“They said they wanted it to be part of a lasting legacy and they’re on board with acquisitions. They’ve all rolled their sleeves up to want to make Granby bigger.”
Anthony Richardson added: “I’ve been approached about selling the business and it’s a difficult decision to take it out of employee ownership.
“The decisions aren’t only based on financial reasons. It’s about job security and providing a better future with more options.”
Caroline Noblett says Granby’s EOT journey has ‘been an enjoyable one’ but warns: “Don’t do it if you’re not doing it for the people. I don’t think it works.”
Dean Curtis, Stephen Harding, Mairead Platt, Iain Round and Stephen Hadlow
The group has just celebrated ‘financial freedom’ – the point at which the EOT transaction has been paid off and employees start seeing bigger direct financial benefits.
Anthony said: “We’ve had profit share each year. We’re embedding wider benefits – flexible holidays, life insurance, and more. It’s not just pay – it’s total reward.
“It’s about business and succession planning as well. When we became employee owned, we had a managing director and a team but it was not structured in terms of reporting lines or responsibilities for growing the teams.
“We’ve now got a much more rounded business in terms of employee engagement
“But it’s then telling them we are releasing financial information and weighing up how much they need to know and making sure they understand it.
“We set up employee forums and made sure we were going back quickly with responses.”
Anthony Richardson says that for many businesses, EOT starts with curiosity – and some initial scepticism.
He said: “Some employees thought it was a scam. We replaced their £200 Christmas bonus with profit share – and they got five times as much. Now, they see the value.”
Guests from Nelson-based Barnfield Construction told delegates that employees
With higher satisfaction for employees, they
remain engaged in the shared values and goals that help contribute to success
and people taking responsibility for the departments. They really believe in what the business does and its culture and values.”
Guests heard another success story from Granby Marketing, based in Blackburn.
Granby saw EOT as a perfect fit for their outgoing owner and managing director Jo Kimber to safeguard the business’s values and purpose.
Incoming managing director Caroline Noblett said: “Jo felt Granby might be absorbed in a trade sale. EOT allowed her to create a lasting legacy and give back to the team.”
Granby employs 80 members of staff and Caroline recalls signing the EOT three years ago at Brabners office in the room where the event was being held.
Caroline says: “It is about getting the balance right, the communication. Day-to-day we had to educate people and tell them it was business as usual.
quickly embraced their new EOT model after hands-on engagement sessions with their leadership team.
LOOKING AHEAD
So, what does the future hold for EOT businesses and would either Granby or Raised Floor Solutions consider being bought out?
Caroline said: “When we were planning, we asked our employees what they wanted to happen in five years.
Anthony added that he would urge business owners to speak to other EOT businesses within their sector and how they made it work.
Meanwhile, Dean Curtis, corporate finance director at Beever and Struthers, which has offices in Lancashire, Manchester, Birmingham and London, says they have been involved in more than 20 EOTs.
He said: “We’ve a lot of experience in this sector.
“From a professional point of view, I’ve learned more about how an EOT works in practice and we specifically set this up as a post-EOT session.
“It’s been really good to hear that there’s a process and what happens afterwards.”
Stephen Harding, tax partner at Beever and Struthers said: “In practice, we have seen many of our EOT clients paying the tax free bonuses which keeps the employees motivated. The government did announce changes in the recent budgets but these only affect EOTS created after 30 October 2024.”
Iain Round, partner at Beever and Struthers, said: “We’ve talked around a lot of topics and we were in a recent discussion with a client about EOT.
“It’s about making sure that they understand it and educating them about what’s involved. It ranges from agreeing a sensible valuation compared to what they might have got with a trade sale.
“You need to leave something for the employees, not taking everything out on day one and also structuring the funding.”
Lesley Robinson
beeverstruthers.co.uk |
enquiries@beeverstruthers.co.uk | 0333 091 0411 LANCASHIREBUSINES SV
IEW.CO.UK
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