Corporate
Our experienced corporate team has a broad range of expertise that can help you and your company step by step. From turning your idea into a company, structuring your business, growing through investment and incentivising employees, we have a team with strength and depth to ensure you are supported in a commercial and effective manner with clear straight-forward advice.
Incorporating and setting up a company
Turning an idea into a company can be daunting. You should consider your intellectual property and how to ensure this is properly protected within a company structure, through IP assignments from yourself and any co-founders. You should also think about a company name and share structure but DON’T PANIC, these can both be changed in the future.
Company structure
You should consider the shareholding structure for your company, particularly if you have co-founders or are considering offering equity to early stage employees.
As well as percentage of ownership, you may wish your company to have different types of shares and different rights. These are governed by articles of association, a set of rules all company’s are required to have in one form or another and, potentially, a shareholders’ agreement.
Both articles and shareholders’ agreements can be complicated and are usually very detailed. Ensure you completely understand any rights and restrictions on you, your business and other co-founders.
Receiving or seeking investment
You may want to supercharge your business through seeking external investment. Often, this takes the form of an equity investment (when an investor is issued with shares in the company) but most investors will want more than just shares for their money. This can include consent rights, a seat on the board and information rights.
Not all investors are created equal and you should ensure you believe you can work in partnership with the investor in your business and there is a balance between investor protections and your ability to run your company.
You will likely seek investments a number of times as the money your business requires to grow increases. These are called “rounds” or “series” and each investment round will attract different types of investments, from angel investors (high net worth individuals) in series A to venture capital or private equity in later rounds.
Incentivising key employees
As your business grows, it will become increasingly important to attract and incentivise key employees and talent. This may take the form of setting up an employee share scheme or issuing share options to incentivise employees and align the value of their shares with the growth of the company.
