Employee Ownership Blog

Corey Rosen

Six Percent of UK Business Transfers Are Now to Employee Ownership Trusts

In 2014, the United Kingdom passed a law providing a tax exemption for business owners selling to an employee ownership trust (EOT). An EOT is somewhat similar to a U.S. ESOP, but unlike an ESOP, with an EOT the employees do not have individual share accounts and do not have any claim on equity when they leave the company. Instead, the trust is meant to own the company in perpetuity on behalf of the employees, with the employees getting a dividend or profit share each year. New data confirm just how successful this tax incentive has been in encouraging transfers to EOTs in the UK. According to the European Federation of Employed Shareholders, 1,756 UK companies have been transferred to their 124,000 employees via EOTs as of July 2024. About 6% of UK business transfers so far in 2024 have been through EOTs, as the graph below shows.

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Eva Lianos

Introducing Speakers for “Is an ESOP Right for You?” Event in Phoenix

What will your legacy be? We are thrilled to announce our lineup of distinguished speakers and NCEO members for our upcoming “Is an ESOP Right for You?” event on October 21–22 in Phoenix, Arizona. This event promises to deliver invaluable insights and practical guidance for companies exploring the transition to an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP).

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Nancy Wiefek, Corey Rosen

Report Finds 53 Funds Investing in Employee-Owned Firms

A new report by Curt Lyon and Julie Menter of Transform Finance, Employee Ownership: Overview for Mission-Oriented Investors, identifies 53 funds in the U.S. and Canada that invest partly or entirely in employee-owned companies. Twenty-two of these funds focus only on employee ownership and target raising $1.6 billion to invest. The other funds, which target raising $3.8 billion, invest only some of their assets in employee ownership companies. Five funds focus just on ESOPs, while the others focus on non-ESOP equity sharing.

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Corey Rosen

House DOL Budget Omits WORK Act Funding, Senate Backs ESOP Support

The 2026 proposed appropriation for the Department of Labor (DOL) passed by the House Appropriations Committee lacks funding for state employee ownership offices authorized by the WORK Act that the Senate Appropriations Committee recommended in July. That committee is recommending an initial $2 million for 2025 to help fund state employee ownership outreach programs. The Senate committee also urged the DOL to finalize its ESOP valuation regulations.

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Ramona Rodriguez-Brooks

Forum Keynote Preview: Leadership Strategies

This September in Indianapolis, I’ll have the honor of joining Jen Briggs on the Fall Forum main stage for our keynote conversation, “Brewing Potential: Leadership Strategies for Employee-Owned Businesses.” Jen is an insightful and experienced leader, and we will present a candid “beer with the boss”-style keynote focused on building effective leadership that prioritizes high-performance culture. As we start our engines and prepare to #racetoIndy, I’d like to share a few of the landmark themes Jen and I plan to explore in the keynote.

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