Topical discussions about employee ownership and employee share plans
Sorry, no punchline. But in the last three weeks, we’ve seen two very different companies make the move to employee ownership, demonstrating that the “John Lewis” model can work in any sector. In May, Kinetic plc, specialising in recruitment and payroll services, became employee owned by...
The point of an Enterprise Management Incentive scheme (“EMI”) (or giving share options / equity to employees in general) is not financial: it’s emotional. Specifically, it’s to change an employee’s emotional state to be more favourable to being recruited, retained and motivated. We’re always on...
An often neglected consideration when structuring the financing for an Employee Ownership Trust ("EOT") transaction involves the concept of distributable reserves (“DR”). Simply put, distributable reserves are the accumulated earnings of the business over time, less any dividends paid. They may also be referred to...
Share plans talk in the last few weeks has focused on Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) options – with relief all round when EU state aid was reconfirmed for this tax advantaged share option plan. The EMI scheme is the best employee share option plan in terms...
Businesses and advisors breathed a collective sigh of relief on 16 May 2018, when the EU commission announced in a press release that Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) had received EU state aid approval. At the time, no official case note was available, so advisors were left...
One of the questions we get frequently from vendors is what percentage of the company’s shares should be sold to an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT). The answer will vary based upon the company profile and the vendors’ objectives. With only a few exceptions, our clients...
In brief: In April 2018, HMRC announced that EU approval for Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) tax reliefs had been delayed, creating doubt and uncertainty for companies wanting to grant EMI options. On 15 May 2018, the EU confirmed their approval for EMI, so EMI’s status...
In brief: a temporary breach of EU law by the UK government could (in theory) negate the attractive tax reliefs for EMI schemes. In practice, this concern only arises for EMI schemes breaching generous financial thresholds, and the average EMI scheme will not be affected. What’s...
A recent case emphasises the importance of being clear about employment status in relation to share ownership. Here, the failure for the appellant to demonstrate that he was an employee resulted in a significant loss of tax relief on the sale of shares. ...
We’ve published a helpful checklist to set out some key steps to getting your share plan right. Step 1 - It's all about planning (see our previous blog "Your share plan - get the first step right"). Step 2 - Working how much to give away under...
There’s been plenty of noise in the last week or so about the fact that EU state aid permission relating to Enterprise Management Incentive ("EMI") options has not been renewed.If you assume the worst, this means that any EMI options granted after 11.00pm on Friday...
The High Court recently ruled in favour of two former employees of Lloyd Bank plc, finding that shares that they were awarded under a share plan had been wrongfully withheld. This happened when the board attempted to change the vesting conditions for share awards retrospectively by...
Author: Nigel Mason Performance targets are a common feature of share option awards, granted under plans such as the Enterprise Management Incentive Plan (EMI) but are they really necessary? That might be a controversial question, especially for companies in sectors with a strong culture of performance...
As we approach the end of the tax year, our Operations Team starts to think about the share plan annual returns that we will prepare and submit for our clients. Since April 2014 HMRC has required all reportable share schemes to be registered online under Employment...
The Court of Appeal has recently overturned a decision by the Employment Appeal Tribunal on age discrimination regarding an employee share plan. The new decision highlights that it may be appropriate for employers to discriminate based on age, but only in certain circumstances. Some share...
