Wealthy Brits Overhaul Fortunes While Bracing for Reeves Tax Hit
Rich UK families are building greater protection into wealth management structures and taking out cash after a slew of tax changes under the Labour government
Rachel Reeves scrapped inheritance tax relief on business, farming and pensions at her first budget last year.
Photographer: Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images
Britain’s super-rich families are overhauling how they manage their fortunes, taking more cash out of their businesses and moving to protect key assets as they gird for a fresh round of tax hikes.
The billionaire Bamford family behind equipment-maker JCB restructured its shareholder group and paid out the biggest dividend in at least a decade, filings last month show. The Samworth dynasty, which owns one of the UK’s biggest food companies, almost doubled its payout last year and reinforced the trust structure overseeing its main businesses. And two of London’s most important aristocratic landowning families — the Cadogans and the Russells — also strengthened trusts recently, in a move seen as bolstering financial protection.