Specialist employee ownership advisers · Since 2011
For owners thinking about what comes next, employee ownership offers something unusual: a way to realise the value you have created without letting go of the future you have built. Deciding whether it is the right path demands specialist advice, practical experience and an honest assessment of the alternatives. That is all we do, and we have helped more than 170 businesses navigate that decision.
What owners are really weighing
You have spent years—often decades—building something valuable. When you begin to think about stepping back, the challenge is rarely just about selling. It is about realising the value you have created while protecting the business, the people and the culture that made it successful.
A sale to an employee ownership trust is a full-value, tax-efficient exit — on a timetable you control, without the intrusion, uncertainty and cultural risk of a trade sale or a private-equity process.
Ownership passes to the people who built the business with you. The culture, the name and the independence stay intact. The company continues as itself, rather than being absorbed into someone else's.
You don't have to choose between realising the value you've created and protecting the future of your business. With the right advice, you can have both.
What we do
Since 2011, Co-ownership Solutions has advised on more than 170 Employee Ownership Trust and Employee Benefit Trust transactions across the UK — businesses of five employees and of five hundred, in almost every sector.
For most law and accountancy firms, employee ownership is one department among many. For us it is the whole firm. That depth shows in the advice: we have seen the questions before, we know where transactions go wrong, and we know what good looks like ten years after completion.
Some clients engage us for a single transaction. Others work with us for many years afterwards. Both matter equally to us.
In their words
“They told us at the second meeting that an EOT wasn't the obvious answer for us yet, and what needed to change first. That honesty is why we came back two years later.”
Founder, engineering business, Leeds“Our accountant said: speak to Co-ownership Solutions before you speak to anyone else. He was right.”
Founder, professional services firm, Belfast“We became employee-owned with another adviser and were left with questions nobody could answer. They sorted the governance out in months.”
Trustee Chair, manufacturing business, Scotland“They were the only people who told us plainly what the deal would cost and what it would not do. No spin. We knew exactly where we stood.”
Owner, Fire Safety Company, Birmingham“The fixed fee meant there was never a moment where we worried that asking a question would cost us more. It changes the whole relationship.”
Finance Director, construction firm, Glasgow“Three years on they still pick up the phone. For a firm we engaged for one transaction, that has been remarkable.”
Managing Partner, landscape architects, Altrincham“They explained the trust and the tax in language our whole management team could follow. Nobody had managed that before.”
CEO, technology business, Norwich“We interviewed three advisers. Co-ownership Solutions were the only ones who asked whether employee ownership was even the right answer for us.”
Founder, printing business, GloucesterOur approach
Employee ownership sits alongside a trade sale, private equity, a management buyout, passing the business to family, or simply carrying on. Each can be the right answer for the right owner. Our job is to help you see clearly which is right for you — and to say so plainly, even when the honest answer is not us.
Why clients choose us
We have no product to sell and no stake in your decision. Objectivity is the point of engaging us.
One subject since 2011. We know employee ownership the way only a firm that does nothing else can.
Trusts, tax and governance are technical. Our explanations are not. Clients tell us this is what they remember.
170+ employee ownership transactions·Advising since 2011·Trusted by business owners across the UK
Services
For owners weighing up succession. Valuation, funding, tax, governance and implementation — managed end to end by people who do nothing else.
About this serviceGovernance, trust deeds, HMRC matters and trustee questions — very often where another adviser handled the original transaction.
About this serviceCommercial judgement, constructive challenge and long-term stewardship — closer to an experienced non-executive than a consultant.
About this serviceHow we work
Wherever possible we agree a fixed fee before we start, so the economics of the advice are never in tension with the advice itself.
We start by understanding your business, your objectives and your timescale. There is no obligation and no hard sell — often the most useful thing we do at this stage is answer questions.
We tell you whether employee ownership fits — and compare it properly against your alternatives, including trade sale and management buyout.
We project-manage the whole transition — structure, funding, tax clearances, documentation and communication with your employees — working alongside regulated law firms where reserved legal work is required.
Good employee ownership is built in the years after completion. We stay involved where clients want us — as advisers, and in some cases as independent trustees.
Trusted by businesses across the UK
A selection of the businesses we have advised. Most arrived, as most do, on a recommendation.
Resources
Guide
What an EOT is, how it works, the tax position, and what life looks like on the other side.
Read the guideGuide
An honest look at when employee ownership works well — and when another route serves you better.
Read the guideCase studies
Anonymised accounts of real transactions: the situation, the options, the advice and the outcome.
Read the case studiesIf you are weighing what comes next for your business, the most useful first step is a conversation with people who do only this. It costs nothing and commits you to nothing — and we will tell you, honestly, whether employee ownership deserves a place on your shortlist.