An employee buyout (selling to your workforce) is now recognised as one of the main business succession options for company owners, for a variety of reasons:

• There are a range of tax advantaged schemes, notably the Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) or Share Incentive Plan (SIP), that make structuring employee ownership or an employee buyout feasible and rewarding for owner and employees alike, whilst also offering tax incentives;

• Selling to the workforce preserves your legacy. The Company’s name, culture and ethos can all be retained.

• Employee buyouts tend to have a better record of sustainability than management buyouts, so the enterprise the owner created is more likely to survive.

• Employee buyouts are a lot less likely than a trade sale to result in closure of premises and production in local economies who may have come to rely on them for employment and commerce.

• Selling to your workforce doesn’t mean severing ties with the business. A number of employee buyouts are structured so that owners are able to retain a minority stake and a role in the business following the buyout.

Co-ownership Solutions has an extensive track record of providing specialist support and guidance to company owners wishing to transition into an employee ownership.

As a team, we have helped over 50 organisations, large and small, transition to either an employee owned or worker co-operative model of business.

We are a national specialist advisor for the employee ownership sector trade body, the Employee Ownership Association and specialist advisor for Co-operative Development Scotland’s business succession and employee ownership feasibility service.

We don’t do ‘one size fits all’ solutions or impose a prescribed ideological solution. Our team work with clients to deliver solutions that match the client’s unique aims, objectives and the organisation’s culture and history.

We are able to draw on legal and commercial experience working with some of the UK’s best known employee owned organisations, from Gripple to School Trends to Lindum, to deliver a tailor made start to finish solution.

Why choose us?

We’re passionate about employee owned and worker co-operative models of business. Our clients tell us that we deliver exceptional service and have unmatched expertise – feel free to ask them.

We are a specialist advisor for the nation’s employee ownership trade body, the Employee Ownership Association. We are a specialist advisor for Co-operative Development Scotland’s business succession and employee ownership feasibility service. We work with the nation’s trade body for co-operatives, Co-ops UK.