Eo Day Stories: Fieldfisher employee ownership team complete over £275m worth of EOT transactions

European law firm Fieldfisher is delighted to celebrate Employee Ownership Day 2020. As leading advisers on employee ownership, Fieldfisher is marking the occasion by reflecting on how the firm has recently contributed to the shaping and success of the EO business model.

Fieldfisher don’t just advise on employee ownership, we helped create the UK’s employee ownership framework and continue to work to simplify its regulation and increase its take-up in the UK and abroad.  As the UK celebrates EO Day 2020, Fieldfisher reviews some of its recent activities to develop employee ownership in the UK and around the world.

#EOIsTheAnswer

Fieldfisher has been at the heart of promoting employee ownership for over 30 years.  We can say with confidence that employee ownership is the answer to many questions, including how to achieve better business in a way that provides good work and reduces inequality.

Employee ownership continues to grow in the UK.  We’re delighted to remain at the forefront of achieving this success and to announce that over the last 18 months we’ve supported a business a month to convert to this successful business model.  As a result, 1,300+ more employees now have a stake in their business and a voice in its affairs.  Over £275m of value has transferred into employee ownership trusts (EOTs). That’s a massive transfer of value into the hands of trustees that have a duty to act in the best interests of all employees. This way of owning and running a business fits well with the new nationwide recognition that the wellbeing of every worker is vital to making businesses succeed and to keeping the economy and society in good shape.

The remarkable success of EOTs in the UK means other countries are taking an interest in them.  In particular, Fieldfisher is supporting the Irish ProShare Association and EO Australia to get EOTs accepted in Ireland and down under.

Fieldfisher’s employee ownership team firmly believe that #EOIsTheAnswer.

Commenting on EO Day, Neil Palmer and Mark Gearing, partners in Fieldfisher’s London office have said:

“It is great to see that in London and Cambridge in particular, there have been increases in the range of businesses considering EO succession planning solutions across a variety of industries.

From technology consultancies to financial advisers via the arts, EO has been the answer”.

Mary Erb, partner in Fieldfisher Manchester, who heads up our employee ownership offering in the North, added:

“The North of the UK has seen a substantial rise in the number of businesses looking to transfer to EO in the last year and, in a post-Covid landscape, I’m certain that we will see that number increase as business owners look for ways to uplift employee morale, increase employee engagement and safeguard the future of businesses that have been lovingly built up by them over the years. 

Across a multitude of sectors, EO is, and will be, the answer”