Happy Employee Ownership Day 2025

As the UK Employee Ownership community celebrate EO day, we take a look at what employee ownership is and whether it would be worth considering as succession option for your family business? 

What Is Employee Ownership? 

The clue’s in the name. Put simply, EO is when employees have a say and a stake in the company they work for. 

Ownership can take a variety of forms – from employees directly owning shares in the company, to having shares held on their behalf in an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT).  

UK companies who have chosen EO as the way to secure sustainable success in the last 10 years range from household names Riverford Organics, Lush, Richer Sounds and Go Ape to eighth-generation family business Lodge Brothers, which transitioned to employee ownership in January 2024.  

Employee Ownership As A Succession Option 

As a Partner at Telos Partners, an employee-owned strategic change and advisory consultancy who support businesses with the leadership, governance and employee engagement aspects of transitioning to EO, we work with existing EO businesses to embed and accelerate the commercial and cultural benefits of being employee-owned.  

"Transitioning to employee ownership can safeguard the founder’s legacy while freeing the company to shape its own path," he explains. 

"It puts the business into the hands of the people who know it best and who, hopefully, also care passionately about securing its sustainable success." 

"Becoming employee-owned is one way a family business can retain and strengthen its culture even when family members are no longer around."

Empowering The Next Generation To Lead 

Having previously worked in and then led his own fourth-generation family business, Alex finds supporting others to explore EO – and achieve a smooth handover of the reins – particularly fulfilling.  

"I genuinely love it," he confirms.  "I’ve seen the impact of succession through my own family business as it passed from my grandfather and his brother to the next generation.  I’ve seen how a family business can be evolved and strengthened as new generations come on board – and I’ve seen the impact when some family members aren’t motivated to be involved. I’ve also seen the benefit that non-family members can bring."

"With employee ownership, it can be very empowering for the next generation (whether family or not) to understand there’s a future for them, with the opportunity to contribute to the direction of the business they now own."

Commercially, EO businesses have been shown to be more productive. They also invest more in supporting employee health and wellbeing, on-the-job training and critical benefits like flexible working, according to the findings of the eoa’s Knowledge Programme which was published in 2022.