is the perfect time to set out the framework for your relationship so there is a clear mechanism in place for resolving any issues during the lifetime of the business.

Negotiating and entering into a partnership agreement or in the case of a company, a shareholders agreement is a perfect way to set out the manner in which your business should operate.  In the future you can refer back to the document in order to quickly and fairly resolve any issues that might arise.

These documents are also useful for setting out procedures that will be necessary in the event that one of the owners wishes to leave the business or in more unfortunate circumstances if one of the owners were to lose mental capacity or die.  In circumstances such as this it is settling to all involved to have a clear document to refer back to.

Of course it is never too late to set up an agreement like this.  Even if you are already established, the business owners can enter into an agreement provided you all agree to what will be in it.

Call our New Enquiries department on 0800 0271452 and we can arrange for you to speak with one of our business lawyers about setting up an agreement that is suitable for your business.