Mercer & Hole’s ongoing tax seminar programme continues to provide business owners, families and advisers with practical guidance on some of the most important financial and strategic decisions they face. 

Family Investment Companies seminar 

In May our Milton Keynes office welcomed attendees to a seminar focused on Family Investment Companies (FICs). Led by our Tax Partners  Jacqui Lawman and Mark Baxter, the session explored the evolving role of FICs in tax, wealth and family succession planning, how families are using these structures in practice, and the importance of a joined-up approach between legal, tax, accounting and financial advisers. 

 Management Buyouts seminar 

Building on the success of this event, the series continued in June with a seminar on management buyouts (MBOs).  

MBOs can be an attractive option for both business owners and management teams when addressing succession.  It can offer an exit strategy for the owners whilst giving the existing management team the opportunity to have equity participation and to continue to grow a business which they know well and have already invested significant time and effort in. 

During the session, Jacqui Lawman, Mark Baxter and Head of Transaction Services Tania Phillips shared practical insights informed by real-world experience gained from advising businesses and management teams through successful MBO transactions. 

Upcoming tax seminar: Share Options and Employee Ownership  

Following a Summer break, the next instalment of our seminar series will be focusing on share options and employee ownership. Mark Baxter and Jacqui Lawman will be covering the key types of UK share option plans available to incentivise and retain key individuals within a business and how these can work to support business growth and exit plans and the key tax reliefs for individuals and companies connected with these. 

They will also touch on the tax implications of direct share awards and briefly discuss indirect ownership via employee ownership trusts (EOTs). 

Hear from Mark Baxter on our seminar series: 

“We have been really pleased with the feedback received so far and it is clear that the seminars have struck a chord with the attendees. There is significant research to support a strong correlation between equity participation for employees and staff engagement and retention. Our next seminar therefore focuses on this key area and the valuable tax reliefs that can apply.” 

The details of the event are as follows: 

Date: Tuesday 22 September 20026 

Timings: 8.30am – 10.00am 

Arrival for breakfast and networking, seminar to start at 8:30am 

Venue: Mercer & Hole, The Pinnacle, 170 Midsummer Boulevard, Milton Keynes, MK9 1BP 

Click here to register your place by Tuesday 8 September 2026. We look forward to seeing you there! 

If you have missed any of the previous seminars, or cannot make it on 22 September, don’t worry as we will be running these seminars later in the year in and around our other office locations  

Our seminars aim to offer an opportunity to gain valuable knowledge from experts and to ask questions in an informal setting. If there are any particular topics on which you’d like our team of experts to host a seminar, please do get in touch to let us know.