Reports and Resources


The Road to Succession

The report ‘The Road to Succession’ reveals valuable insights from Telos and JGadd Associates who conducted 25 interviews with founders and successor from employee owned businesses (EOBs). It offers insights and tips from those who have navigated the intricacies of leadership succession in EOBs.

Briefing: EOA Policy Consultation 2023

EOA 2023 Policy Consultation Briefing Note
Read the EOA's full briefing from it's 2023 consultation on policy priorities and objectives with EOA members and advisors.

WREOC 2023 Employee Owned Sector Profile

The latest update on the state of the employee ownership sector, produced in collaboration with the White Rose Centre for Employee Ownership (WREOC).

The Employee Ownership Top 50 2023

The Employee Ownership Top 50 measures the performance of the top end of the employee owned sector and is compiled by RM2.

Funding the EO transition – A ThinCats approach to external finance in funding employee buyouts through EOTs

This document aims to help business owners and their advisers understand how using external finance provided by ThinCats can facilitate the transition to employee ownership.

Protecting your EOT business - a guide by FAB Assurance and EOA

In life, when making huge decisions and transactions, we often look at ways to de-risk and protect our interests. This guide talks about how you can protect the business and your family in the event of a key person in the business dying during selling your business to an EOT. It also looks at how life insurance can be an employee benefit that is easy to implement and offers security during very uncertain times.

EOA Financial Statements 2022

Unaudited Financial Statements for the Year Ended 30 September 2022 for Employee Ownership Association

10 things to consider when embedding your employee ownership culture globally | EOA Big Read 2023

Employee owned businesses with international operations have shared examples of how they go about embedding their employee ownership culture with staff not based in the UK. Hear from Glide and partner company Gripple, Aber Instruments, and Scott Bader. more

The synergy between B Corps and employee ownership | EOA Big Read 2022

Just under 10% of all B Corp businesses in the UK are now employee owned – but why are so many EO businesses wanting to become certified? This is a question we explore further in this 'Big Read' amid a growing trend of EO businesses meeting the “rigorous standards” put in place to achieve certification by B Lab, whose mission is for “business to be a force for good”. more

WRCEO Employee Ownership profile 2022

Figures for the White Rose Centre for Employee Ownership survey are provided by Prof Andrew Robinson (University of Leeds) & Prof Andrew Pendleton (UNSW). The survey is used to define the scale and characteristics of the sector.

The Employee Ownership Top 50 2022

The Employee Ownership Top 50 measures the performance of the top end of the employee owned sector and is compiled by RM2.

The Employee Ownership Top 50 2021

The Employee Ownership Top 50 measures the performance of the top end of the employee owned sector and is compiled by RM2.

White Rose Centre for Employee Ownership Survey 2021

Figures for the White Rose Centre for Employee Ownership survey are provided by Prof Andrew Robinson (University of Leeds) & Prof Andrew Pendleton (UNSW). The survey is used to define the scale and characteristics of the sector.

Employee Ownership: How To Get Started

Employee Ownership: How to Get Started is a valuable guide for businesses interested in becoming employee owned. The guide highlights the three most common models of employee ownership, identifying the key features of each. It also looks at public service spin outs, governance and funding.

Guide to structuring (updated March 2019)

If you have begun to think about introducing employee ownership and are ready to consider the detail of implementation, this Guide is for you. Authored by Robert Postlethwaite and published by the EOA.

Guide to Structuring - Scotland partners

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If you have begun to think about introducing employee ownership and are ready to consider the detail of implementation, this Guide is for you. Authored by Robert Postlethwaite and published by the EOA in association with Co-operative Development Scotland and The Law Society of Scotland.

The Employee Ownership Top 50 2020

The Employee Ownership Top 50 measures the performance of the top end of the employee owned sector and is compiled by RM2.

The Top 50 Employee Owned Businesses 2019

The Top 50 Employee Owned Businesses measures the performance of the top end of the employee owned sector and is compiled by RM2.

White Rose Centre for Employee Ownership survey 2019

Figures for the White Rose Centre for Employee Ownership survey are provided by Prof Andrew Robinson (University of Leeds) & Prof Andrew Pendleton (UNSW). The survey is used to define the scale and characteristics of the sector.

The Ownership Dividend - The economic case for employee ownership June 2018

The evidence and recommendations of the Ownership Effect Inquiry – a panel of UK business leaders and industry experts, which heard and examined evidence from 100+ employee owned businesses and advisors, concluded there is a significant and valuable Ownership Dividend to be gained from more employee ownership in the UK economy.

The Employee Ownership Top 50 2018

In association with The RM2 Partnership Ltd, The Employee Ownership Top 50 2018 illustrates the performance of the largest 50 employee owned companies in the UK.

EOA 2018 Annual Review

Highlights and impacts of the work of the EOA working with its members and stakeholders in 2018.

EOA Annual Review 2017

Highlights and impacts of the work of the EOA working with its members and stakeholders in 2017.

The Employee Ownership Top 50 2017

In association with The RM2 Partnership Ltd, The Employee Ownership Top 50 2017 illustrates the performance of the largest 50 employee owned companies in the UK.

The Employee Ownership Association Annual Review 2016

In 2016 the EOA continued to pursue its purpose of developing the size and impact of the UK employee ownership economy.

The Employee Ownership Top 50 2016

In association with The RM2 Partnership Ltd, The Employee Ownership Top 50 2016 illustrates the performance of the largest 50 employee owned companies in the UK.

Employee Ownership Top 50 2016: Key Facts

Employee Ownership Top 50 2016: Social Panels

Public Service Mutuals: How to grow, diversify and compete

All the slides from the Public Service Mutuals Conference from 06 July 2016

The Employee Ownership Association Annual Review 2015

2015 was the most successful year ever for employee ownership in the UK and the EOA was at the heart of every significant development.

The Employee Ownership Top 50 2015

In association with The RM2 Partnership Ltd, The Employee Ownership Top 50 2015 illustrates the performance of the largest 50 employee owned companies in the UK.

Employee Ownership In Our Public Services - Making It Happen

If you have begun to think about creating an employee owned public service spin out this guide is for you.

Guide To Structuring Employee Ownership

Employee ownership is the model in which the share capital of a business is partly or entirely owned by its workforce. It is the fastest growing form of business ownership in the UK.

Annual Review 2014

2014 was the most successful year ever for employee ownership in the UK and the EOA was at the heart of every significant development.

Employee Ownership in Britain 2014

The initial findings from a major new piece of research by the Employee Ownership Association (EOA) and the White Rose Centre for Employee Ownership provides the first definitive assessment of employee ownership in Britain.

The Employee Ownership Top 50 2014

Compiled by Capital Strategies, The Employee Ownership Top 50 2014 illustrates the performance of the largest 50 employee owned companies in the UK.

Employee Ownership: Impact Report

This new report calls for a threefold increase in the value of employee owned firms to UK GDP by 2020 and makes the business case for more firms opting for employee ownership.

Fit for Work: Health and Wellbeing of Employees in Employee Owned Businesses

New research published by the Employee Ownership Association and sponsored by the John Lewis Partnership shows that staff working in employee owned companies are happier, healthier and more secure than workers without a stake in their company.

All Of Our Business: Why Britain Needs More Private Sector Employee Ownership

In a new paper for the Employee Ownership Association, William Davies (Academic Director at the Centre for Mutual and Employee-Owned Business, Oxford) urges the government to consider new policies to facilitate the growth of the £30 billion employee-owned sector.

Other Publications


Caring and sharing: The co-owned route to better care

Launched at a reception at Newcastle's Centre for Life, this EOA paper by Dave Wheatcroft is the story of award winning employee owned Sunderland Home Care Associates and how founder Margaret Elliott and co-owners have built a family of enterprises lifting care standards in the North of England.

Local Owners: Promoting Employee Ownership Locally

This report advocates a switch from a national approach to the promotion of employee ownership to a local one, with a range of local stakeholders taking on roles to raise the profile of employee ownership.

COCO Companies: Work, Happiness and Employee Ownership

A paper about how a dynamic combination of co-ownership and co-creation [‘CoCo’] helps employee owned businesses create exceptional performance while enhancing employee wellbeing. Launched at a Parliamentary reception with Environment Secretary David Miliband MP, the paper includes policy proposals designed to help Government and others harness the CoCo effect to benefit business and the economy.

Employee Ownership as a Solution to Business Succession

Jointly authored paper submitted to the DTI review of business transfer by the Employee Ownership Association, Co-operatives UK and the Delivering Employee Ownership network.

A matter of trust: How to create more employee owned businesses

Many private companies find that employee trusts are very suitable structures for sustaining employee ownership. This EOA report explains why. It argues that the tax treatment of employee trusts should be significantly improved, and recommends that Share Incentive Plan trusts should be permitted to retain shares for the benefit of employees indefinitely, rather than be required to distribute shares to individual employees, which can create complexity and cause instability in the ownership structure.

From colleagues to owners: Transferring ownership to employees

‘From Colleagues to Owners’ is an Employee Ownership Association paper on how and why companies make the transition to employee ownership. Based on ten case studies, the report explains what motivated a highly diverse mix of businesses to consider employee ownership as a succession or start up route.

Good Business: The employee ownership experience

Based on a survey of co-owned businesses, this report reveals how these businesses view the advantages and disadvantages of employee ownership; the key problems they face and what would help resolve them; main sources of advice and information; and how customers react to co-ownership.

Innovation Included: Why co-owned businesses are good for public services

Written by internationally acclaimed business writer Charlie Leadbeater, Innovation Included makes the case for more public services to be provided by co-owned companies. Sponsored by eaga plc, the paper claims that employee owned companies offer public services a level of employee commitment and innovation that can transform the experience of service users. The author calls for a political initiative to build capacity, demand and awareness for more co-owned public service provision.

Making employee ownership work: A benchmark guide

'Making employee ownership work’ is a new guide from the Employee Ownership Association and co-ownership advisers the Baxi Partnership, based on a survey of 25 EOA member companies including John Lewis, Unipart, Arup and Mott MacDonald. Designed for easy reference, the guide compares company practice under five headings: employee engagement, reward, governance, employee ownership culture, and social responsibility.

Shared Company: How employee ownership works

Launched at a reception with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, this report summarises the case for employee ownership and explains the mechanics of forming an employee owned company and employee buy-out. Includes a special survey by the Director of Birmingham University Business School of research evidence on the impact of co-ownership on business performance.

Sharing Ownership: The Role of Employee Ownership in Public Service Delivery

The All Party Parliamentary Group on employee ownership inquiry into employee ownership in the public sector. The inquiry took evidence from employee owned organizations, academics, union officials, industry experts and politicians and included an examination of models, tax, terms and conditions and key challenges.

The employee ownership effect: A review of the evidence

An EOA report by research specialists Matrix Evidence and sponsored by the John Lewis Partnership and health company Circle. The report is a rigorous study of the available international evidence into how companies with significant employee ownership perform, on a range of key business indicators. On the basis of their study, the authors conclude that wider employee ownership could bring economic and social benefits in the UK’s private and public sectors.