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Free thoughts, tips and tools for operational business leaders with 50 - 500 staff
Employee ownership
As a business owner, you've worked hard to build a successful business. You're now ready to exit, but you want to do so in a way that protects your emotional legacy as well as providing a reasonable return on your investment.
Employee ownership is a unique exit option that allows you to achieve both of these goals. By selling your business to an employee ownership trust (EOT), you can pass on your business to your employees, while also ensuring that the business continues to operate independently and remains in the local community.
I have led as Chair the setting up of three different trusts and was the first Chair of Trustees for a business that I guided to exit and Employee Ownership
I have led as Chair the setting up of three different trusts and was the first Chair of Trustees for a business that I guided to exit and Employee Ownership
A few tips from experience
A few tips from experience
Critical to the successful transition to a trust is, in my view, getting the messaging and culture right. Two key tips are to communicate to staff that
Becoming an employee trust enables continuity - of culture, attitudes and jobs. "It is the best way of protecting what we value about this business."
Becoming an employee trust does not mean everyone gets involved in every decision. The board remain accountable for running the business. The key change is that instead of being accountable to individual owners, they are accountable to a trust put in place to represent the interests of employees as a whole.
To reenforce that further. For an employee ownership trust to work properly as more than a tax saving mechanism the business needs an appropriate culture before legal transition. There must already be good employee engagement and a clear ethos beyond purely making money for the owners. And on the obverse, it will be difficult to transition to an employee trust where the business has a highly hierarchical, make money for the owner culture.
I am now available to guide you and facilitate your successful exit
I am now available to guide you and facilitate your successful exit
I have many years of experience guiding clients as they exit their business. I can help you to:
Understand how an Employee Trust might enable you to achieve your goals in exiting
Guide you through the sale of your business to the trust in a way that is best for you and your employees
Navigate the tricky financial, cultural and governance challenges involve when setting up and establishing an employee trust
Help you to plan and implement a communication process with employees that reassures, engages and enthuses
Train employees on their new roles and responsibilities in an employee-owned business
I am committed to helping business owners exit their businesses through employee ownership in a way that is beneficial for everyone involved. I have a deep understanding of the process and the challenges that business owners face, and I am here to support you every step of the way. I am confident that I can add significant value to your employee ownership journey.
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