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Topical discussions about employee ownership and employee share plans

As summer holidays come to an end, business owners often start thinking about getting an employee share plan in place for a New Year launch.  With that in mind, it feels like a good time to go back to basics and think about the first...

Employee Ownership Trusts (EOTs) offer a popular and flexible succession solution for private company owners.  A key advantage is that sellers pay no capital gains tax if they sell to an EOT.   The EOT model is becoming more widely accepted as a genuine commercial ownership...

If your company is owned by an Employee Ownership Trust, you can pay your employees an income tax-free bonus every year. You can pay up to £3,600 to each employee.  Often, companies wait till the sellers' debt has been paid off before they pay bonuses. ...

Government has published draft legislation to extend the time limit for notification of the grant of EMI options.  Currently, companies must notify HM Revenue & Customs of an EMI option grant within 92 days of the date of grant.  This limit will be extended for...

Okay, maybe not those ears, but the ears of HM Treasury and HM Revenue & Customs, at least. There are currently two real chances to provide feedback to government on how employee share ownership plans are working for your business and your employees.  Consultation on EOTs Employee Ownership...

Employee share plans are a wonderful way to attract new hires, incentivise key directors and motivate your staff.  There is plenty of choice as to what kind of scheme you can use, and it isn’t always obvious which is the best one to choose.  Before...

Contrary to popular belief, us share plan lawyers don’t really like making things complicated just for the sake of it.  So over the past couple of years, we’ve been delighted that the powers that be have taken the time to consider how tax-advantaged employee share schemes...

Companies with employee share plans in place have until Tuesday 6 July to file their annual returns with HM Revenue & Customs on their Employment Related Securities portal. If you have granted options to your employees, or given them shares, or let them buy shares –...

The Employee Ownership Top 50, originally created in 2014 by the late Nigel Mason, is a list of the largest 50 private employee-owned companies by number of employees in the UK. RM2 is proudly continuing the research as part of Nigel’s legacy, and publishing it...

Many private companies use employee share option plans, including Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI) and Company Share Option Plan (CSOP), to deliver a reward to employees when the company is sold.    If you’re considering selling your company, it’s important to make sure your share plan is in...

Selling your business to an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) doesn’t necessarily mean that the commercial operation of the business will change significantly after transition.  Of course, the company will still need to operate profitably, particularly if you’re still going to be paid out of post-tax...

When business owners come to us to ask about share plans, the first port of call is almost always the ever popular Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI) option plan. EMI is very flexible and tax efficient and will work for many smaller companies.  But there is an...

You might have identified a sale to an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) as a potential succession solution, but just because you’re transferring your business to your employees doesn’t mean you don’t want to get a realistic price for the company you’ve spent years building. Here are...

The end of the tax year means that it’s time to make sure all your employee share plans information is up to date.  If you’ve got an employee share scheme, you’ll need to file a return on HMRC’s Employment Related Securities portal by 6 July...

It’s crucial for any company to retain their staff members, ensuring that the most talented employees stay for the long term, as opposed to moving on.    Why retention is important This isn’t just about being kind to employees.  Keeping your employees for a longer period can...