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EFES NEWSLETTER - OCTOBER 2026
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With the Employee Ownership Trust (EOT), the
UK succeeded in introducing a scheme that is far and
away more effective than any other for transferring
business ownership to employees.
On 1 October, we had a meeting on this subject with
a Member of Parliament from a large neighbouring country.
As I was leaving the meeting, I had a quick look at
Companies House, the UK’s company register. As
I do every day, I wanted to know how many new business
transfers to employees had been announced that morning.
There were four of them on that day: Xanton (retail and distribution, 22 employees),
Sol Services (construction, 84 employees),
TMS Environmental
(environment, 10 employees), and Gracious Care (personal care, 41 employees).
I then looked for the same information in other European
countries. In Germany, the figure was zero. France:
zero. Spain: zero. Italy: zero. Slovenia: zero! Zero
business transfers to employees across Europe, except
in Great Britain.
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However,
when it comes to transferring businesses to employees,
what we are seeing, as with all sorts of other things,
is insidious manoeuvring designed to encourage each
European country to devise its own specific national
model, rather than adopting approaches that have proved
effective elsewhere. These manoeuvres are leading to
a fragmented, rather than an effective Europe. They
are described as ‘Trump-Putin-style’. As far as employee
ownership is concerned, these manoeuvres are apparently
being orchestrated via the former Yugoslavia.
While the EOT formula can be adapted easily in many
European countries, these manoeuvres are designed to
divert them from this path. They are detrimental to
employee ownership, to business succession, and to Europe
in general.
Compared with the success of the EOT formula, all this
national nonsense can be summed up in two words: blah-blah
and total rubbish.
In the nearly 30 years since the European Federation
of Employee Share Ownership was founded, a great deal
has changed. Best and worst practices have had time
to reveal themselves for what they really are. It is
in the interests of employee ownership to promote best
practices and the most appropriate legislation. This
must take precedence over individual interests.
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News
from the disaster
in London
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Contrary
to the repeated claims made by the Employee Ownership
Association, there is no sign of any upturn. The
situation has stabilised. Ongoing monitoring shows the
same thing day after day: transfers in the form of EOTs
are exactly half of what they used to be.
Over
the past ten years, employee ownership in SMEs has seen
extraordinary growth in Great Britain. We were rapidly
moving towards a situation where one in ten SMEs would
be employee-owned. In most cases, employees become 100%
owners of their company. Without having to spend a single
penny of their own money. This success was due to the
introduction of the Employee Ownership Trust
(EOT) mechanism in 2014.
And
then... Rachel Reeves, the new Chancellor of the Exchequer
in the UK government decided to retax business transfers
to employees. Instead of a 100% tax exemption on capital
gains when transferring a company to employees, this
exemption has now been cut to 50%. The effect is dramatic.
There
is only one way to avert disaster. It is essential
to reinstate the 100% exemption on capital gains relating
to the sale of a company to employees.
More
info
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Press
review
A
selection of 14 remarkable articles in 3 countries in September
2026: France, UK, USA.
France:
The French government is set to put forward proposals to facilitate
business transfers to employees, notably through tax measures.
New successful employee share plans for Amundi, for Michelin,
for Veolia. ERES announces its Panorama of employee share
ownership in 2026.
UK: The John Lewis Partnership is sinking deeper into
crisis. Business transfers through EOTs for Landmark and for
Bell Contracting.
USA: Employee Stock Ownership Plans keep companies
in the community. The credo of employee ownership is casting
private equity as a terrifying bogeyman.
The full press review is available
on:
https://www.efesonline.org/PRESS
REVIEW/2026/September.htm
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A
political roadmap for employee ownership in Europe
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