Client case study: A journey to an employee ownership trust

Assure Consulting is an SME, owner managed business based in Bedford. They are a long term client of MHA, and we have previously worked with the client on various matters including to bring employees in as shareholders of the trading company.

The challenge

The owner-managers of Assure Consulting wished to exit the Group as shareholders of the parent company. The challenge they faced was exiting the business in way that avoided selling to a large corporate, and also retained the existing culture and the ethos of the company.

Selling to an Employee Ownership Trust appeared to be a good solution to address the challenge and achieve both goals – however, in this circumstance, selling to an EOT presented an additional challenge because an existing subsidiary company within the Group included employees as shareholders. An EOT only enables a tax free sale of the parent company, not the subsidiary.

The final solution needed to allow our clients to exit the business in line with their goals, whilst being mindful of their wishes to maintain the company culture and ethos, and allowing the growth of the team to continue.

The solution

Hear directly from our client about his experience of this journey to an EOT with MHA, and how our solution met not only his goals, but also engaged his stakeholders, and allowed continued growth of the business.

He is joined by MHA Tax Director Steven Tebbutt, who explains the approach our private client tax team took to this challenge, and how successful outcomes was reached for both the owners and the employees.