Business Continuity Plan 

Description

The Directorate General of SME Policy, in collaboration with the Spanish High Council of Chambers of Commerce, has started up the Business Continuity Plan.

This is an initiative that facilitates the transfer of businesses between solvent business persons who want to end their activities and those who are willing to continue them.

The objective of the Plan is to ensure the survival of small enterprises in danger of disappearing from reasons others than financial ones (the owner is about to retire, has health problems, in the event one of the partners dies, or when there is no-one to take over, etc). In Spain, each year more than 50,000 small- and medium-sized family-owned enterprises close down for these reasons.

The Business Continuity Plan comprises a web platform to facilitate the transfer of businesses (www.plancontinuidadempresarial.es) which provides general information and has a database that includes all the business transfers offered and sought nationwide as well as other tools considered necessary for the process.

The network of Business Transfer Centres, whose aim is to provide a comprehensive consulting service that covers all stages involved in the transfer, is made up of 40 chambers of commerce.

In addition, to ensure that the interested parties can avail of financial support, a line of credit of 20 million Euro was set up in 2011 and this is administered by the Spanish National Company for Innovation (ENISA).

Beneficiaries

Business owners and entrepreneurs interested in buying or selling a company.

The transfer process is made up of five phases: information for the interested parties, the signing of the service provision contracts, drafting the business dossier, actively searching for buyers, and, finally, concluding the transaction.

Phases of the programme

The transfer process consists of four phases: information for interested parties, analysis of the viability of operations, production of the company sale dossier and the active search for buyers, and finally, negotiation and closure.

• Business Continuity Plan Portal
• Guide to Business Transfers