Employee ownership

We have a diverse range of clients who are interested in how employee ownership could shape their business. Some are family businesses looking to deal with succession, others are led by single or multiple founders who are keen to protect the ethos of their business by moving to an employee ownership model.

We offer support to clients considering moving to employee ownership through initial legal and planning advice, as well as linking those clients to others locally who are involved in employee ownership. We provide the legal documentation and tax clearances necessary to implement employee ownership and regularly assist in project management.

We're members of the Employee Ownership Association and provide insightful strategic direction to businesses contemplating employee ownership. We are also a central part of the Employee Ownership Association network in the South West.

Moving to employee ownership is a significant decision and one that needs support. We help to ensure our clients have access to all the information they need to implement employee ownership through practical and common sense advice.

Experience

• Acting for Aardman on the sale of its business to an Employee Ownership Trust, including advice on tax, structuring and corporate governance. This was one of the highest profile transitions to employee ownership in the UK for many years.
• Advising an employee owned technology company on the defence of a potential takeover bid. A takeover offer for an employee owned company is extremely rare and required very careful analysis of the obligations and responsibilities of the directors and the trustees of the Employee Ownership Trust.
• Advised a photographic equipment retailer on the implementation of Employee Shareholder Status for key employees, through a growth share plan. This was a critical piece of pre-exit planning.
• Advising Alastair Sawday Publishing Limited on its transition to employee/charity ownership. We advised on all aspects of this innovative project which established an underlying shareholder structure which is, as far as we are aware, unique.