On first acquaintance the emergence of a respiratory and vascular disease such as Covid-19 might not be expected to have a significant impact on succession planning. After all similar diseases, such as the common cold and influenza, have been endemic for hundreds of years, especially in Europe.

Furthermore, the population cohorts most at risk from Covid-19 are the over-70s. These are age groups that might ordinarily be expected to have either made or put in place their succession plans already.

But Covid-19 is different in one important respect. The measures put in place to combat or at least mitigate the impact of the ...