TLT forms new partnership to support employee ownership growth

The employee ownership sector has doubled in the last five years, with Richer Sounds and Riverford Organic Farmers part of a recent wave of high-profile conversions. TLT has supported many clients considering a move to employee ownership, including Oscar® winning studio Aardman Animations on its transfer of the company into employee ownership in November 2018.

As an alternative to conventional trade sales, there is an increasing appetite for business owners to consider employee ownership as an exit strategy. With the potential for growth in this sector to continue, the partnership has identified the need to offer more support to those in the early stages of business succession planning.

As part of this approach, the partnership is launching the UK’s first ever Employee Ownership Accelerator – a pilot learning programme – with aims to support both business owners who are actively considering employee ownership as a route, and also those leading values-driven organisations who may be considering their future legacy.

The accelerator will support a cohort of business owners to explore employee ownership models and look at how to determine what will work for them, and also consider the legal, financial and tax implications.

Deb Oxley, Chief Executive of the EOA, said:

“As the employee ownership sector grows, so does the knowledge and best practice about what makes a good employee owned business. It is great to see the launch of new initiatives that support this as well as the aims of the EOA – to unlock the potential of people, businesses and the economy through employee ownership.”

Ben Watson, partner at TLT who leads the firm’s work on employee ownership, said:

‚ÄúWe are delighted to be involved in this partnership. Over the last decade, we‚Äôve worked with many employee-owned businesses, either in planning their transition or in helping them to make the most of the employee owned model.

“We strongly believe in employee ownership as an alternative business model and are excited to be able to support this new initiative. We hope it will further increase awareness within the UK business community.”

The programme of supporting content and events includes:

• Employee Ownership Q&A series with six business owners who have recently converted to employee ownership, including Aardman Animations, Riverford Organics, Richer Sounds, Sawdays and Answer.
• Employee Ownership Day 90-min online interactive Q&A with owner-founder on their journey. June 2021
• Funding Conversions: Finance and Employee Ownership 90-min online event. Date TBC

Click here to find out more and register by 9 July 2021.