49 results for year: 2018

OBE honour recognises growth of employee ownership and social enterprises

Deb Oxley Chief Executive of the Employee Ownership Association (EOA) has been awarded an OBE in the 2019 New Year’s honours list for services to employee ownership and social enterprise. As Chief Executive of the EOA since 2015, Deb leads engagement and campaigning to influence government and policy makers and to raise awareness of the relevance and importance of employee ownership to the UK economy. In her role leading the EOA, the UK’s membership body for the employee owned sector, she has shaped the organisation’s business engagement and membership proposition through national events, regional networks and campaigns to raise awareness ...

Employee Engagement – what’s it all about then?

‘Employee engagement’ can be something of a fluffy term, and for companies to tackle it, it needs to be defined first of all. What does it mean to you and what does it look like in practice? Definition of the term needs to happen within the organisation - while certain elements remain consistent, organisational culture and vision has a large impact on how that organisation sees engagement and subsequently how it chooses to measure it. It is about how we create the conditions in which employees offer more of their capability and potential. Despite there being some debate about the precise meaning of employee engagement there are three things ...

Member news: We’re recruiting for the EOA Membership Council

The EOA is recruiting to two vacancies on the EOA Membership Council (EMC). The Council supports the EOA to develop the membership proposition providing challenge and review of EOA activities. Since being formed 18 months ago the EMC has supported projects such as the testing and development of the EO Hub, EO Day 2018, Conference content in 2017 and 2018 and planning of the EOA Survey. Closing date for applications is 18 January 2019. Those interested can request an application pack, which includes the terms of reference and a statement of interest form, by emailing Lisa Steel.  

Member news: Give your thoughts on how to celebrate EO sector

The EOA is asking for help to shape the future of the UK Employee Ownership Awards. In 2018 the awards celebrated 6 new winners that were presented at the EOA Conference Gala Dinner. Members are urged to give their views to help us with the continuous improvement of the awards application process and presentation event to make sure we best represent and celebrate the sector. The EOA wants responses from organisations and individuals with a separate short survey of fewer than 10 questions for those who have applied and those who have not previously applied: For those who have applied – https://goo.gl/forms/Dzf1voYeflWL1YdD2 For those ...

EOA congratulates 2Excel’s full-throttle move to employee ownership

Deb Oxley, Chief Executive of the EOA, said: “We are delighted that 2Excel has chosen to adopt an employee ownership model which will secure the businesses ethos, values and employees while rooting the jobs locally for the longer term. “The employee owned sector contributes more than £30bn to the UK economy and is growing at more than 10% a year, with 70% growth in the sector happening since 2010 - this looks set to accelerate with all the UK political parties looking at ways for more employees to share in the wealth they help to create. “In the recent Inquiry into the impact more employee ownership in the UK economy would have on ...

Socialising capital the employee ownership way

The media is prone to labelling; hence, we have ‘millennials’, ‘the gig economy’ and ‘soap stars’. In the absence of a deeper understanding of the employee ownership structure by some commentators, it is sometimes the case that this innovative and progressive structure of business ownership is also labelled - as a form of socialism. This was the case recently, in what was an otherwise excellent article about the transitions to employee ownership by Union Industries and Aardman Animations. I could use the rest of this article explaining why I don’t consider employee ownership to be a form of socialism (not least because the state ...

Our culture is essential for our sustainable growth

By Michael Hodgson, Gripple Gripple is 100% employee owned, which means that every one of our employees has a vested interest in it and play a significant part in our growth. Founder of Gripple, Hugh Facey OBE once said: “Look after the people and the business will look after itself,” which is one of the key beliefs within the business In our 30th year of trading, we have a proven model for sustainable growth, which is driven by our people. Through that growth, our shared values remain the same and we expect our people to be passionate, team players that are honest and willing to challenge convention. Being an employee owned business ...

UK EO AWARDS: Owners cashing in on Parfetts’ success

A passion to do the best by its employees, customers and suppliers has driven a ‘spectacular performance’ in a challenging industry, for this year’s Employee Owned business of the Year. The judges of the UK Employee Ownership Awards, sponsored by Baxendale, highlighted how Parfetts, established as a family business in 1980, becoming employee owned 10 years ago, has been able to drive success through well executed engagement and reward including an annual dividend plus sales target bonus which has seen the team get two bonus payments in 2018 after surpassing targets. The Cash & Carry business, which employs 604 employee owners, will add ...

UK EO AWARDS: EO winner bridges the dental gap

Providing the best the dental outcomes for patients most in need, powered by insight from the front line, has inspired an award win for Community Dental Services (CDS). The employee owned social enterprise, which employs 286 people providing referral dental services for difficult to reach groups in Bedfordshire, Luton, Suffolk, Norfolk (Thetford), Oxfordshire, Leicestershire, Essex and Lincolnshire, has scooped the Public Service Mutual of the Year at the UK Employee Ownership Awards 2018. The Awards, sponsored by Baxendale, saw this category reintroduced after growth in the number of these types of businesses supported by the Government’s ...

UK EO AWARDS: Angela leads a new era of ownership

If a change of employee ownership structure is Childbase Partnership’s new symphony, then Angela Brown is its conductor. This is the case put forward by her colleagues – citing her as a highly visible and passionate ambassador of employee voice and ownership – and it has seen her named by judges as the UK Employee Ownership Awards’ Employee Owner of the Year As the first ever elected chair of the Partnership Council, after 8 years serving as one of its members, Angela has taken charge of the council just four months after the business changed its employee ownership from direct shares and being 70% employee owned to being 100% of the ...

UK EO AWARDS: For Hugh’s a jolly good fellow!

When speaking about his recent OBE, innovator and entrepreneur Hugh Facey did what he has always done - deferred to his employees. “I received this because of you – Our Brilliant Employees – thank you for what you do...” he said revealing one of the secrets at the heart of Hugh’s drive and success. Hugh who was awarded his OBE in 2018 for services to manufacturing, innovation, exports and employee ownership. Hugh is famed for saying “I came into it with nowt and I’ll go out of it with nowt”, expressing his ambition to make a good living for him and his employees, rather than amassing wealth for wealth’s sake. He is instead ...

UK EO Awards: DNA that drives a culture of success

The first ever Employee Ownership Culture Award winner is a business with a clearly defined spirit and unique DNA, concluded the UK Employee Ownership Award 2018 judges. The award celebrates Sheffield-based manufacturer Gripple, a business in which employees feel a substantial, personal stake in performance and are empowered to act in ways that show measurable benefits. The market-leading manufacturer of wire joining and tensioning devices for construction and agricultural markets, Gripple, was established in the 1990s with its employee ownership being formalised when GLIDE – its share ownership model and holding company - was established in ...

UK EO AWARDS: EO spirit rises for travel firm

Travel business Alfa Leisureplex Group wowed the judges with coach loads of evidence of how it has brought employee ownership to life in its business. The business is the winner of this year’s Employee Owned Rising Star of the Year in the UK Award, sponsored by Baxendale, which celebrates a business that in its early years has embedded its EO ethos and culture across all of its teams. Alfa Leisureplex Group started with the Sawbridge family owning one hotel in Llandudno in 1984: by 2015 it owned 21 hotels and was a tour and coach operator in the UK and Europe with 600 employees when the family sold 75% of the business to an employee owned ...

News release: Top 50 report shows positive growth for the employee ownership sector

Research continues to show that employee-owned businesses enjoy higher levels of productivity Publication of the Employee Ownership Association’s (EOA) annual 2018 Top 50 Report shows positive growth for the employee ownership sector, with a combined sales value of nearly £20bn, five new entries to the Top 50 and an almost 10% median increase in operating profits. The Top 50 list, complied by RM2 in partnership with the EOA, covers independent UK-registered companies that are at least 25% owned by their employees on a broad basis and UK subsidiaries of non-UK companies that are more than 75% employee owned. Nigel Mason, Director of the ...

Employee Ownership Top 50 commentary

by Nigel Mason, RM2 It’s been an interesting year with conversations about employee ownership and employee share ownership in the political mainstream. At the same time the squeeze on the High Street has seen many household names such as House of Fraser collapsing into administration and Debenhams reducing its number of stores by 50 after a string of profit warnings. While our own number one in the Top 50 largest employee owned businesses, retailer John Lewis Partnership, has also seen a fall in both profits and head count, its independence and stable trust structure mean it has been able to take a longer term view than most retailers, ...

EOA congratulates Aardman on securing its future through employee ownership

“We congratulate Aardman on its transition to employee ownership which is a great example of where the EOT  model can be used to secure the  businesses ethos, creative values and independence for the longer term while helping those who supported its creative success to share in the value they create. "They are a great British brand; born ,raised and now rooted in the Bristol and the UK economies for the longer term as it's founders plan to sustain the business after their exit "This has been an exciting journey for us to support David, Peter and the team knowing that Aardman’s iconic productions will continue to bring joy to fans new and ...

Baxendale’s 10 Key Benefits of Employee Ownership

Baxendale’s 10 Key Benefits of Employee Ownership 1: Continuity When becoming employee owned, the business continues with minimal disruption, unlike the alternatives to selling to employees. 2: A fair price You don’t need to find a buyer and convince outsiders of the value of the business; your employees are already aware of its potential and will pay a fair price. A misconception is that selling to employees means selling at a discount. 3: Financial incentives There are tax breaks – introduced in the Finance Act of 2014 – when you sell to an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT), because the government recognises the value of EO ...

The Future of Work – there’s an ownership solution

Author: Cathy Brown, EOA Operations Director The world is changing, and work (and all the surrounding structures like education, taxes and business ownership) have to change as well. At the moment, the world of work is in a state of tension, where demographic, technological and societal pressures are driving bottom up change in us as people, but our workplaces, ownership models and leadership structures are still operating in the old ways. The generation now coming into the workforce will drive an even stronger requirement to recruit and then retain skilled people. Over the next few years we will see jobs and professions come into being that we ...

EO Hub celebrates milestone with new developments

The EOA is marking a successful first year for its online member platform the EO Hub by upgrading some of its features. Recent sponsorship of the platform by EOA Trustee Member Arup is being used to support the development of the Hub by making it a closed platform with a resource library to store useful information that can be used exclusively by members. Since starting the development way back in 2017 and launching ready for the EOA Annual Conference last year, the platform has seen more than 600 people from 230 businesses making more than 1800 connections. With more than 3000 logins a month the Hub users have been creating discussions on ...

Guest Blog; Chris Budd, The Eternal Business

In June 2017, I had reached a point of great frustration with the business I had founded in 2000, financial planning company Ovation Finance Ltd. For the previous seven years, I had been following a deliberate plan of making myself the least important person in my business. My original objective was to eventually perform only the roles that I enjoyed. Ultimately, however, I came to realise that the bigger picture was succession planning, and in particular the fact that I didn’t actually want to sell the business. Instead, I wanted to see it continue after I left. I developed a model based around four aspects of any business that is essential ...

EOA response to the Labour Party Policy Announcement on Inclusive Ownership Fund

Deb Oxley, CEO of the Employee Ownership Association, said: “The EOA is delighted EO is being talked about in the mainstream and totally agree with Labour that power comes from ownership and that employees should share in success. “A wider business ownership mix in the UK is essential to help spread wealth more equally and for employees to have more say. However this will be most effective if business owners are supported to grow employee ownership as a choice for business succession and growth, as has recently been legislated for in the US with cross party support and which is current policy in Scotland and Wales. “We fear imposing ...

Better together – why the UK needs bipartisan action to enable more employee ownership

Working together inevitably delivers better outcomes and more value. However, it’s hard to do, and in particular politically, as it requires compromise that is difficult to achieve. So it was encouraging to hear of bipartisan cooperation on employee ownership in the US where President Trump has recently signed the Main Street Employee Ownership Act. With estimated potential to double or even triple the growth rate of employee-owned companies over the next decade as well as stabilising jobs in local communities and reducing inequality by giving more employees a means of accumulating wealth, the legislation is the most far-reaching employee ...

EOA Member Middleton Hall Retirement Village set to transition to employee ownership

Middleton Hall Retirement Village, one of the UK’s leading retirement villages, is set to join the likes of John Lewis and Waitrose by becoming employee-owned. The move is aimed at safeguarding the long-term future and high quality facilities at the multi award-winning retirement village in Middleton St George outside Darlington, and will make it one of only 300 UK employee-owned companies and the first staff-owned retirement village or residential care facility in the UK. Middleton Hall’s 190 staff learned of the proposal at a recent briefing session where the company’s main shareholder, Managing Director, Jeremy Walford, outlined the ...

Alan Davidson, pioneer of employee ownership in the built environment dies

It was with great sadness that we heard this week that Alan Davidson, founder of London based architectural visualisation studio and EOA member, Hayes Davidson has passed away.  Alan was diagnosed with MND in 2012 and bore the disease with great courage, continuing to work as a director and trustee of Hayes Davidson, as well as leading the Alan Davidson Foundation, which supports MND care and research, and art and architectural scholarships. The EOA had the pleasure of helping Alan understand how to secure the future of Hayes Davidson through employee ownership as he planned for the future of the business, knowing that his own life would be ...

EOA welcomes formation of new industry leadership group

The Employee Ownership Association (EOA) has welcomed the announcement this week of the formation of a new industry leadership group called Scotland for Employee Ownership (SfEO). Deb Oxley, Chief Executive of the EOA commented, “With the aim to increase the number of employee and worker-owned businesses in Scotland from around 100 to 500 by 2030, SfEO will provide an important influencer of the growth of the UK employee owned sector and reflects the opportunity recently uncovered by the Ownership Dividend. The EOA has been working with the partners of the steering group that guided the development of SfEO over the last few months and will be ...

EOA expands to deliver roll-out of Ownership Dividend

The EOA welcomes Cathy Brown as Interim Operations Director to take over its day to day running. Cathy who most recently was the Executive Director of Engage for Success (EFS), following on from a long career in IT and Risk management at BT, has a wealth of experience growing partnerships and engaging with stakeholders through conferences, regional events and online. The move enables EOA CEO Deb Oxley to work on an engagement and roll out plan for the Ownership Dividend, the evidence report of the Ownership Effect Inquiry, working on partnerships and activity that brings the recommendations of the report to life to grow more employee ownership ...

Equality is the much needed rescue remedy for the UK economy

One glance at the business and mainstream news illustrates the deep problems facing the UK economy as businesses collapse on the high street, wages continue to stagnate although interest rates are rising and more working families’ incomes are being topped up by the government. It is clear that change is needed. And whilst the UK ponders Brexit – deal or no deal – there is work to be done to make sure that UK business is as resilient as it can be. With 10% of the wealthiest people in the UK owning almost 70% of financial wealth and today’s news from the High Pay Centre and CIPD which shows that FTSE 100 bosses are being paid on average ...

EOA to host masterclass in supporting employee ownership transition

The EOA is hosting a masterclass for accountants and advisors to support their clients to explore and transition to employee ownership. The one-day event in Birmingham includes three technical seminars, two keynote speakers on employee ownership, plus the opportunities to network with 700 delegates who are exploring employee ownership, or have recently transitioned to EO, or are established employee owned businesses, who will be attending the second day of the EOA Conference. The technical sessions are being run by Employee Share Scheme and Employee Ownership Advisers RM2, audit, tax and consulting services provider RSM and employee owned law ...

Bigger Thinking Series Part 6 – Potential on Tap: What does the Ownership Dividend mean for the UK economy?

Our ‘Bigger Thinking’ series has explored and explained how the employee owned business structure affects performance and productivity, corporate governance and employee voice. As this first series draws to a close, it is clear there is potential in employee ownership for businesses aspiring for a sustainable structure that benefits the individual, the business and the regional and wider economy. In 2017, the EOA, in partnership with The eaga Trust and the John Lewis Partnership, commissioned an inquiry led by an independent panel of UK senior business leaders and industry experts to examine evidence from over 100 employee owned businesses ...

Thanks a million for celebrating EO Day – you really made an impression!

The EOA wants to thanks the 750+ participants on social media and thousands of employee owners who took part in the national celebration of employee ownership on June 29 - EO Day 2018. Employee owned businesses and supporters of and advisors on employee ownership celebrated the impact EO makes on the national economy and the effect it has on the individual, the business and the economy by telling their EO Story and sharing pictures and videos of their EO Day activity. More than 200 social media messages contained pictures, videos and links with over 50 EO stories told through blogs, websites and via news outlets as part of the this year’s call ...

Guest Blog | The EOA Awards – A Judge’s Thoughts

As a first-time judge last year and after being fortunate enough to be invited back to judge again this year, I’ve been asked to share a few thoughts on the judging process with the aim of encouraging employee-owners from all corners of the UK economy to consider entering this year’s UK Employee Ownership Awards. As ever, the winners will be announced at the Gala dinner of the EOA Annual Conference in November - the highlight of a great evening that celebrates the best of our sector. Entries for the Awards close on Tuesday, July 24th, so there’s still time to enter. As well as my thoughts here, by visiting the link to the Awards page itself, ...

Sponsorship boost for EO Hub

Trustee member Arup has sponsored EOA member platform the EOHub. The Hub, which launched in January 2018, after a testing period at the end of 2017, now has 520 members. Set up to allow EOA members to connect with and learn from each other outside of signature events and the EOA Regional Networks, the platform has seen more than 1,600 connections made between members. Through the EO Hub’s Forum, more than 40 discussion threads have been started on business-related subjects which range from ‘pensions’ and  ‘what to do with profit’ to ‘roles and responsibilities in an employee owned businesses’. Through the News feature, more ...

Businesses tell their EO story for EO Day 2018

Thousands of employee owners are celebrating EO Day by telling their EO story. EOA members who support employee owned businesses are also sharing why they support the case for more EO. From staff picnics, volunteering for charities, away days, announcements of profit share and inviting MPs to visit, to writing blogs and sharing stories on their channels and websites, employee owners and employee owned businesses are helping raise awareness of this sector that contributes more than £30bn of UK GDP. By sharing these stories and comments across digital channels employee owners and those interested in employee ownership are supporting the ...

Government urged to deliver a more productive and inclusive economy following comprehensive national inquiry into employee ownership

The EOA is calling on the government to invest in growing employee ownership in the UK economy with the aim of having 3 million employee owners by 2030. The call comes on the back of the findings and recommendations of the Ownership Effect Inquiry, which was led by the EOA and supported by The eaga Trust and the John Lewis Partnership with the academic support of Professor Ajay Bhalla and Dr Aneesh Banerjee of Cass Business School and Professor Joseph Lampel of Manchester Alliance Business School. With the risk to the UK of two thirds of SMEs and family businesses facing succession uncertainty – an independent panel of 20 leading business ...

Summer speech turns up the heat on push for a more inclusive economy

ResPublica Director Phillip Blond urged the employee owned sector to set a challenging target to make sure its growth is significant rather than incremental, in an address to 150 members of the Employee Ownership Association at the House of Commons. In his speech Phillip said: "I am here among people from businesses that are empowered to innovate through their ownership stake in their business. "But if this sector is to grow, it’s not enough to ask for more tax incentives or things that will help just a few more business to widen their ownership, we must turn up the dial, we must set a significant target and drive hard towards it." The annual ...

EOA welcomes Riverford’s transition to employee ownership

The EOA welcomes Riverford’s transition to employee ownership which was announced on BBC Breakfast today (8 June 2018). With 74% of the business being held in an Employee Ownership Trust, 650 employees will now have a voice and stake in the outcome of the business. Founder of Riverford Guy Singh-Watson, who will retain 26% of the business, began Riverford Organic Farmers when he started delivering vegetables to 30 friends in Devon. Now with more regional farms, they deliver 47,000 boxes of veg a week to homes around the UK. On announcing that they were due to become employee owned Guy Singh-Watson said: “We believe employee ownership ...

EOA Bigger Thinking Series part 5: Supporting the Spinouts

Rethinking how to deliver public services and consideration of how new delivery channels will be viewed by the public is a priority for leadership in every public sector body across the UK. Whilst there is a growing acceptance by the majority of the public that the current models must evolve, the recent collapse of Carillion highlights a major issue for this evolution. The same ownership structures or levels of governance do not bind such privately owned outsourced providers delivering many of these important public sector contracts. This creates a significant risk that has materialised in examples such as Carillion where the organisation’s ...

Share your EO story now for a chance to win

If your employee owned culture is something to shout about then we’ve got the place to do it.   The EOA, with the support of sponsor Baxendale, has launched two new Awards as part of the  UK Employee Ownership Awards 2018.   These  Awards celebrate business excellence in employee owned businesses and the contribution the employee owned sector makes to the UK economy. There are 5 awards for businesses and individuals to apply or nominate for as a well as the Phillip Baxendale Fellowship Award which will is  decided upon by the Judges.   Recognising that it is the culture of employee owned businesses that empowers ...

Bigger Thinking Series Part 4: Growth and scale-up – Growing a Business that Goes the Distance

Growing a Business that Goes the Distance “Growth is never by mere chance; it is the result of forces working together.” James Penney, Founder of JC Penney In any market in any economy, one of the biggest challenges is the notion of ‘business growth’. With regular stories of the UK’s flat productivity and slow growth, nobody seems to have THE answer on how to kick start the UK’s economy especially during the great pause many businesses are experiencing as they try to unpick what Brexit might mean for them. A company’s approach to scaling up and expanding its efforts underpins not just the ambition of any given brand, but also ...

CEO blog: Employee ownership’s role in our ‘special relationship’

Whilst French President Emmanuel Macron may have attempted to steal the ‘special relationship’ label of the UK and USA during his recent visit, after speaking at the National Centre for Employee Ownership’s (NCEO) annual conference in Atlanta recently, I am confident of the UK’s hold over that label – at least where employee ownership is concerned. For during my trip, I was struck by the similarities between these seemingly different employee ownership worlds. Firstly, we share the same challenges. Whilst there are almost 7,000 firms in the US that would describe themselves as employee owned, there is still a significant lack of awareness ...

Standing ovation for pioneering tech entrepreneur Dame Stephanie

More than 130 people gathered for an inspirational Robert Oakeshott Lecture by tech entrepreneur and philanthropist Dame Stephanie Shirley CH. A rousing standing ovation followed Dame Stephanie’s personal account of her journey as a migrant child drawn to collective work “most likely because of a lack of extended family or long term neighbours”, pioneering new working practices that allowed women to go back to work after a career break, her long journey to employee ownership, being the mother to a severely autistic child and later a philanthropist. The annual lecture, which this year was hosted Cass Business School and supported by ...

Sawday’s transitions to hybrid employee ownership structure

Travel company, Sawday’s and Sawday’s Canopy & Stars, has announced a new and innovative ownership structure. The hybrid model, thought to be the first of its kind, sees the majority share, 52%, going to the employees of the Bristol based company, 24% to a newly established Sawday charitable Trust and 24% remaining in the family. After 25 years as a family owned company, founder Alastair Sawday was contemplating his ‘exit’ from Sawday’s and he felt selling, in the traditional sense, was not an option. After reading a book by David Erdal: Beyond the Corporation: Humanity Working about employee ownership he set about researching the ...

EO Day 2018 countdown launches

Today the EOA officially launches its 100 day countdown to EO Day 2018 which is on Friday June 29. Over the next 100 days the EOA will be working with employee owned business, those who support and advise employee owned businesses and those who support the case for having more employee ownership as part of the UK business mix to plan celebrations for EO Day 2018. EO Day is a national campaign which celebrates what employee ownership means to employee owners, businesses and the impact they have on their local economies and sees businesses holding staff events, inviting VIPs or other businesses for tours, holding awareness events and much ...

1,000 connections made on EOA online platform EO Hub

The EO Hub has seen more than 1,000 connections between its members with 32 discussions already started since it launched in January. As an EOA member you can join the EO Hub via the online platform or the app. You can now also be the news by adding your employee owned related stories to the EO Hub news section and a weekly digest has also been launched to keep you informed of the most popular discussions, along with who has recently joined the EO Hub – don’t forget to tick the box to receive it. Sign up or sign in

Bigger Thinking Series Part 3 – Planning for success; planning for succession

It sounds incredible that successful UK companies, responsible for employing hundreds if not thousands of people may have business shelf lives that are wholly reliant upon either the existing directors living forever, or the business being sold, uprooted or asset stripped. Shockingly, this is the case for many businesses today. Without a strategy for succession of ownership, the jobs, profits and products of these companies will potentially simply cease to exist, or disappear According to Imperial College Business School, only 20 percent of UK family-owned businesses make it to the third generation. This is more alarming when considering that ...

Press release: Just call me Steve! Dame Stephanie CH to give 2018 Robert Oakeshott Lecture

A leading entrepreneur and champion of women’s rights will deliver the EOA’s 2018 Robert Oakeshott Lecture. After coming to the UK as a child refugee in 1939, Dame Stephanie Shirley went on to build a business in the IT industry that helped women to work part time in the technology sector. Adopting the name ‘Steve’ to help win contracts in the male dominated IT sector, she went on to be an outspoken champion of women's rights, as well as an ambassador for autism awareness, donating more than £67m to charity. After establishing her female-friendly software company in 1962 she broke new ground to take it into co-ownership, peaking at ...

Member news: Sopra Steria becomes Trustee member of the EOA

Sopra Steria and the Employee Ownership Association (EOA) are delighted to announce that Sopra Steria has become a Trustee member of the EOA in the UK. Employee share ownership has always formed a core part of Sopra Steria’s heritage and is seen by the company as a key driver for engaging employees, encouraging entrepreneurship and maintaining independence. At Group level around 7% of the share capital is owned by or managed for employees, with a further 22.6% held by founders, historic and current managers. The company frequently offers employee share programmes that are adopted enthusiastically by employees across the world. In the UK, ...

Bigger Thinking Series Part 2: Productivity and Performance Post-Brexit

2018 will be a year of change for UK businesses in so many ways; Brexit has seen to that. 2017 ended with news headlines of UK productivity lagging across a many markets. Now, in 2018, predictions regarding productivity levels, combined with the uncertainty of Brexit, are at times, as wild and varied as the process of exit is complicated. And whether you're forlorn about the grand exit, or delighted, the fact remains; the future success of the UK economy in a post-Brexit era will be heavily influenced by levels of productivity. The UK media has been focused on automation and investment in technology as the major routes to improve productivity ...

Assets don’t exist, only people

If business leaders genuinely believe that their people are their best ‘assets’ and make their brand so special, then why do so few employees get to input into management-level decisions? Why are most boardrooms made up of a tiny handful of people who do not even come close to representing the wider make-up of the workforce accurately? From recruitment adverts to marketing campaigns, time and time again, I see companies boasting about how ‘their people are their biggest asset’ and how much they are loved by the business leaders. But when you scratch beneath the surface, quite quickly you can see that the 'love' of the workforce rarely ...