JGA Spring Conference – celebrating our 10th birthday, making future plans
It was a conference of two halves…
The first – a celebration of JGA’s first decade helping 100-plus clients to transition, embed and accelerate the benefits of becoming employee-owned.
Team JGA celebrates our milestone birthday with flowers
The second? A look ahead to the future as our ongoing merger with Telos Partners takes shape.
So a healthy number of highs, a few inevitable ‘lows’ (that’s business) and everything in between for our founder/MD Jeremy and team to reflect on.
Then the chance to focus on the path ahead and the opportunities that merging with Telos will bring.
All taking place in the Cotswolds, over a packed two days this spring.
Reflecting on our journey
So what did the team enjoy most?
‘As always, it was great to meet up with the team, to reflect, review and rejuvenate,’ says Jeremy.
‘This being JGA’s tenth anniversary, it felt wonderful listening to everyone’s stories about their experiences over the years. No surprise, it’s the people we’ve worked with as Associates and clients we treasure, and the enduring friendships created along the way.
‘And ‘rejuvenate’ got even better,’ he adds, ‘when our Telos colleagues Adam Campbell and Alex Bloom joined us to share their history and the plans. A natural meeting of values and minds.’
Planning for future growth
Katy and Ops Manager/ Associate Lisa with their JGA 10th birthday flowers
Associate Libby Unsworth has been with JGA from the start and enjoyed the chance the conference offered to look back on how our support for the employee-owned sector has developed since 2014.
‘Gosh, where did those 10 years go?’ she asks.
‘When we reflected on the number of great employee-owned companies and amazing people we’ve worked with, we realised we’d packed a lot in! Now, looking to our merger with Telos, the future looks bright.’
Associate Kathie Robb agrees. ‘It was good to reflect on our experiences and to realise how far we’ve come,’ she says. ‘I also appreciated Adam and Alex taking the time to talk us through their vision for our merger, which was both useful and exciting.’
‘Fun and (of course) super useful,’ is how Comms Support Katy Perceval describes the chance to meet. ‘The Cotswolds setting creates a different kind of conversation and freshens minds.
‘This year, the 10th birthday flowers we each received from Jeremy and Angela were a lovely touch. It was also good to be able to ask Adam and Alex more specific questions about what our merger will mean.’
Combining our experience and skills
Adam and Alex both enjoyed Burford too.
Jeremy (left) was delighted to welcome Telos’s Adam and Alex to our conference
Adam confirms: ‘It was great to spend time with our new (albeit increasingly less new!) JGA colleagues and get into the detail of how our combined capabilities add value and help us to create sustainable success for our clients, our business and ourselves.
‘There are so many opportunities to help clients prepare, transition, embed, accelerate and re-invigorate their employee ownership and realise the potential of the business.
‘And, it’s great to already be working together on some clients.’
Enabling employee-owned businesses to grow
Alex agrees: ‘It was fantastic to start exploring how we’ll tap JGA and Telos’s combined experience, knowledge and passion to help clients to maximise the impact of employee ownership.’
Excitingly, that work is likely to include the Employee Ownership Association’s new EO Framework.
This was launched by the eoa as part of its refreshed member offer at April’s People Powered Business event.
Telos has played a key role in developing this blueprint for how to achieve great employee ownership in your business, now available to eoa members through EO Learn.
Find out more the new EO Framework here.
Creating better value for our employee-owned clients
Team JGA with Adam and Alex take a short break in the Burford sun
So, in a nutshell, JGA’s Spring 2024 Employee Conference was an enjoyable, useful and energising two days away from the ‘office’ – celebrating all we’ve achieved (and learned) since 2014 and how far we, and our employee-owned clients, can grow in the years to come.
If you’d like to explore how JGA and our new Telos colleagues can help you to maximise the potential of your business through employee ownership, please get in touch via the link below.
Find out how we can support your employee-owned business – get in touch to arrange a no obligation meeting with one of our knowledgeable team.