When the founder of a growing company suddenly passes away, the shockwaves go far beyond the boardroom. Customers worry about continuity, employees are anxious about their future, and the family finds itself juggling grief with urgent commercial decisions.
Bereavement is a businesscritical risk, yet only a minority of UK SMEs have a formal succession plan. MakeaWill Month, which returns every March and October and in May to Rennie Grove Peace Hospice is a timely reminder that wills, shareholder agreements and digitalasset registers are just as important as insurance.
The hidden costs of inaction
- Operational paralysis. Without prior board resolutions or a power of attorney, banks can freeze accounts the moment Companies House records a director’s death. Even routine supplier payments may stall.
- Strategic drift. Key decisions—from contract renewals to product launches—become hostage to probate timelines, typically 912 months.
- Cultural fallout. A death in the ‘work family’ profoundly affects morale. Clear plans allow people to grieve, rather than panic.
What “good” looks like
- A current will: specifies guardianship, personal assets and the treatment of company shares.
- Shareholder & partnership agreements: preprice shares, define buysell triggers and prevent hostile takeovers.
- Digitalasset inventory: logins for cloud services, ERP, sourcecode repositories—securely escrowed but accessible.
- Business continuity playbook: a living document assigning interim authority and external communications protocols.
- Wellbeing programme: bereavement counselling, flexible working, and a named HR contact.
Technology’s role
At Atula we have embedded ‘corporate memory’ into each of our development contracts. To ensure continuity, every project has two project managers shadowing each other’s work as well as liaising with the development team. All access credentials are stored in a safe and encrypted location with senior members of the Atula Team.
We also have onboarding checklists that flag expiry of wills, dynamic orgcharts that surface succession lines. These automations reassure all stakeholders that resilience is bakedin, not boltedon.
Forwardplanning is not morbid—it is an act of stewardship that protects livelihoods. The question isn’t if you will need it, but when.