Founders, family business owners, CEOs and SME leaders are set to converge in Accra for the REBRAND Masterclass '26: Brand Legacy Edition, an executive-focused programme designed to explore how businesses can build systems, governance structures and brand authority that survive beyond their founders.

The masterclass, scheduled for Thursday, 15 October 2026, at the Charleston Hotel, Accra, will be held under the theme “Build Beyond You".

The programme will focus on succession, governance, leadership transition and the structures required to preserve and grow businesses across generations.

This edition of the REBRAND masterclass is premised on a key distinction: “Inheritance is not succession.”

The distinction is illustrated through the story of Gucci, the Italian luxury fashion house whose evolution provides a case study in the challenges family businesses can face when ownership, leadership and succession are not effectively managed.

Aldo Gucci was instrumental in expanding the family business internationally. In 1953, Gucci opened its first store outside Italy in New York, marking the beginning of a new chapter that would help transform the Italian leather-goods business into a globally recognised luxury brand.

However, as the Gucci family expanded, questions around ownership, control and leadership became increasingly complicated. Family disagreements, legal battles, and competing interests ultimately had a detrimental impact.

The family eventually lost control of the business that carried its name.

Today, Gucci remains one of the world's most recognised luxury brands, but the Gucci family no longer owns or manages the company. Gucci ultimately became part of the luxury group now known as Kering, which began acquiring a stake in Gucci Group in 1999 and increased its ownership over the following years.

The experience underscores the distinction between transferring ownership and preparing the next generation to lead and sustain an enterprise.

Giving shares to your children is not a succession plan.

Inheritance can transfer assets, but succession must transfer leadership capacity, systems, responsibility, decision-making structures and a clear vision for the future.

The masterclass will therefore examine how founders and business leaders can prepare their enterprises for continuity by establishing effective governance, professionalising operations and developing the next generation of leadership.

If you build a business over twenty or thirty years but fail to establish governance, prepare the next generation, professionalise operations, and define how leadership will transition, family relationships can eventually jeopardise what took decades to build.

The programme is targeted specifically at founders, family businesses, CEOs and SME leaders, who will have the opportunity to examine practical approaches to building businesses that can operate and retain value beyond the individuals who established them.

The organisers say the focus extends beyond financial inheritance to the broader question of legacy.

They argue that while children may inherit a company, they may not necessarily be prepared to continue the enterprise without the appropriate systems, structures, leadership preparation and governance frameworks.

The REBRAND Masterclass '26: Brand Legacy Edition will provide a platform for participants to explore these issues and consider how their businesses can be structured for long-term continuity.

Only 25 executive seats are available for the masterclass.

Interested participants can reserve their seats through bkc.name/rebrand or contact 0244961121.

MTN registration is also available via *713*33*35#

The central question for the masterclass is one that founders and business leaders may increasingly need to confront as they consider the future of their enterprises:

“Will your brand continue to thrive when you are no longer at the centre of it?”