How to Become Employee Owned

The number of employee owned businesses in the UK is growing and interest in employee ownership is thriving.

Most organisations in the UK that become employee owned are assisted by the EOA to explore employee ownership. We help individuals and organisations to choose the right model and brokers visits to leading employee owned businesses and introductions to the EOA’s approved specialist advisors.

We help you to plan not just for a transition, but an EO transformation that delivers benefits for both individuals and the business.

The move to employee ownership can be straightforward with the right advice and support to find the best model for you. It’s important not to get bogged down in the technical details of legal and financial implementation but to keep the bigger picture in mind and the longer term legacy you want the business to create for employees and customers.

Whether you’re a company owner, employee, business adviser or work in a public service, the EOA is best placed to offer guidance and advice on helping you find the best model for your route to employee ownership.

  • Company Owner?
    If you’re a company owner thinking of selling your business, employee ownership is an increasingly practical and popular option. An employee buy-out is one of the main business succession options for company owners.

    Companies facing ownership succession increasingly consider a sale to their workforce because:

    • A range of tax advantaged schemes, notably the Share Incentive Plan (SIP) or Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) , make structuring employee ownership or an employee buy-out feasible and rewarding for owner and employees alike.
    • Selling to the workforce is a way for owners to preserve the integrity and continuity of the business they’ve built up, while acknowledging the contribution of employees.
    • Employee buy-outs tend to have a better record of sustainability than management buy-outs, so the enterprise the owner created is more likely to survive.
    • Employee buy-outs are a lot less likely than a trade sale to result in closure of premises and production in local economies who may have come to rely on them for employment and commerce.

    The Employee Ownership Association has helped numerous company owners to sell their companies to employees. Contact us to find out how we can help.

  • Employee?
    A growing number of companies are being sold to the people who work for them through so-called employee buy-outs.

    Employee buy-outs and employee ownership are increasingly popular because:

    • Lots of company owners are considering selling their business and selling to the workforce is a viable option.
    • A range of tax-efficient schemes make selling a company to employees rewarding for owners and enabling employees in some cases to purchase shares directly.
    • Ownership stays with people who know the business, helped to build it up, and are most committed to its future.
    • Employee owned businesses tend to be better places to work treating staff well, involving them more, giving everyone a real stake in the business.
  • Business Adviser?
    If you advise company owners on legal, tax or other financial matters you’ll know that business transfer and ownership succession can be a complex challenge for any business.

    Evidence shows that employee buy-outs are one of the main business succession options for company owners but that the possibility of an employee buy-out is not always considered and explored to the fullest extent possible.

    A sale to employees is an increasingly sound and beneficial answer to ownership succession because:

    • A range of tax efficient schemes including; Share Incentive Plan, SAYE and EOT have made employee ownership a rewarding and desirable succession route.
    • Selling to the workforce is a way for owners to preserve the integrity and continuity of the business they’ve built up, while acknowledging the contribution of employees.
    • Owners get a fair market value for the company, without having to sell to a trade competitor or others who are more likely to dispose of the business.

    Because of those factors, finance is now readily available for the transfer to employee ownership.

  • Public Sector?
    If you are a local government, health service or other public sector employer considering spinning out to an employee owned public service mutual we can help.

    Drawing on vast experience in the EOA network, and a pool of trusted, expert and validated advisers, we can help you weigh up the options and select a form of employee ownership that fits your objectives.