This report contains the research results of the project after conducting 60 interviews with SME representatives, successors and experts in business succession. In it you will be presented with the key findings that our research has produced, including the success factors and the barriers to a successful succession. Furthermore, you we discuss the skills and capabilities required for a successful succession to take place, touching upon the importance of planning. At the end, we share with you a set of 11 recommendations based on our learnings during the process.

Prior to this policy report, country reports on SME succession in Germany, Ireland, Greece, the Netherlands and Slovenia were carried out, analysing the state of succession, country-specific challenges, current supports and key advisors as well as government policies. Based on these case studies, this policy report intends to identify crucial gaps in the current SME succession process as well as to derive policy recommendations in order to tackle these gaps.