Firms Team up for Employee Ownership Service

Two South West advisory firms have joined forces to offer a new service to help businesses to convert to employee ownership.

Employee-owned law firm Stephens Scown and consultancy Boardroom Advisors will help companies looking to make the transition.

Example businesses include the likes of John Lewis and Richer Sounds.

Damian Lambkin, South West regional director of Boardroom Advisors, said: “Employee ownership is perfect for the post-Covid world. It fits well with the focus on social responsibility and offers advantages over a trade sale or buyout.

“There is no need to find a buyer or investor, or spend months negotiating while the other party chips away at the price.

“The business is sold at full price and there is no capital gains tax to pay.”

Stephens Scown, which has offices in Exeter, Truro and St Austell, became the first large law firm to become employee-owned in 2016. It advises businesses on the legal issues associated with employee ownership.

Christian Wilson, partner and specialist in employee ownership, added: “The coronavirus pandemic has generated a lot of discussion about the best way of doing business once it is all over.

“There is a sense that business needs to be about more than profit alone. People, purpose and planet are becoming more important and employee ownership is an option which delivers these.”

How does Employee Ownership compare with other succession options?

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Originally published on: InsiderMedia

Written by: John Courtney

John is highly ranked in the Top 100 UK Entrepreneurs list by City AM and is winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award from techSPARK. He has been a Board Director himself for over 40 years and first started placing Non-Executive Directors over 25 years ago. John founded and ran seven of his own businesses including a Management Consultancy for 10 years, a Corporate Finance offering for 10 years and a mid-sized Digital Agency for another 10 years.