The Power of eoa Community: Takeaways from our Bristol F2F 

Image: Attendees at this week's F2F EO Exchange in Bristol

Stuart Rootham, Executive Director at Howden, kicked things off with a keynote exploring Howden’s approach to transparency on business performance and how it supports employee involvement. 

By showcasing the intangible as well as tangible benefits, Howden is maintaining its business culture - one framed around the founder's values from when he first started the business three decades before. 

Direct share ownership isn’t a model that gets as much attention as the EOT but, as Stuart discussed, it’s been incredibly successful at Howden. 

This was showcased in the company’s recent employee survey results shared at the event: 

• 82% of employees responded to the survey
• 73,000 comments were shared
• Its net promoter score is 40, against an industry average of 30, signifying its employees highly recommend Howden as a place to work 

To help make direct ownership a success at your own business, Stuart shared plenty of advice including making hard decisions. It’s often not comfortable, but sometimes you just need to do it. Work hard on creating or cultivating your culture, eat, sleep, and breath EO in your business. And try to have fun! 

EMC Member Surgery 

As well as Stuart’s keynote, the event also featured a fascinating surgery with three members of the eoa Membership Council: Harry Pocknell from Salad Creative, Lisa Ballam from Torchbox, and Lucy Cockerill from Air Control Industries.  

The panel fielded questions from event host – our Deputy CEO Oliver Smith – as well as offering answers to burning EO questions from the audience. Here’s few of our favourites. 

When asked about the most positive impact since becoming employee owned, Harry cited the increased level of participation and accountability, aligning with the EO Framework's emphasis on empowering employees through shared values and practices.  

Lisa highlighted the transparency across Torchbox sites in the UK and internationally, noting the importance of sharing financial and decision-making responsibilities. She emphasised that it's key for employee owners to challenge the board if they aren’t being transparent, resonating with the framework’s focus on clearly defined EO roles. 

A question about financial transparency prompted insightful responses from the panel. Lucy shared that at Torchbox, they tell stories around their financial information so all employees understand where the money is going and the reasons behind it.  

This approach mirrors the Framework’s practice of measuring the evolving impact of EO actions on people and communities.  

Harry added that this storytelling ensures everyone is aware of the business's happenings, while Lisa advocated for full transparency down to the last penny, underscoring the framework's call for clearly defined roles and responsibilities. 

When asked what they’d do differently, Lucy stressed the need for more communication and greater opportunities to learn.  

Lisa mentioned the importance of engaging the team earlier in the journey to foster understanding of EO, reflecting the framework's principle of building a strong EO approach from the start.  

Harry expressed a desire for a better initial understanding of EO and more foundational questions early in the journey, underscoring the framework’s focus on the continuous development of EO roles and practices. 

All three felt they were informed about EO quite late in the journey and lacked a go-to resource for their questions, which made them feel like they were figuring it out on their own.  

This highlights the value of resources like the EO Framework and events such as our regular 'How to Become Employee Owned' webinar, which provide crucial guidance and support for businesses at any stage of their EO journey.  

The next webinar takes place in September, offering a great place to start for those exploring EO. 

Your Go-To EO Resource

There was a great mix of people in the room but all of them walked away with a better understanding of where they can get key EO information – namely, the eo Hub.

The Hub, our exclusive member community, resonates with attendees with many of them decided to join the 1,000+ members already signed up. 

If you’re not already signed up to the eo Hub, there’s no two ways about it – you’re missing out. Click or tap here to sign up now.

Keep an eye on our events pages for more EO events.