Have you seen that the latest sector figures show a slight dip in the growth of creation of new employee-owned businesses. It's been report in The Times who have worked with us on this article.
We thought we'd share with you that this does not signal a slowdown in ambition or progress - far from it.
The sector is estimated to grow by a healthy 350+ new EOBs in 2025, meaning the sector will be an estimated 2660+ EOBs by the end of this year.
It does, however, end a 10-year run of year-on-year growth and follows a bumper year from transitions of 550+ in 2024.
Many of our supporter members are still very busy with transitions - are any of our advisors having a different experience?
While we are looking at the trends that could be affecting the growth of EO succession (expensive debt, rising costs, a general change in the volume of M&As, a false peak caused by uncertainty of the CGT reliefs for the EOT), we'd love to hear what you think could be effecting this.
Employee Ownership: A Clear Path for Growth
The news comes as we are about our new sector growth strategy that launces at the eoa conference on November 25 and 26 with a focus on:
Innovation - exploring where EO could have real world impact such as in new sectors
Imitation - accelerating what already works in mature EO sectors so it becomes a mainstream succession plan.
The ambitious strategy has evolved from positive conversations with stakeholders including the Mutual and Cooperative Sector Business Council about EO being part of a bigger shift towards a fairer, more participatory economy.
Our Chief Executive James de le Vingne said:
"The employee owned sector has seen significant growth over the past ten years and continues to grow supported by a stable policy and tax regime most notably the EOT (employee ownership trust).
“This recent dip in year-on-year growth serves as reminder that despite a decade of learning, education, and insights driving growth, a greater alignment of EO succession with business support infrastructure and regional and sector growth plans are needed to feel the full opportunity of people powered growth.
“Our growth strategy builds on a decade of learning from pioneering business founders, employee owners, and advisors working with the eoa to develop insights on where and how we can grow the sector and develop EO excellence that contributes to a happier and more resilient future economy.”