Owner Managed Businesses
Charlotte Hamilton, Alanah Lenten
December 2025
A note from the editors:
This edition is packed with insights and ideas for the year ahead. From decoding the UK Government’s SME Growth Strategy to understanding the realities of rent reviews, we’ve got practical guidance for businesses ready to scale. We also dive into topics that spark conversation, from why pre-nups are smart business planning to the rise of Hyrox and what it teaches us about building global communities. We’re proud to feature voices from across the entrepreneurial landscape, including Jonny Grubin of SoPost on beauty-tech trends and Ansor on what makes the perfect acquisition target. Plus, we tackle issues that matter now: cybersecurity at board level, festive season etiquette, and the latest on director verification requirements.
Our goal remains the same: to equip you with clarity and confidence in a fast-changing world. The Fineprint exists to help you navigate complexity, challenge convention, and uncover opportunities where others might not look. If this edition sparks ideas or questions, we’d love to hear from you. Feedback is always welcome.
– Charlotte Hamilton and Alanah Lenten
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In this edition
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UK SME Growth Strategy: What Founders and Business Leaders Need to Know
In August, the UK Government published the SME Growth Strategy, a crucial policy outlining reforms to drive growth and innovation across the SME sector. Harshita Samani explains how businesses can interpret and implement the reforms to position themselves effectively to thrive as the strategy unfolds, including a checklist of what you should consider.
SAVE THE DATE: Clicks to Bricks: The Journey from URL to IRL
On Thursday 26 February 2026 we’re bringing ambitious brands, scale‑ups, and Flourish friends together for an evening in London of networking and insight. We’ll dive into three key themes with seasoned professionals:
- Getting Noticed – Building campaigns that make retailers take you seriously.
- Getting Stocked – A founder’s story of landing shelves at Boots and Harrods.
- Getting Keys – Knowing when to move from online to bricks‑and‑mortar stores.
Want to attend? Register your interest here
If you have any questions about the above event please contact Alanah Lenten.
Taylor Swift’s Engagement and Why Business Owners Need a Pre-nup Too
With Swift’s billion-dollar empire built on music, branding and intellectual property, a prenup isn’t just smart, its essential. Similarly for business owners and founders, a prenup can protect everything that you’ve built. Annabel Andreou unpacks exactly what a prenup is, debunks common myths, and shares practical tips for business owners.
What Jaguar Land Rover Cyberattack Can Teach Founders About Resilience
When Jaguar Land Rover was hit by a cyberattack production lines stopped. And the cost? A staggering £485 million. High-profile cyberattacks like JLR dominate headlines, but the reality is that breaches aren’t just a big business problem. Dominic Holden breaks down the practical steps that every business leader should take to prepare.
Selling-Up and Scaling-Up: What investors look for in SMEs
We partnered with our long-standing client Ansor, a professional investment business, to uncover what they look for when investing in SMEs and what founders should consider to prepare their business for the next stage of growth.
Lawrence Stephens Announces the Launch of LS Private
Have you just had an exit event? Lawrence Stephens has launched LS Private, a multi-family office platform for entrepreneurs and wealth creators. Led by John Russo, LS Private offers governance, oversight, and operational support to protect capital, simplify decisions, and align advisers and assets—delivering stronger structures and swift solutions for complex issues. If you have any questions on LS Private, please contact Alanah Lenten.
The UK Budget: What is the Impact for Founders?
Have you seen the Autumn Budget’s impact on founders? From rising employment costs and frozen tax thresholds to new opportunities with EMI and EIS, Leigh Sayliss breaks down what every owner-managed business needs to know. Discover the changes, challenges, and silver linings.
Lawrence Stephens Announces the Launch of Flourish: Legal Advice for Start-Ups
We know the early years of a business can be the most challenging and the most exciting.
That’s why we’ve launched Flourish, our tailored legal support programme exclusively for early-stage, UK businesses. Flourish offers:
- Fixed-price legal support
- Significant discounts on our standard fees for two years
- Quarterly sessions with a legal mentor
- Access to our events and community of founders, funders, and advisors
or get in touch with Alanah Lenten if you have any questions.
Upward-Only Rent Reviews Banned: What Business Owners Need to Know
In a move designed to support small businesses and revitalise high streets, upward-only rent reviews are now banned in new commercial leases in the UK. Louisa Hartley and Sophia Dixon explain what this means for your next lease and provide key tips on how to negotiate.
Off-Duty, On Your Radar: Why Employee Misconduct Outside Work Still Matters
Missteps witnessed by clients, colleagues, or cameras out-of-hours can very quickly become your businesses’ problem – we all saw what resulted from the Coldplay kiss cam. Emma Cocker explains what employers need to know, covering when disciplinary action is justified, to how to set clear expectations for your team.
The Business of Sweat: How HYROX Built a Global Fitness Phenomenon
HYROX launched as an ambitious idea between two fitness enthusiasts. Today, it’s a global fitness phenomenon. HYROX represents a masterclass in legal, logistical, and commercial strategy, and its rise offers lessons every entrepreneur can learn from. Andy Wallis tells HYROX’s story and breaks down takeaways for business leaders.
Lashes, Lipstick, Legal: The Business Considerations Behind Beauty Trends
Beauty is a £30.4 billion industry—and it’s evolving fast. Charlotte Hamilton joined Jonathan Grubin, CEO of SoPost—a UK leader in digital product sampling campaigns—to explore the latest beauty trends. Jonny shared what’s trending in the beauty industry, and we examined the legal and commercial considerations behind these developments.
