Our role
ECCO is an organisation that facilitates the planning and transition for a UK company to become ‘Employee Controlled’ under the UK Government’s Employee Ownership Trust (‘EOT’) structure. An EOT can give founders and shareholders a clear path to a CGT free exit.
Beyond the EOT sale itself, our goal is to become a strategic partner to the business, supporting the long-term operation, growth and opportunities as an Employee Controlled Company (ECCO).
In addition to the company now working on behalf of its workforce, and all employees participating in profit distributions, we can aid teams to design, implement and operate a sustainable social impact plan that embeds values beyond profits alone into an organisation’s strategy and brand.
Our mission is to become a force for change in UK business
We believe in the power of organisations to not only drive our economy, but to create lasting social prosperity through their impact beyond profit and workforce protection.
Employee Ownership is a key driver to supporting this goal; removing the control and influence of external shareholders whilst building dynamic, socially conscious businesses which remain under UK ownership.
Creating a ‘win win’ for Exits
The UK has an incredible track record for innovation and building pioneering global businesses, both new and old. The problem is that ‘UK plc’ is not the behemoth it once was – London’s junior markets are arguably broken and trade acquirers are simply bigger and bolder overseas.
This means that our most promising growth and technology businesses, alongside established organisations with exiting founders, are either listing overseas or being sold to non-UK organisations. When this happens, where does the long-term future lie for the UK? Even more critically, what protections are there for existing employees?
Founders and shareholders of course still need to be rewarded for their hard work, investment risk and subsequent success – without this prospect of reward, we would have no investment, innovation or job creation!
Recognising this, the UK government created the Employee Ownership Trust structure back in 2014 to enable a controlling interest (min 51%) to be sold to a trust created for the benefit of staff, whereby the shares are sold for market value and free from CGT. The capital required for this acquisition can come from cash in the business, future earnings or external funding including a debt facility.
Our support
Feasibility Report
Detailed analysis highlighting full costs, timeframes and process map for EOT setup and ongoing management.
Employee Engagement
In person and digital communication designed to not only inform but make all staff part of the process.
Partner Referrals
We build the brief and obtain quotes from high quality strategic delivery partners which include legal, valuation and financing support.
Project Management
Becoming Employee Controlled is not simply a legal or finance transaction. Our job is to facilitate the transition for all stakeholders.
ECCOx Tech Platform
Workforce engagement platform that integrates corporate strategy, financials, board reporting, voting, and internal comms.
Growth through ECCO
Ongoing support and opportunities to maximise value as an Employee Controlled Company, both for the business and its team.
Employee engagement and empowerment platform that facilitates business transparency, active team input and strategic awareness, whilst also nurturing a community driven corporate culture. Some of the featured highlights are shown below but please get in contact to arrange a full demo.
Internal Comms Network
Workflow and community driven internal comms incorporating group based messaging, alongside key features such as surveys/polls and events scheduling.
TeamVote
Empower employee voice through enabling ideas and issues to be raised and voted on – all TeamVotes that get 51% agreement get added to next Board Meeting.
Performance Transparency
High level performance dashboard available to all staff showing customisable financial and operational metrics including forecast and prior year analysis.
Management Reporting
Digital Board Packs to simplify and speed process for management whilst providing library of all meetings for all employees with progress tracking.
Dynamic Strategy Portal
Open access for staff to live strategy and policy documents. Strategy is what drives the business and therefore should be understood by whole team.
Business Blueprint
Action driven approach to strategy broken into 3 areas: The Why (Mission), The What (Corporate), The How (Divisional). Clear, concise & tracked outputs for the business.
Blog & Insights
Stay updated with the latest news and articles from us and our partners.
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