The total number of employee owned businesses in the UK has reached ~2,824 with employee owners now standing at ~547,971.
The data is taken from the March 2026 edition of the Employee Owned Business Register developed by the eoa and the White Rose Employee Ownership Centre and sponsored by eoa Trustee member Gripple.
The current number of EOBs is now over a third (37%) of the way towards hitting our goal of 7,500 EOBs by 2030. The target – along with a stretch goal of 10,000 EOBs – is the prime intent of the UK Employee Owned Growth Strategy.
Transitions in 2025
Latest analysis forecasts 500 employee ownership transitions in 2025, which equates to 20% growth in total EOBs on the previous year.
“Over the last five years we’ve seen a rapid rise in the number of employee owned businesses in the UK with over 30% year on year growth since 2020,” said James de le Vingne, Chief Executive of the eoa.
“The 2025 figure of 500 new EOBs is on a par with previous years, but as the sector is larger, the percentage growth is lower but still remains steady.”
Transitions in 2026
With the reduction in Capital Gains Tax (CGT) relief in the 2025 Budget, there’s been a pause in transitions during the first few months of the year.
This was a reasonable response to a change in working practices as we sought clarity from HMRC on how the tax is paid, and business owners who were mid-deal reassessed their options.
We’re now seeing sales to EOTs picking up again, and we’ve been working closely with our Specialist Advisor and Supporter members to monitor deal flow in 2026.
“We’re hearing some transitions have been postponed until the new tax year or even later in the year to allow businesses to build up greater cash reserves to offset the new tax payments,” said James.
“But EO remains a favourable option because it continues to help protect the business that founders have built up and reward the employees that have helped them build it.”
The call for updated formal guidance from HMRC is essential to give business owners the confidence to proceed with employee ownership. Although we’ve been informed this is being updated, we don’t currently have a timeline for when it will be published.
How You Can Help Grow the EO Sector
There’s also a role you can play in raising awareness of EO to encourage more business owners to consider EO.
As an employee owned business, you and your employee owners can help to support sector growth whilst raising your business profile by becoming an invaluable EO champion.
Your EO story can help create awareness of EO in your region, sector, and profession.
To empower you to shout about, promote, and signpost about everything EO, we’ve prepared an Advocacy Pack.
It contains the latest sector data, insights from major research papers, information about EO, and tools to share your EO stories.
The pack will be updated 2-3 times a year to ensure it contains the most up to date sector stats. Members can access these updates directly from our website, in the eo Hub, or by direct request.
Click or tap here to download the Advocacy Pack now and become an EO sector champion.
Why not use this to plan your activity on 19 June?