Specialist Adviser - Baxendale Employee Ownership 

Since the introduction of Employee Ownership Trusts (EOTs) in 2014, Baxendale Employee Ownership has transitioned more than 250 businesses to EO across the UK, resulting in 15,000+ employee owners. 

As an employee owned business, the team strongly believes in business being a force for good which has seen them build on their EO status with a B Corp accreditation.

They’re the headline sponsor for the eoa Annual Conference 2022-2024 and have consistently supported key eoa events, learning, and sector activity throughout its history.

In Our Words – What We Do and Why

“Employee Ownership is what we do: we help owners and founders transition their businesses into employee ownership and support businesses at all stages of employee ownership.

“We know that no two employee owned businesses are the same, so we work closely with our clients to find the right solutions for them - creating employee owned structures that support businesses, their owners, leaders, and employees, to sustain long term successful independent ownership.

“We believe that the true benefits of employee ownership can be seen when employees have a real voice in the organisations they work in and are able to share in the wealth that they help create, so our services are aimed at supporting this too.

“As employee owners ourselves, we are passionate about creating employee owned structures that deliver for all stakeholders.  We have the breadth of skills in our team to deliver creative solutions to the highest of standards.”

What Does This Look Like – Our Recipe for Great EO

Baxendale Employee Ownership is a multi-disciplinary team of lawyers and consultants; providing start-to-finish support for businesses moving into employee ownership, drawing on the legal and commercial experience of our expert team. 

• Workshops for owners and founders exploring their succession options
• A start to finish transition of ownership to EO; including introducing Employee Ownership Trusts (EOT), hybrid, and other EO ownership models.
• Advice on and creating the financial, legal, and governance structures for a transition into EO that suits the objectives of the business owner and the business.
• Work with employees to help them understand the changes that are taking place and what employee ownership will mean for them.

Bringing EO to Life

We support thousands of employee owners to engage with their companies as owners. This includes:

• Training for Trustee & Company Directors on their roles and responsibilities
• Advice and support on employee voice and engagement
• Expert advice on reward in EOBs, including design and implementation of share schemes such as Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI) and Share Incentive Plans (SIP)
• Ownership and Governance Reviews for mature EOBs 

Top Tips

1. When making a decision about business succession, it’s important to focus on your objectives for yourself, the company, and the employees. The EOT tax reliefs are attractive, but they shouldn’t lead your decision-making process. 
2. No two EOBs are the same – beware of advisers with a “one size fits all” approach; you should be able to recognise your business in the documentation and communications around the new structure, as they’ll be critical to the success of the business in the future.
3. The transition is only the beginning, creating a true ownership culture  takes time and commitment from those leading the business, but the benefits are worth it.