Divorce Day Bid To Bring Bosses Back From The Brink
Online, January 8, 2012 (Newswire.com) - Company bosses whose working lives are being damaged by marital breakdown have a new helping hand from a leading business coach.
Sue Warden-Owen is launching a dedicated lifeline to keep directors and senior executives focused on their businesses amid a rising tide of costly boardroom divorces.
Mrs Warden-Owen, MD of the consultancy MHL, is seeing growing numbers of referrals from family lawyers seeking no-nonsense business counselling for high net worth clients tied up in legal proceedings.
Her new service takes an independent, commercially-driven approach to resolving business issues during and after divorce, so avoiding corporate and personal meltdown.
She has chosen the start of the year to launch the service as this is when family law firms see most new instructions from separating couples.
Monday 9th January, the start of the first full working week after the festive season, is referred to as 'Divorce Day' in legal circles.
There have also been a host of indicators showing that financial worries are a major factor in both the timing of divorces and the settlements awarded.
Mrs Warden-Owen said: "There are many reasons for marriage breakdown but in today's sluggish economy it's no surprise that spouses who are top managers are working longer hours amid ever increasing pressure at work and at home. Often, they have few if any support mechanisms to help keep their lives in balance. That can have a knock-on effect not only for their families but also for those many colleagues and employees whose livelihoods depend on the business."
The new service includes practical, pragmatic support and guidance plus structured mentoring to help keep a corporate focus.
Mrs Warden-Owen, whose commercial background includes running multi-million pound marketing budgets, believes the service is needed as many breadwinners are unaware of the wide legal powers to redistribute assets between spouses.
She added: "Family courts are understandably more likely to favour 'family' interests over 'business' interests when it comes to dividing up matrimonial assets. Where a married couple share assets in a business and are looking to divorce, there needs to be fairness in how value is assessed and income streams are protected. The financial negotiations around marital breakdown can cause particular problems for company directors due to questions of ownership, business value and the tax implications of transferring assets. This can cause immense distress and distraction when you are simply trying to get on with the job of running a business and keeping people employed."
The launch follows data released in December 2011 from the Office for National Statistics showing a 5% rise in the nationwide divorce rate since the 2008-09 recession.
MHL Business Coaching Ltd is a leading business coaching company with a solid reputation for the quality of its guidance and advice. It brings a level of coaching and mentoring talent, previously reserved for boards of major corporations, to business owners of all sizes. For more information, visit www.mhlcoaching.co.uk or call 01489 575227.