The hands-on partner for families
with a family office.
Hands-on execution at the three moments families cannot afford to get wrong — when they need to set or reset their family office, navigate a generational transition, or take back control of what they own.
The three moments we exist for.
We engage at three inflection points in the life of a family — moments when the family must change in depth: how it operates as a family, how it interacts with its family office, or how it stays in control of what it owns.
Generational transition
A critical moment in the life of a family — and one that can leave deep, lasting damage when it is not handled with care. We bring a profound understanding and respect for what a family is and how family dynamics work, and we work alongside every generation to put in place decisions that serve the whole family. The result is a transmission that becomes a shared family project, not a series of individual ones.
Read moreResetting the family office
Whether the office is being created from scratch after a liquidity event, or rebuilt because it has drifted from what the family needs, the work is the same: we listen first, then build the structure that fits — governance, staff and advisers, jurisdictions, capital allocation. Designed exclusively for the needs of the family.
Read moreTaking back control
When something the family owns has slipped from its grip — a board seat that has gone its own way, a direct investment whose governance has weakened, an external mandate that has stopped serving the family — we step in to put the family back in charge of its own assets.
Read morePractitioners, not advisers.
Westwick Melrose & Cromwell is a London-based partnership, operating worldwide, founded in 2013.
We are practitioners — and we are family people. Every partner has sat inside a family office, a trustee firm, or an institution that serves them, for decades, not years. What sets Westwick apart is not our technical skills (those are commodities) but the way we understand what a family actually is: an institution that crosses generations, holds together through the hardest moments, and deserves an adviser whose first loyalty is to that whole. No one else on the market builds advisory work from that starting point. We act as insiders: we take seats at the table, we run the project to the end, and we leave once the work is done — when the family has the office, and the way of working, it chose.
We do not sell products. We do not hold retainers that grow with your assets. We do not advise from the side. The family is our client, its interests are our sole measure, and the mandate has a beginning, a middle, and an end.
Meet the partners
Does this sound like your family?
We hear these from families with family offices all the time. If one of them matches where you are, that is usually a good sign that a conversation with us will be worth having.
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01 We inherited our parents' family office and we don't know how to run it.
An inherited family office often carries a logic the next generation never chose. We sit alongside the family, learn the office with them, and put the new principals back at the centre of every decision — respected, listened to, in charge. Together we decide what to keep, what to retire, and what to rebuild, so the structure that remains is one they can stand behind.
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02 One of my siblings wants to exit the family office.
An exit can surface real conflict. As a trusted, expert third party we sit alongside the family through the decision and execute the exit so every member is satisfied — and so the family still gathers serenely at Christmas.
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03 We have an overly complex structure and nobody in the family can explain why.
We have seen many family offices built on ultra-complex structures, put in place for tax reasons without anyone ever stepping back to think about the future — or how those structures might one day be unwound. We map every layer, what it costs, what it does, and what risk it now carries. We then help the family decide what stays, what merges, and what is unwound. And finally we execute those changes for the family.
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04 I want to sell the family business but no one on our team has ever run an M&A deal.
Selling the family business is a once-in-a-generation event. We bring the deal experience the in-house team has never had — running the process from the family's side, from preparation through to closing — so the family ends with the right deal, not just a deal.
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05 I want to set up a family office from scratch and I don't know where to start.
A family office is a chance to build for what the family actually wants. We work with the family to articulate what they want from the office, then translate it into structure: governance, staff and advisers, capital allocation, jurisdictions. The result is an office the family controls — designed exclusively for them.
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06 Our executives and advisers were put in place by the previous generation. The next chapter needs something different.
When it is time for a generational change at the top of the office, the work is delicate — the people in place may have served the family for decades. We step in to hold the role on an interim basis, work with the family on what the next chapter needs, and hold the difficult conversations with the people concerned, with the respect their loyalty deserves. Once a successor is chosen by the family, we manage the transition cleanly and step out.
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07 The complexity and cost of our office have drifted from what the family actually needs.
Offices that grow without review end up paying for the structure of three years ago. We map what the family actually uses, what it has stopped using, and what it pays for anyway — then we help the family decide what to cut, what to keep, and what to rebuild. The result is an office sized for today's family, not yesterday's.
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08 We are moving from one generation to the next and we are not aligned.
Generational transitions break under unspoken assumptions. We bring those onto the table, work with every generation to find the decisions that serve the whole family, and then we put those decisions in place — across the office, the structure, and the team. The family leaves the transition aligned, with an office that reflects the alignment.
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09 Our investments no longer reflect what the next generation wants to do.
When a new generation steps into the family office, the family's investments and capital allocation rarely reflect what they actually want to do with the family's wealth. We work alongside the family to articulate what they want, then complete the in-house team or bring in the right external providers to put the investment programme in place — so the whole family understands where it is invested, why, and can change direction whenever it chooses to.
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10 We don't know how to tell a loyal adviser that it's time to leave.
Long-standing advisers rarely realise their time with the family has run its course — and the family is often too loyal to say so. We hold that conversation on the family's behalf, with respect for everything the relationship has been, and we manage the handover so the family ends with the right adviser for the next chapter, and the old one leaves with their dignity intact.
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Three principles govern how we work.
We are hired by the family. We protect the family's interest, and only theirs. We make sure it stays united even in the hardest moments — and we leave once it operates the way it chose.
Loyalty
We are dedicated to serving the family's best interests at all times — ensuring trust, discretion, and alignment with the family's direction.
Transparency
We tell you what we think. We are direct and transparent. We act in a decided fashion, with honesty and professionalism, and every decision we make is guided by what is right for your family.
Excellence
We are hands-on self-starters. We provide action-oriented expertise that remains unmatched in the market during families' or family offices' extra-ordinary times.
If you recognise the moment, we should talk.
We take on a small number of mandates each year. Most begin with a conversation — often one we were introduced into by a family, a trustee, or an adviser who knew our work. If any of the three inflection points above describes where your family is, we would be glad to hear from you.