Attraction Tickets announces move to employee ownership
JGA and Telos Partners support Attraction Tickets in their transition to EO
We are delighted to share today’s announcement that Attraction Tickets – the UK’s number one seller of theme park tickets and theme park hotels for attractions such as Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando Resort and Disneyland Paris – is transitioning to an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT).
Oliver Brendon with new EO Trust Board Chair Juliet Thorburn (left) and Attraction Tickets’ Head of People and Happiness Karen Court
The move makes Attraction Tickets the largest UK travel company in history to take this step, after Oliver Brendon – Attraction Tickets’ CEO and Founder – and his fellow shareholders sold their shares, which the EOT will hold for the benefit of the employees.
Describing employee ownership as ‘one of the most equitable forms of capitalism, whereby value is shared amongst those who work hard to create it’, Oliver said: ‘Today we have concluded a transaction that will reward the business’s most vital stakeholders – its employees.
‘This is an important milestone for the company I started 23 years ago, and we are all excited about future growth.’
Under the new structure, Attraction Tickets’ 128 full-time employees will share in EOT completion bonuses worth more than £1m – with pay-outs based on years of service.
The EO Trust board will be chaired by Juliet Thorburn of Scott Bader (itself employee-owned), while Oliver and his management team will continue to manage the Attraction Tickets business.
Supporting the transition to employee ownership
‘It’s been a pleasure to work with Oliver [Brendon] to understand the incredible business that he and the team at Attraction Tickets have built’
Jeremy Gadd, JGA’s founder and MD
JGA’s founder and MD Jeremy Gadd and Telos Partners’ Consultant Alex Bloom have been working alongside Oliver and his senior team since December 2024, supporting them to prepare for this week’s transition to employee ownership.
Both were also at Attraction Tickets’ London offices for the internal announcement to all staff last week, at which Oliver shared the exciting news.
‘It’s been a pleasure to work with Oliver to understand the incredible business that he and the team at Attraction Tickets have built – and to ensure that continues for years to come,’ Jeremy says.
‘Their commitment to ensure their new ownership underpins their belief in ‘adding happiness’ has been exemplary and reinforces the thought that employee ownership is a force for good.’
Alex agrees, adding: ‘Jeremy and I have been delighted to work with the team as they have prepared to become employee-owned. We’d both like to congratulate Oliver and everyone at Attraction Tickets for the way in which they have taken this first step to becoming successfully employee-owned.’
About Attraction Ticket’s employee ownership transaction
JGA advised Attraction Tickets on the cultural aspects of their transition to employee ownership. Legal advice was provided by Fieldfisher and the independent company valuation was conducted by Travel Trade Consultancy.
To find out more about Attraction Tickets, visit their website here.
Guest Blog: Why Management Accounts are important when your business is EO
Transitioning your business to employee ownership is an exciting step, but it changes aspects of your governance too. In our latest guest blog, Sean Hackemann, Director and Founder of Specialist Accounting Solutions Ltd, explains why robust, clear and timely Management Accounts are important when your business is employee-owned.
The challenge for new employee-owned businesses
Sean Hackemann, Director and Founder of Specialist Accounting Solutions Ltd
Many businesses undergo significant changes following an employee ownership (EO) transaction [writes Sean]. This often impacts the financial information and its users within the new employee-owned business.
For instance, there might be members in the new leadership team and the board of trustees who now have access to financial information, which was previously not disclosed to them. Some of the leadership team members might have limited experience in understanding Profit and Loss Accounts (P+L), Balance Sheets and Cash Flows and the associated KPIs.
Most employee-owned business will have a large debt to pay to the vendors over the next few years, and the combination of all these factors gives a new scale of importance to the monthly Management Accounts and their use.
Understanding the basics of your Management Accounts
It’s recommended that individuals in senior positions exposed to this (new) level of information (typically the Management Accounts) receive adequate training to understand the key financial statements and the KPIs of the business.
The more nuanced elements of the company’s financials will vary by sector and business, but they can be dealt with in more detail later on. For instance, the finance staff could provide group training sessions.
The acid test will be for the leadership team members and the trust board to see the Management Accounts and have a good grasp of how the business is performing financially.
Is there a budget?
‘Most new employee-owned businesses will have a substantial amount of debt to pay to the vendor… Given these financial pressures, it’s advisable to have a financial budget to know what profits need to be achieved, so that the business can afford the repayments’
Sean Hackemann, Specialist Accounting Solutions Ltd
Most new employee-owned businesses will have a substantial amount of debt to pay to the vendor (aka ‘deferred consideration’), which means the business needs to generate a certain level of profits to pay off the debt.
Normally this debt is repaid over five to seven years. Given these financial pressures, it’s advisable to have a financial budget to know what profits need to be achieved, so that the business can afford the repayments.
The absence of a budget would result in the leadership team not knowing if the business was on track in being able to repay the debt owed to the vendors.
The final piece in this jigsaw will be that the Management Accounts compare the actual performance to the budget, both on a monthly and a year-to-date basis, showing variances in both £ and percentages.
Based on the information presented, the users of the Management Accounts will then have the challenge to take appropriate actions, if they can see the business is off track (for example, if sales are too low and/or costs too high).
The timing of your Management Accounts
Sean Hackemann
When it comes to Management Accounts, the adage ‘timing is everything’ still holds true. The quicker these are presented, reviewed and discussed, the better.
There’s no point discussing January’s figures at the end of March, especially if this business is struggling because of unforeseen circumstances. We would recommend preparing these within 21 days of the previous month.
A major criterion is to ensure that the Management Accounts are still robust and reliable, even when working towards a quick turnaround.
There might be wider issues to consider here, such as the quality of the underlying systems and reporting software (for example, the company’s CRM system) feeding into the accounting system.
If the reports used as a basis to prepare the accounts are slow and clunky, it’s likely that the Management Accounts will be impacted negatively. It will either take longer to prepare the accounts, or they might not be reliable, or both.
The presentation of your Management Accounts
‘The Management Accounts should be presented clearly in a format that’s easy to understand and follow, even by ‘non-accountants’… If there’s confusion each time the numbers are discussed, or items are regularly missed (‘Oh, I didn’t’ spot that’), there’s a problem’
Sean Hackemann, Specialist Accounting Solutions Ltd
The Management Accounts should be presented clearly in a format that’s easy to understand and follow, even by ‘non-accountants’. This is easier said than done and it might be useful to seek external support to achieve this (higher) level of quality.
A good way to test this is how easily the Management Accounts can be understood by the leadership team and the trust board. If there’s confusion each time the numbers are discussed, or items are regularly missed (‘Oh, I didn’t’ spot that’), there’s a problem.
Some useful ways to help make Management Accounts more palatable are graphs, bar charts, tables with KPIs and summary P+Ls.
The bottom line of your Management Accounts
It is hardly surprising that the Management Accounts form a pivotal role in helping the new leadership team steer the employee-owned business towards ‘Financial Freedom Day’ – the day when all debts owing to the vendor are paid off.
In most cases, many years will pass and challenges will inevitably occur (such as Covid, recessions, cost of living crises).
Having a robust and reliable set of Management Accounts each month and being able to make informed decisions on what – and what not – to do will be just one of the many things a new employee-owned business and its leadership team will need to achieve, when the business embarks on its employee ownership journey.
Sean Hackemann is a Director and Founder of Specialist Accounting Solutions Ltd. Team SAS prepares independent business valuation reports for various scenarios, including employee ownership transactions and provides outsourced finance services to SMEs.
Find out more about them on their website here
Announcement – JGA and Telos Partners have merged
It’s official – we’re delighted to share that, as of 1 February 2025, JGA and Telos Partners have merged. The news follows the first announcement our businesses made just before the eoa conference in November 2023.
JGA’s Jeremy Gadd (left) and Telos’s Adam Campbell shake hands after signing our merger agreement
That was when we revealed JGA and Telos’s plans to start working more closely together and aligning our brands ahead of a full merger in January 2025.
Fast forward to today and it’s been an interesting journey, culminating in the signing of the merger agreement by Telos’s Managing Partner Adam Campbell and JGA’s founder and MD Jeremy Gadd.
Now the ink’s (just about) dried on that we’re looking forward to an exciting future.
Delivering even better value together
JGA and Telos together at the eoa conference 2024
But first a recap on what’s happened so far.
First to get underway was the integration of our operations and the start of our teams working closely together through 2024 – both behind the scenes and directly with our clients, trusted partners and other stakeholders such as the eoa.
Our priority during this change was to maintain ‘business as usual’ while clarifying the value we knew JGA and Telos could already deliver together as our merger progressed.
Then last November, JGA and Telos exhibited together for the first time ever at the eoa conference 2024 – their biggest and best to date.
Here, we weren’t just delighted to run employee ownership workshops but were also excited to support the launch of the EOQ tool, developed by the eoa with the support of Telos as part of their Great EO Framework.
The Framework provides a blueprint for how to achieve Great EO in your business as the employee-owned sector continues to grow.
Launching our new joint employee ownership services offer
Some of the team who will be delivering our new joint EO services offer for clients this year
But without a doubt, the biggest merger milestone so far has been the launch of JGA and Telos’s new joint EO services offer for clients who are thinking of becoming employee-owned as part of their succession planning – and those who are already employee-owned.
To say we’re excited about this doesn’t do it justice.
Why?
Because helping clients to shape, transition, embed, energise and renew the elements of successful employee ownership in their business has long been at the heart of what both JGA and Telos do.
Want to know more? Read about JGA and Telos’s new joint employee ownership services offer here.
Embracing the challenge of change
Jeremy signs our merger agreement with Telos on 31 January 2025
As JGA’s founder, MD and previous owner, the last 12 months have seen Jeremy experience (for himself) the transition he supports our clients to navigate as they explore, plan and implement their succession strategy.
‘As good as ‘new’ is, we all know change can be a real challenge,’ he says.
‘Having taken the leap out of corporate life in 2014 and built my own employee ownership consultancy in JGA, I can confirm ignorance was bliss! However, 11 years later, I can’t think of anything I’d have changed.
‘I’ve learnt and grown so much supporting clients to find the right solutions for them – and equally through the patience and generosity of all who have worked alongside me at JGA.’
Jeremy‘s now focused on the road ahead, having gone through the process of ‘letting go’.
‘Relocating west last year bought home to me that the future is always influenced by the past – to embrace it you must let the past go.
‘As a business founder that’s scary, but the opportunities are very exciting – knowing that JGA and Telos’s combined, experienced and energetic teams can achieve and deliver so much more as we are stronger together.’
Ready to go out into the world
Adam is also excited about the completion of our merger after he and Jeremy met up at Telos’s Windsor offices to sign the legal papers last week.
‘It feels like we’ve finally reached the starting line – in good shape,’ he says.
All done – Adam signs the merger agreement too
‘Telos and JGA’s collaboration dates back five or six years and has been increasingly strong.
‘We’ve done the preparation, training and practice. Now we’re ready to go out into the world – stronger – and run the next leg of the race together.’
But that’s not all.
Adam explains that the experience and insight Telos and JGA’s combined teams have gained through the merger process are already proving helpful as we work with clients who want to strengthen their employee ownership, improve performance and grow their business.
And the focus now?
Adam’s vision is clear. ‘To create value and impact with our clients together and merge JGA and Telos’s branding, website and communications in time for the eoa conference 2025,’ he says.
Watch this space.
Want to know how JGA and Telos can support you to shape, transition, embed, energise or renew the elements of successful EO in your business? Get in touch.
Review of 2024 – our Top 5 moments championing EO
2024 – what a year. Challenging, yes, but exciting too as our merger with Telos Partners continued and we launched our new joint EO (employee ownership) services offer in November.
Plus we marked a double-digit milestone for our business. Here’s our Top 5 of 2024…
1. Celebrating our 10th birthday milestone
Celebrating JGA’s 10th birthday at our ‘breezy’ Spring Conference
It’s official – on 31 January, JGA celebrated being 10 years old! Cue flowers, cake (of course) and a look at the 10 milestones that shaped our journey, after our MD Jeremy Gadd spotted a gap in the market he thought we could fill.
The gap? Supporting employee-owned (EO) businesses to unlock the benefits of employee ownership and so become successfully employee-owned.
That was 2014. Looking back, Jeremy describes JGA’s path as ‘exciting, challenging, exhilarating – the last 10 years have been all three.’
Read about JGA’s journey and what Jeremy’s learned as our founder in our 1oth birthday blog
2. Launching our new joint EO services offer with Telos
JGA and Telos’s Platinum Exhibitor stand at the eoa conference 2024
It’s not every day you get to launch a new joint proposition for clients who are exploring or transitioning to employee ownership (EO) as part of their succession planning and those who are already employee-owned.
So achieving this with Telos Partners in November was a real milestone in the merger of our two businesses which has been under way through 2024.
As Telos’s Alex Bloom says: ‘Our new joint proposition puts the client at the centre of what we do in a way that’s authentic to both Telos and JGA.’
Read about our new joint EO services offer with Telos here and get in touch to find out more.
3. Championing best practice employee ownership through our Connect services
Kathie gets set to host another Trustee Connect session in April
Launched in 2020, Trustee Connect reached more milestones this year with record attendances at our quarterly sessions and a new depth (and quality) of topic shared.
Host Kathie Robb was also delighted to welcome Trustee Connect’s first ever ‘guest speaker’ – Jim Smith, an Independent EOT Board Chair (thanks, Jim!).
Trustee Connect is our confidential online forum for Employee Trustees who want to network, share best practice and explore common challenges together.
Even better, it’s free to our current and previous employee-owned clients – and now to Telos’s EO clients too.
Read about Trustee Connect here and, if you’re a JGA and/or Telos client, look out for the second (invitation-only) Connect service we’ve just created. More on that in 2025…
4. Running our first in-person EO Accelerator workshop
Jeremy finds a wise ‘friend’ at our first EO Accelerator workshop
We love it when a plan comes together and that’s what happened in September when JGA and Telos got our first ever EO Accelerator programme off the ground.
It was a real joy to team up with EO financial and legal experts from Triodos Bank and TLT, and Yogita Johnston from the eoa, to launch the new in-person workshop at Triodos’ Bristol office.
We appreciated the positive feedback we had (plus it gave Jeremy a chance to try out this halo for size).
What is the EO Accelerator? It’s an immersive one-day workshop designed for company founder/owners who want to fast-track their understanding of employee ownership as a succession option.
Read about the EO Accelerator here and look out for our next one in 2025…
5. Platinum exhibiting with Telos at the eoa conference 2024
Our combined team enjoying the Gala Dinner at the eoa conference 2024
Not just the biggest but by far the best one yet – we’re still buzzing from November’s eoa conference in Telford on 26-27 November. It was fab!
Two days packed full of all things ‘employee ownership’ – listening, learning, sharing knowledge, insight and fresh ideas with 800-plus other delegates. All of us sharing a deep commitment to supporting the very best practice EO.
Our combined JGA and Telos team wasn’t just busy welcoming visitors to our Platinum stand.
We also enjoyed delivering three interactive EO workshops on building and maintaining an effective EO culture, EO leadership behaviours and understanding EO governance roles.
Plus a breakout session on leadership succession planning when your business is employee-owned. And supporting the eoa with the launch of the new EOQ tool.
Find out our key eoa conference 2024 takeaways here
Wishing our clients, trusted partners and employee-owned networks a relaxing festive break. JGA and Telos Partners look forward to working with you in 2025…
Want to know how we can support your employee-owned business? Get in touch.
eoa conference 2024 – our key takeaways
The JGA and Telos team on our eoa conference stand
‘Not just the biggest but by far the best one yet.’
This was the verdict of our MD Jeremy Gadd after a jam-packed two days focused on all things ‘employee ownership’ at the eoa conference 2024.
‘Both the team at JGA and our Telos Partners colleagues found this year’s eoa conference a really engaging event with so many thought-provoking discussions,’ says Jeremy.
The conference (held in Telford 26-27 November) was the first at which JGA and Telos had Platinum exhibited together, following our decision to merge and November’s launch of our new joint services offer for businesses that are employee-owned.
Sharing our experience of supporting successful EO
Our combined JGA and Telos team was kept busy, not only welcoming visitors to our stand but also running three interactive EO workshops on building and maintaining an effective EO culture, EO leadership behaviours and understanding your EO governance roles.
All topics are key to unlocking the opportunities created by being successfully employee-owned.
Telos’s Adam Campbell and Alex Bloom also hosted a breakout session on how to plan your EO leadership succession, with first-hand experience of the journey provided by Chris McDermott, CEO of The 1:1 Diet by Cambridge Weight Plan.
Plus our teams helped to facilitate other conference sessions and, like many others, enjoyed learning from the keynote speeches from guest speakers such as Javier Bajer and main stage addresses from the eoa’s James de le Vigne.
They also got into party mood – and their party outfits! – for the conference’s gala dinner which included the eoa’s UK Employee Ownership Awards 2024.
We were delighted that several of the employee-owned businesses that JGA and/or Telos have supported on their EO journey received awards, including Shaw Healthcare which was named Employee-owned Business of the Year 2024 plus Riverford Organics and Gripple.
Contributing to the buzz around employee ownership
JGA’s Lisa Fryer arrives at the conference
‘There was a good buzz over the two days, with the largest number of delegates to date (more than 850), a lot of new faces and some familiar specialists who have been providing services and support to the sector for a number of years,’ says JGA Associate Lisa Fryer.
‘It was great to see the mix and be part of the networking opportunities, as well as join Jeremy to deliver our workshop on understanding your EO governance roles.
‘And the venue was good, with everything over two floors making the delegates’ life easier and the transition between various sessions swift and easy.’
Forging new employee ownership connections
‘We had some wonderful conversations, excellently facilitated by the eoa whose team worked tirelessly to make this such a positive two days,’ Jeremy confirms.
‘We were also delighted to support the eoa with the launch of the EOQ tool.’
The EOQ tool is part of the Great EO Framework – developed by the eoa using insights from the EO Knowledge programme with the support of Telos. Read about the Great EO Framework here.
From left: Telos’s Coralie Hooper and Alex Bloom, with the eoa’s Yogita Johnston
‘The EOQ promises to be a game-changer for the employee-owned sector,’ Jeremy says.
Catching up with familiar faces while connecting with many who were new to employee ownership and/or at their first eoa conference was a particular highlight for our teams.
‘It was great to see so many new faces who were really committed to bringing employee ownership to life in the way that works best for them,’ Jeremy concludes.
‘We’re now looking forward to 2025 and continuing the conversations we started with so many people – supported by JGA and Telos’s new joint EO services offer, which we were excited to launch last month.’
Want to know how JGA and Telos can help you make EO work for your leaders, business, employee owners and trustees? Get in touch here.
Unlock your EO potential at our eoa conference workshops
Going to the eoa conference? We wouldn’t miss it for the world. Two days of EO-themed keynote speeches, workshops, breakout sessions and more, all under one roof 26-27 November 2024… plus this year we’ll be joint Platinum exhibitors with Telos Partners for the first time.
But that’s not all because our teams will also be delivering THREE interactive employee ownership workshops and a breakout session while we’re there.
Sound useful? Read more about our sessions and book your place below.
Session 1: Building and Maintaining your Employee Ownership Culture
When times are tough it’s easy to think your employee ownership culture doesn’t matter – to see it as a ‘nice to have’ add-on for when times are good. In fact, times like these are exactly when it matters most.
In this workshop, you’ll explore the core elements of a successful employee-owned culture and learn how to balance the founder’s legacy with the next generation’s values and needs.
‘I'm looking forward to sharing what it means to bring an employee ownership culture to life and embed it in your company in a way that every employee owner can connect with,’ says JGA’s Corrine Thomas. Corrine will be delivering the session with Telos’s Verity McVey and JGA’s Jeremy Gadd.
When: 1-2pm, Tuesday 25 November
Who for: Early years + mature employee-owned businesses
Find out more and book your place here
Session 2: Developing Great EO Leadership Behaviours
It’s not rocket science. Effective leadership is essential to the success of any business, regardless of model, but leading employee owners requires a slightly different approach.
In this workshop, you’ll learn more about the unique nature of leading an employee-owned business, including strategies for unlocking your own potential, fostering a supportive environment and inspiring your fellow employee owners to achieve.
‘We’re looking forward to facilitating this insightful, interactive session,’ says Telos’s Alex Bloom, who’ll be delivering the workshop with his colleague Coralie Hooper. ‘We’ll explore how to unlock your potential to be a leader and develop a mindset that will benefit you, your team and your organisation.’
When: 1-2pm, Tuesday 25 November
Who for: Early years + mature employee-owned businesses
Find out more and book your place here
Session 3: The Road to Leadership Succession
Telos’s packed session on leadership succession at the eoa conference 2023
Leadership succession is a key challenge for every business, and not something to do ‘on the hoof’. Yet that’s how the process unfolds in many companies today – for good reason: when things are tight, finding the resources to plan a smooth leadership succession is hard.
In this session, you’ll have the chance to focus on leadership succession. You’ll learn how to deal with ‘backseat drivers’ (and spot if you are one), what’s involved in stepping back and up, and how to plan for leadership transitions over the next three to five years.
‘Leadership succession is an essential component of the successful transition to employee ownership,’ says Telos’s Adam Campbell. ‘It’s a winding road with some key elements that appear to enable success'.
Adam will deliver this session with Telos’s Alex Bloom and Chris McDermott, CEO of The 1:1 Diet by Cambridge Weight Plan, who’ll share his first-hand experience of EO leadership succession in his business. The session will also draw on the eoa’s ‘Road to Leadership Succession’ research and EO Framework.
When: 11.15am to 12.15pm, Wednesday 27 November
Who for: Everyone – all stages of employee ownership
Find out more and book your place here
Session 4: Understanding Your Governance Roles: What's my Job?
The session will be delivered by JGA’s MD Jeremy Gadd and Associate Lisa Fryer, pictured here at a previous eoa conference
Sound governance is the bedrock of every successful business.
But when you’re employee-owned it’s especially important to establish clear structures, accountability, channels for influence and knowledge-sharing so your business can maximise the value of its EO.
In this workshop, you’ll learn how to define, distinguish and create clear ‘job specs’ for your key governance roles, ranging from Employee Trustee to Employee Council Rep. Plus how to confidently wear the right ‘hat’ at the right time and fill each post with the right person for that EO governance role.
‘Governance might have a reputation for being a bit dull,’ says JGA’s Lisa Fryer, ‘but it’s simply good organisation. It’s about having sound structures in place to ensure your business can do what it needs to do.’
Lisa will be running this workshop with JGA’s Jeremy Gadd. Both will draw on their first-hand experience of working in and with employee-owned businesses to demystify the governance of EO.
When: 1-1.45pm, Wednesday 27 November
Who for: Everyone. Regardless of stage, size, or sector – or whether you’re already EO, just transitioning, or thinking of making the move – creating job descriptions that truly align with your governance roles is crucial.
Find out more and book your place here
Want to know how JGA and Telos can support your employee-owned business? Get in touch here.
Why JGA and Telos are going Platinum at the eoa conference 2024
It’s big, it’s bold and it’s in Telford (new venue!) from 26 to 27 November – yes, the final countdown to the 2024 eoa conference has begun.
At JGA, we’re confident this will be the eoa’s best conference yet.
Why? Because it’s been a full-on year for the EO sector – and an equally full-on year for us.
We’ve progressed JGA’s merger with Telos Partners and have just launched our new joint service offer for clients who are exploring or transitioning to employee ownership (EO) – or whose business is already employee-owned.
So, if you’re going to the eoa conference and want to make employee ownership work for your business, leaders, employee owners and trustees, come and meet our team.
You’ll find us in the Telford International Centre’s eoa exhibition space...
5 reasons we’re excited about the eoa conference 2024
1. Stronger together – on our exhibition stand
Some of the team who’ve worked on our merger and new EO services offer
And not just any stand… because JGA and Telos are going Platinum together this year for the first time!
At JGA, we’ve already exhibited at the eoa conference, being Platinum in 2022 and 2023 and headline co-sponsors of its fully-virtual conference in 2021.
But exhibiting with Telos is new and follows our decision to merge.
Whether you're exploring employee ownership as a succession option, just starting your employee ownership journey or want to deepen your impact as a mature EO business, visit our stand.
2. It’s official – our new EO proposition is live
We’ve invested time, thought, energy and care and on 4 November we pressed the button: JGA and Telos’s new joint EO proposition is now officially live – and making its eoa conference debut this year.
The value we can create together has driven our decision to merge, strengthening our ability to use our combined wealth of business and employee ownership experience to benefit clients. Whatever their company’s size, sector, challenge or change – whatever their stage of EO.
Interested? Read our joint proposition blog here and/or visit our stand at the eoa conference to learn more.
3. Sharing what we’ve learned – at three EO workshops AND a breakout session
A packed Telos session at the eoa conference 2023
The eoa conference is always a busy two days. This year looks set to be even busier because Telos and JGA will be running not one or two, but three EO workshops and a breakout session.
We love being able to share the practical experience and insight we’ve gained working in and alongside more than 100 employee-owned businesses.
In Telford, Jeremy, Adam and our team will spotlight key EO topics ranging from how to build and maintain an EO culture in your business to Great EO leadership behaviours, the road to leadership succession and understanding your governance roles.
Find out more about each session and book your place here.
4. The packed eoa conference agenda – what will you choose?
Familiar faces returning to the eoa conference this year
Could the eoa squeeze any more insightful employee ownership workshops, breakout sessions, keynote speeches and awards into two days? We don’t think so.
But we – and you – can only be in one place at once so it makes sense to plan ahead.
As well as JGA and Telos’s own sessions (see above – unmissable, of course!), we’re intrigued by the keynote address from international cultural architect Javier Bajer, as well as the EO stories set to be shared by businesses such as Gripple – plus Stephens Scown’s very own Sam Moles, winner of 2023’s eoa Employee Owner of the Year award.
There’s even a new compere: BBC News’ Maryam Moshiri. Conferences don’t get more exciting than this.
5. Some of our employee-owned clients are up for awards
Who doesn't love a gala dinner? Our teams join in the fun last year
Lights, camera, glitterball in position… we don’t need much excuse to get into our party outfits, especially when there’s an award ceremony involved.
Even better when it’s the eoa’s annual UK Employee Ownership Awards being announced at the conference’s gala dinner. Expect a bit of sparkle from our team.
As always, we’re excited to see who wins but also to learn more about the others who’ve entered – each EO business and employee owner adds something special to the mix. Last year JGA’s client LUC made our night when it scooped 2023’s Employee-owned Business of the Year Award.
Good luck to all 2024’s entrants. We’re ready to raise a glass to you all.
Want to know more? Visit us on our stand at the eoa conference 26-27 November 2024 or get in touch to arrange a no obligation meeting with one of our team.
JGA and Telos – Update on our merger and new EO services launch
It’s not every day you get to share good news about your business, so 24 November 2023 sticks in our mind. That was the day we announced JGA’s plans to merge with Telos Partners, due to complete early in 2025.
Some of the team that’s been shaping our merger and getting our new EO services offer ready for launch
The reaction from our networks was overwhelmingly positive. Two days later we were at the eoa conference 2023 together – and that was just the start.
What’s happened since then?
A lot – culminating in today’s launch of our new joint proposition for clients who are exploring or transitioning to employee ownership (EO) as part of their succession planning and those who are already employee-owned.
Want to know more? Read our update below.
Growing stronger together to serve our clients better
Stronger together: Telos’ Adam Campbell and JGA’s Jeremy Gadd
First, the last 12 months. They’ve been busy with our merger taking shape alongside ‘business as usual’. ‘It’s been an incredible learning journey,’ says JGA’s MD Jeremy Gadd.
‘Fundamentally JGA and Telos share the same values. Intuitively the client is our focus. We’re at our best doing interesting and rewarding work – and interesting and rewarding is what this year has been.’
Telos’s Managing Partner Adam Campbell agrees.
‘It’s been affirming. We share values and our commitment to supporting co-owned businesses throughout their employee ownership (EO) journey. Our approaches complement each other and we draw on our respective strengths.
‘The biggest challenge has been how to describe succinctly the breadth and depth of support we can provide to clients as they shape, transition, embed, energise and renew the elements of successful EO.’
Introducing our new employee ownership client offer
‘Our [new] joint proposition puts the client at the centre of what we do in a way that’s authentic to both Telos and JGA. It enables us to use our wealth of business experience to benefit clients by unlocking active, responsible ownership’
Alex Bloom, Partner at Telos Partners
Telos Partner Alex Bloom confirms that Telos and JGA’s experience of supporting others through change has influenced our own approach.
‘It’s also given us pause for thought as we use this opportunity to redefine how we best serve the needs of the employee ownership sector,’ he says.
‘Our joint proposition puts the client at the centre of what we do in a way that’s authentic to both Telos and JGA. It enables us to use our wealth of business experience to benefit clients by unlocking active, responsible ownership.
‘I’ve already seen our impact. The prospect of doing this at a greater scale is genuinely exciting.’
So here it is: our new joint proposition.
It’s for you if you’re thinking of becoming employee-owned as part of your succession planning – or are already employee-owned. Whatever your company’s size, sector, challenge or change, we hope you feel as excited as we do at the opportunity that lies ahead.
Unlocking benefit: How we support employee-owned businesses
Telos’s Alex Bloom at work with an employee-owned client this summer
We work with owners, leaders, boards, teams and representative bodies to unlock the benefits of being employee-owned.
In practice, this means that whatever your company’s size, sector or stage of EO, we work with you to deliver better business results through Great EO. Here’s how.
We…
understand the leadership, cultural, commercial and governance challenges of transitioning and realising EO’s benefits
can assess the health and strength of your EO using the EO Framework developed with the eoa
enable you to shape, transition, embed, energise, and renew (STEER) the elements of successful EO in your business and achieve sustainable success.
Adding value: What we do for employee-owned businesses
Jeremy (left) and Alex on their way to support an EO client
Successful employee ownership doesn’t just happen. It takes time, thought and energy to get ‘right’ and sustain its vitality in the longer term.
Working with you, our team can help by:
Establishing effective trust boards, leadership teams and representative bodies and voice groups
Bringing about improved engagement, stronger ownership cultures and developing your employee owners to deliver EO’s advantage
Improving your approach to strategy and innovation to build more resilient businesses
Delivering better results for all your stakeholders and your business
Enabling individuals to network and share best practice
Supporting Independent Trustee recruitment and career transitions of founders
Supporting effective leadership and succession within key roles
Realising potential: Why choose Telos and JGA for your employee-owned business?
Jeremy facilitating a session with a client business which has recently transitioned to EO
As the UK’s employee ownership sector has grown, so has the range of professional consultants out there. Commercially, businesses face a hard economic climate and budgets are tight. So why choose us?
First, our commitment to you.
We believe in employee ownership’s potential to create successful, sustainable organisations that generate and more sustainably distribute wealth. We believe in the future and are here for the long term.
Second, our people.
We bring knowledge, skill and a practical understanding of how to realise your business potential through EO. We draw on Telos’s 25 years of working with a wide range of organisations and JGA’s 10 years of supporting 100-plus transitions to EO.
Third, our approach. We listen, clarify, enable, support – we ‘work with’ rather than ‘do to’, creating bespoke solutions vs prescribed.
Finally, we are clear about the value we offer – delivering agreed outcomes and impact for a fixed fee.
Speaking your language: What our clients say about us
We may only just have started working together, but our teams have their own track record of success.
Clients describe us as straightforward, approachable and enjoyable to work with. They say we speak in a language they understand and are ‘honest about bumps in the road’. We’ve been called the ‘people’ people of EO.
Enlightening, energising and worthwhile are just three of the words they’ve used. Our clients gain personal/professional growth alongside business solutions – and the confidence to do something different in the years ahead.
The results we create for employee-owned businesses
Here’s the change we bring at a glance. We work with you and your business to:
Shape – assess and diagnose the status of your EO, define your desired destination and establish your roadmap for successful EO
Transition – implement your roadmap for successful EO, equipping and empowering your people and business through the process
Embed – take stock of progress and learning, identify enablers and blockers and ensure the foundations in place are built upon and strengthened
Energise – leverage your employee ownership as you aspire, plan and take your business to the next level
Renew – leverage your EO as you adapt to the business opportunities and challenges presented by a changing world and leadership succession
Next steps if you’re exploring employee ownership for your business or are already employee-owned
So if you’re exploring employee ownership as part of your succession planning – or are already on your employee ownership journey but feeling ‘stuck’– what should you do next?
Come and meet our team on JGA and Telos Partners’ Platinum Exhibitor stand and join our workshops at the eoa conference on 26-27 November 2024.
Find out more and book your tickets here
Don’t want to wait? Get in touch with us now to arrange a no obligation meeting with JGA and Telos Partners’ knowledgeable employee ownership team.
Succession planning – could employee ownership be right for your family business?
Five million. That’s how many family businesses there are in the UK today, employing more than 12 million people between them.
These are big numbers, by any measure.
Yet equally big is the economic contribution they make and the positive role many continue to play in communities up and down the country today.
So what happens when it comes to succession planning if you’re a family business?
What if the next generation wants something different – and a trade sale or MBO just doesn’t feel right?
Transitioning to employee ownership (EO) is one option family businesses can explore.
Exploring employee ownership as a succession option
Companies who’ve chosen EO to secure sustainable success in the last 10 years range from household names Riverford Organics and Go Ape to eighth-generation family business Lodge Brothers, which JGA supported to transition in January 2024
The EO sector is dynamic and growing, with more than 1,650 employee-owned businesses around the country, according to the latest figures from the eoa.
Companies who’ve chosen EO as the way to secure sustainable success in the last 10 years range from household names Riverford Organics and Go Ape to eighth-generation family business Lodge Brothers, which JGA supported to transition in January 2024.
So what is employee ownership? The eoa describes EO as when employees have a say and a stake in the company they work for.
Ownership can take a variety of forms – from employees directly owning shares in the company, to having shares held on their behalf in an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT). The EOT model is the most common in the UK.
Creating sustainable success for your family business
Telos's Alex Bloom (seated, first from right) with some of our team
So why is EO worth considering for your family business?
JGA and our Telos Partners colleagues have a sound track record of supporting founder/owners and their businesses with the leadership, governance and employee engagement aspects of transitioning to EO.
We also work with existing EO businesses to embed and accelerate the commercial and cultural benefits of being employee-owned.
‘Transitioning to employee ownership can safeguard the founder’s legacy while freeing the company to shape its own path,’ says Telos Partner Alex Bloom.
‘It puts the business into the hands of the people who know it best and who, hopefully, also care passionately about securing its sustainable success.
‘Becoming employee-owned is one way a family business can retain and strengthen its culture even when family members are no longer around.’
Empowering the next generation to lead
Alex with JGA's Corrine Thomas at a recent eoa event
Having previously worked in and then led his own fourth-generation family business, Alex finds supporting others to explore EO – and achieve a smooth handover of the reins – particularly fulfilling. ‘I genuinely love it,’ he confirms.
‘I’ve seen the impact of succession through my own family business as it passed from my grandfather and his brother to the next generation.
‘I’ve seen how a family business can be evolved and strengthened as new generations come on board – and I’ve seen the impact when some family members aren’t motivated to be involved. I’ve also seen the benefit that non-family members can bring.
‘With employee ownership, it can be very empowering for the next generation (whether family or not) to understand there’s a future for them, with the opportunity to contribute to the direction of the business they now own.’
Commercially, EO businesses have been shown to be more productive. They also invest more in supporting employee health and wellbeing, on-the-job training and critical benefits like flexible working, according to the findings of the eoa’s Knowledge Programme which was published in 2023.
Making the right decision for your family business
JGA's Lisa Fryer (top right) supported Pym & Wildsmith's EO transition in 2022
EO’s benefits are good to know, but EO won’t be the right path for every family business.
It takes time, energy and research to make such an important decision – and, if you do choose EO, just as much focused effort to ensure the transition process runs smoothly for all involved.
As Sarah Pym-Eaton – one of the previous family owners (now Finance Director) of metal finishers Pym & Wildsmith, whose EO transition JGA supported in 2022 – recalls: ‘We invested a lot of thought and care because we wanted to get it as right as we could without constraining the team moving forward.
‘Our employees are the heartbeat of our company, both past and present, so to be able to transition in the right way was really important to us all.’
So if you’re a founder/owner who’d like to explore employee ownership as a succession option, what should you do next?
What should you do next?
Here are 4 practical steps to get things started:
Do your research – the eoa website is a good place to start, as is connecting with other employee-owned businesses to learn from any insight they can share.
Equip yourself with the facts so you’re clear about what EO is – and what it isn’t. JGA’s founder and MD Jeremy Gadd helpfully busts 5 common myths about EO here
Seek expert legal and financial advice on the transition process from a trusted professional with EO-specific experience – there are several out there with a sound track record of steering family business clients through this phase to success, including JGA’s trusted partners.
Get in touch with us today to find out more about the support Telos and JGA can provide to prepare you and your business for a smooth transition – working with you to shape, embed and accelerate the benefits of being employee-owned.
A version of this blog was first published as a guest blog on the Family Business United website in September 2024.
Want to know how JGA and Telos Partners can support your family business to explore employee ownership as a succession option? Get in touch today.
Trustee Connect – championing the difference an effective Employee Trustee can make
So you’re an Employee Trustee. Maybe new in post, maybe not, but conscious that the role you’ve taken on carries all the responsibilities of a board-level director and is integral to the governance of your employee-owned (EO) business.
Kathie Robb, JGA Associate and host of Trustee Connect (with 'friend'!)
Yet, perhaps, it’s also come with no clear ‘job description’, no training, no personal development support and no extra time to get to grips with what being an Employee Trustee really involves.
Where can you go for support?
This was the challenge that led JGA to launch Trustee Connect in 2020. Fast forward four years and our insightful open forum for Employee Trustees is on a roll – with healthy numbers at each confidential online quarterly meeting.
The depth and quality of topic being shared has also matured.
Free to current and previous employee-owned clients that we (and now our Telos Partners colleagues) have supported, Trustee Connect was set up to enable Employee Trustees to network, share best practice and explore common challenges together.
Today it’s fulfilling its goal – supporting Employee Trustees to maximise their value by giving them the clarity, support and confidence they need to be effective in this unique board-level role.
Developing trustees’ confidence and understanding
JGA Associate Kathie Robb has been at the helm from the start and is thrilled at the way Trustee Connect has evolved. The last 12 months have been especially exciting, she says.
‘We’ve seen lots of new faces as well as regular returners, which helps to create a lovely dynamic for stimulating conversation and debate.
‘Building a network of great trustees who can reach out to others in the same position for help, support and advice has been a particular highlight for me.’
Creating a safe place to talk
Kathie ensures each session is a ‘safe place’ for trustees to talk
Is Kathie surprised at the way in which the conversation has matured? ‘Not at all,’ she says.
‘Employee Trustees tend to be respected, capable, invested people who have a passion for their work and business – alongside a sound understanding of what’s important to ensure its long-term success and how best to benefit their colleagues.
‘It’s a wide-ranging, varied role where there’s no ‘one size fits all’.
‘This means that pretty much every Employee Trustee has to make the role their own through trial and error, which is why having a safe place to talk where no topic is ‘off limits’ is so important. We enjoy great conversations every time.’
Giving trustees the space and time to grow
‘Where Employee Trustees are given the opportunity to invest time and energy in their own development, time to liaise and converse with their colleagues… and where they’re valued and integrated into the Trust Board on an equal footing – that’s when… the business sees how vital a great Employee Trustee is’
Kathie Robb, JGA Associate and host of Trustee Connect
Unfortunately, one thing that hasn’t evolved since 2020 is the level of understanding in many EO businesses of what an Employee Trustee is or does.
‘There’s huge variation in how well businesses understand the role and its value,’ Kathie agrees. ‘In my experience, it’s the minority of employers who ‘get’ it, but when they do we see the trustees ‘fly’.
‘Where Employee Trustees are given the opportunity to invest time and energy in their own development, time to liaise and converse with their colleagues on a regular basis, and where they’re valued and integrated into the Trust Board on an equal footing – that’s when we and (of course) the business see how vital a great Employee Trustee is.
‘Sadly, quite often a trustee is simply given the role or elected/selected without really knowing what’s required and without a clear role profile. If you’re the only Employee Trustee – or if this is a new role to your business – you can feel daunted, uncertain and very alone.’
Learning from the experience of others
JGA’s MD Jeremy Gadd often joins Kathie at Trustee Connect meetings
This is where Trustee Connect comes into its own.
‘We’ve created a relaxed environment where there’s no such thing as a ‘stupid’ question,’ Kathie explains. ’All comments, questions, challenges and observations/experiences are welcomed and, within the group, everything is confidential.
‘New Employee Trustees can gain insight, information and advice from others who might have dealt with similar situations.
‘They can also reap the benefit of the experience and knowledge brought by our MD Jeremy, who often joins with other members of the JGA team.
‘Equally, experienced Employee Trustees can learn from others’ insights and challenges, and bring the benefit of their own time in the role to encourage and support others.’
Building on the success of Trustee Connect
It’s clear Trustee Connect is going from strength to strength. What’s next?
After asking the Employee Trustees what could make the meetings even more useful, a guest speaker will join the next Trustee Connect on 31 October 2024.
Kathie’s inviting an Independent Chair to share their thoughts on running a Trust Board meeting, what makes a great agenda, what they look for in an Employee Trustee and the value they believe the trustee can add.
‘It will be fascinating to have a different perspective on all things Trust Board-related and there will, of course, be plenty of time for an extensive Q&A session,’ Kathie confirms.
JGA is also exploring running a potential in-person Employee Trustee development and networking day, after several Trustee Connect members expressed their interest in such an event.
‘We already know there’s huge benefit in coming together for 90 minutes to talk through what’s on your radar, but investing time in your own development is so key,’ Kathie says.
‘Our Employee Trustee day would focus on building a better understanding of the trustee role and how to build your effectiveness with the Trust Board – combined with the chance to network and focus on the elements of the role that are important to you We’ll keep everyone updated as we have news.’
But that’s not all. On the back of Trustee Connect’s success, JGA and Telos Partners are expanding our Connect networks for employee-owned clients – starting with MD Connect which will be headed up by Telos Consultant Alex Bloom.
Great people, good discussion – the power of Trustee Connect
Trustee Connect is 'energising, challenging and enjoyable', Kathie says
So the future’s looking good. If Kathie had to choose three words to describe her journey with Trustee Connect, what would they be?
‘Energising, challenging and enjoyable,’ she says.
‘Energising – because the group brings so much passion and focus that it’s hard not to be inspired by them!
‘Challenging – because the bigger the group, the wider the range of topics and it’s important to ensure every trustee feels included and heard, even if we can’t always get through it all. If that happens, I’ll always invite them to contact me after if they have a burning issue or anything else we can help with.
And enjoyable? ‘No surprises here,’ concludes Kathie. ‘Great people, good discussion and a voyage of discovery. What’s not to like about Trustee Connect?!’
Want to join Trustee Connect or know an Employee Trustee who might? Visit our Trustee Connect page and register for our next meeting here
Busted – 5 common myths about employee ownership
We’ve all heard them, those stubborn ‘myths’ about EO – some positive, some negative, some as old as the hills...
But one thing’s clear: none of those myths is helpful when you’re trying to decide if employee ownership (EO) is the path for you.
So if you’re a business founder/owner exploring EO as a succession plan – or you’re already on your way but feeling ‘stuck’ – how do you know what’s true?
Here, our MD Jeremy Gadd busts 5 common myths about EO.
Myth 1: It’s not about the money
Jeremy disagrees. ‘In my experience, it’s not about the money until it’s about the money,’ he says.
‘Whatever your reasons for choosing EO – however committed you are to preserving your legacy, sustaining jobs, safeguarding your culture – transitioning your company to EO is still the sale of a business by one owner to another,’ he explains. ‘It’s not a gift: it’s a legal transaction and you need to be realistic about that.’
Founder Guy Singh-Watson has been open about how he's benefitted from Riverford's sale to an EOT, alongside his philanthropic aims
Jeremy highlights the importance of getting an accurate valuation.
‘If you don’t get an accurate valuation, if your business isn’t financially sound, it won’t be able to fulfil all you need it to do because a building block of success is being honest about what you’re doing and why – with yourself, your stakeholders and your employees.
‘Successful employee ownership is about adult-to-adult relationships and honest conversations,’ he explains. ‘You’re giving people rights and responsibilities in the business they now own.
‘As a founder/owner, you can be as philanthropic as you like with the proceeds of that sale, but it’s important to recognise that your decision to transition to EO has consequences and impact. That includes the ability of your business to pay you back.’
Myth 2: Nothing will change in the business
It’s true that although your ownership model will change, your business can remain the same in the way it operates, its services/products, its people and culture.
However, Jeremy is clear that becoming employee-owned is more than a signature on a piece of paper.
‘If you want to leverage EO’s benefits and the competitive advantage it can bring, you need to enable your employee owners to take more personal responsibility for the business’s success.
‘Becoming EO affords you the opportunity to have a different conversation and gain their psychological discretionary effort.
‘It’s now a business held in trust for its employee owners, and they’ll share in ownership’s rewards. Those might be a share of the profits, as well as a greater ability to influence and participate in a business where their input makes a difference.
‘But with opportunity comes the responsibility to build that success. As founder/owner, you must create a narrative for change and bring it to life. Depending on how strong your business is in terms of purpose, culture and engagement that can be hard work, but the benefits can also be huge.’
Myth 3: Becoming employee-owned will slow the decision-making process
JGA's founder and MD Jeremy Gadd in London this year
Yes, becoming EO will change the rhythm and pace of decision-making, but (done well) the bigger picture is the benefits this can bring.
‘When you’re running your own business you can make decisions quickly,’ Jeremy explains. ‘Once you’ve become EO, leadership will still lead but it will be more accountable, so you need to be clear about how and when people can influence and be involved in the business they own.’
What will this mean in practice?
‘It means that as you come to decision-making, the process may take longer but you should make better decisions because employee owners have been more involved.
This means that the change lands better so the overall process may be shorter. It can certainly be more effective because of the realistic conversations you’ve had.’
Myth 4: Employee ownership is a good thing so everyone will ‘get’ it
In an ideal world? Yes. In the real world? Not quite.
Successful employee ownership can indeed be a force for good.
Commercially, EO businesses have been shown to be more productive and invest more in supporting employee’s wellbeing and career development, according to the eoa’s research.
‘But it’s a myth that everybody will automatically ‘get’ it,’ Jeremy says. ‘There’s no legal definition of employee ownership – you have to create your own version of it.
‘Often, when clients reach out to JGA for support, they’ll say: ‘Our people don’t get it’. When I ask what it is that their people don’t get, the reply is ‘being EO’.
‘Enabling your employee owners to understand the rights, responsibilities and rewards of EO will go a significant way to helping them ‘get it’. But you need to invest time and energy in it because this won’t happen by itself.’
Myth 5: Employee ownership only works in ‘white-collar’ businesses
Not true. Although the latest data on where EO is ‘trending’ puts the Professional Services sector on top (39%), Manufacturing (13%) and Construction (12.5%) are next in line. The wider sector is both thriving and diverse.
‘Employee ownership can work in all types of business, not just those that are consultancy or office-based,’ Jeremy confirms. JGA’s own client list backs this up.
Since 2015, those we have supported range from Riverford Organic Farmers and Jerba Campervans to the Rooflight Company, Pym & Wildsmith (metal finishers) and Lodge Brothers – an eighth-generation funeral services family business which became EO in January 2024.
Next steps
So that’s 5 common myths about EO successfully busted. If it’s got you thinking that EO could be the path for you, what should you do next?
Find out how we can enable you to shape, transition, embed, energise and renew the elements of EO in your business.
Meet Alex – from family business leader to champion of Great EO
‘I know what leaders go through in business. I’ve sat in the seat of the CEO, been MD in a family-owned business – I appreciate what’s involved.’
Alex Bloom’s lived experience as a leader is integral to his impact as a Partner with Telos Partners today.
Alex (right) with JGA’s Jeremy Gadd and Telos’s Adam Campbell
But until 2019 his focus was on products – first in roles with United Biscuits and L’Oreal, then with his fourth-generation family business.
So what changed?
He did. Having become MD after a decade, Alex realised that leading his family’s business wasn’t what he wanted to do for the rest of his career.
‘I loved being MD at first, but then I realised that although my focus had been in products I was more interested in people,’ he explains.
So he set his exit plan in motion and started looking for his next role...
The search took him to Telos Partners, the employee-owned change consultancy with which JGA is merging this year.
When his career coach introduced him to Peter Ward (now Telos’s Chairman) he quickly realised that Telos’s values aligned with his own. He joined in summer 2020. ‘I haven’t looked back,’ he says.
Finding his purpose with Telos
Alex (centre) with members of JGA and Telos’s team
As part of his search for a new role, Alex had gained a coaching qualification so, once at Telos, it was natural he combine that new skill with his sound commercial experience to support leaders through the challenge of change.
His own career pivot had clarified the ‘sense of fulfilment’ he was seeking – and his desire to do work that would bring ‘a clear and direct benefit’ to those he would support.
‘I wanted to be surrounded by people who could support and stretch me, to work with people with a growth mindset,’ he adds.
No surprise then that he particularly enjoys Telos’s work in the employee-owned (EO) sector. Indeed one of his first projects was with the eoa.
Combining great business with Great EO
Alex ‘in action’ with Absolute PR and Marketing’s team June 2024
As Alex explains: ‘Many challenges that EO businesses face are similar to those faced by family businesses. That means I have a strong understanding of the constraints they face.
‘I also like the EO sector’s camaraderie, the common values and ethos, and the willingness to share.
‘I’ve experienced most aspects of the business lifecycle during my career, so I can see there’s a lot of overlap between great business and great EO.’
Understanding the challenge of change
Alex and JGA’s Corrine Thomas at the eoa’s recent EO Exchange in London
He also understands the challenge of change, with the positive impact he has on leaders a reflection of his first-hand experience of the role.
Having been through the succession process himself – and been involved with the eoa’s ‘Road to Succession’ report – he knows how to enable exiting and incoming leaders to navigate that transition.
‘I have a personal interest in leadership and enabling leaders and their teams to clarify what success looks like,’ he says.
‘The Telos ‘Swirl’ starts with a leader’s ambition and ends with renewal. I find that exciting.’
Strengthening the combined value of Telos and JGA
Alex (seated right) and Adam (third from left) at April’s JGA Employee Conference in Burford
Exciting too, right now, is Alex’s role in helping to shape JGA’s merger with Telos. This is due to be completed by the end of January 2025.
‘I’m working with our combined teams to clarify our joint proposition,’ he explains. ‘Combining our experience and resource will enable us to have the greatest impact for ourselves and our widening client base.
‘I’m enjoying helping to create structure and clarity. There’s a natural alignment between Telos and JGA’s offer, values, mindset and beliefs. We both do things properly and ‘live’ what we advise.’
Looking forward to the future
Alex (centre) enjoying some ‘downtime’ with Telos’s Adam and JGA’s Garry Davis at 2023’s eoa Conference in Liverpool
Looking ahead, he’s also excited about the eoa Conference 2024 (which JGA and Telos will be attending together in November) as well as bringing the eoa’s new EO Framework to life.
Launched in April, the EO Framework provides a blueprint for Great EO for businesses at any point in their EO journey.
It has been developed using insights from the eoa’s EO Knowledge Programme – in collaboration with the eoa, former eoa CEO Deb Oxley and former Baxendale MD and EO Knowledge Programme lead Campbell McDonald.
‘I’m looking forward to helping businesses use the EO Framework to develop the awareness and understanding they need to improve their approach to EO,’ Alex says.
Enabling EO businesses to navigate leadership succession is also high on his list, as Telos and JGA build on our joint involvement with the eoa’s ‘Road to Succession’ report.
Problem-solving with a coffee – and music!
By any measure, that’s a very full list. So what 5 things help Alex get the most out of his working day? Here’s what he says:
1. Strong black coffee, courtesy of my Nespresso Vertuo machine.
2. Getting away from my desk and getting some fresh air by taking my dog, Scooby, for a walk.
3. Spotify – music that matches the mood I’m in helps my productivity…
4. Helping people, both clients and colleagues, to resolve a problem they’re struggling with.
5. Exercise and laughter!
Want to know how JGA and Telos can help your business to realise its potential through employee ownership? Get in touch to arrange a no obligation meeting now.
EO Day 2024 – why we’re proud to support #ProudlyEO
If you’re employee-owned – or a business like us that’s proud to support the EO sector – EO Day 2024 will have been in your diary for months.
It’s certainly a red letter day at JGA, and not just for the EO Day cakes – although our team’s worked in/with EO companies long enough to know the part these play…
No, this year Friday 21 June is about more than the cake. In fact, it’s a DOUBLE red letter day at JGA because it’s the first EO Day we’re celebrating with Telos Partners, as our two businesses continue to merge.
So bring on the party snacks and get out the bunting – here’s 5 reasons we’re proud to support #ProudlyEO!
1. Employee-owned businesses are more productive
It’s there in black and white. Good employee ownership doesn’t just ‘happen’ but, at their best, EO businesses regularly outperform their non-EO peers in almost every metric.
According to the eoa, they’re 8-12% more productive per employee and invest more in their people, innovation and communities. EO businesses are also 25% more likely to have seen their profits grow in the past five years, post-transition.
Inspiring proof that great EO truly can drive business success. Read the eoa’s evidence-based research here.
2. Employee-owned businesses like to share
JGA’s Lisa and Jeremy (far right) with Stephens Scown’s team at their June EO Knowledge Share
If you’re EO, you know these aren’t just empty words: EO businesses really DO like to share. Just check out Stephens Scown’s latest EO Knowledge Share on 6 June.
Hosted at its Exeter offices, the EO Knowledge Share was (as usual) open and useful, with those who came openly sharing their experiences of EO. This time, our MD Jeremy and Associate Lisa were delighted to be invited to facilitate the event.
But initiatives like Stephen Scown’s aren’t the only place you’ll see EO’s ‘sharing’ spirit in action.
Simply cast your mind back to the eoa conference 2023. That’s when 800+ ‘movers and shakers’ gathered in Liverpool to share the experience and insight they’d gained on their EO journeys plus network with other EO advocates like them.
Which leads us neatly to the third reason we’re proud to support #ProudlyEO…
3. Employee-owned businesses LOVE a get-together with the eoa
What a night! Team JGA and Telos enjoy the gala dinner at the eoa conference 2023
They really do. And what better place to do this than the annual eoa conference? Last year it was Liverpool, this year it’s Telford, with tickets now available for EO’s biggest event of the year.
It’s the go to event for the EO sector – and not to be missed.
In fact, our MD Jeremy described the eoa conference 2023 as ‘the most successful eoa conference to date’ – so we have high hopes for the next one. No pressure, Team eoa!
Find out more about eoa conference 2024 here – happening 26-27 November. See you there!
4. Employee-owned businesses like to learn
‘The [new] EO Framework is a blueprint of practices that supports employee-owned businesses at any stage of their EO journey to develop and evolve’
James de le Vigne, CEO of the eoa
Business doesn’t stand still and neither does EO. As the sector grows, we’re encouraged by recent moves to clarify what is (and isn’t) best practice backed by evidence-based research and practical steps to ‘do’ it well.
It’s always been what we’re about at JGA. But now the momentum’s building as the sector unites to show that EO is more than two initials above your workplace door.
Cue April’s launch of the new EO Framework – a simple structured model developed by the eoa using insights from the EO Knowledge programme with the support of our Telos Partners colleagues.
James de le Vigne, CEO of the eoa, describes it as ‘a blueprint of practices that supports employee-owned businesses at any stage of their EO journey to develop and evolve’.
Expect to hear more about the EO Framework – and how to use it – as the year unfolds. Read about the EO Framework here.
5. Employee-owned businesses like to celebrate… with cake
Okay, we couldn’t resist – we left the ‘best’ of EO Day to last… we couldn’t let EO Day go without spotlighting some of those cakes.
We don’t know yet what the day will bring but pictured here are some of the bakes our ace baker Lisa’s made for us in the past year…
Happy EO Day 2024!
Want to know how JGA and Telos can support your EO business to thrive? Get in touch to arrange a no obligation meeting now.
The Three Rs of successful employee ownership
How do you create and lead a successful employee-owned (EO) business when the climate is as tough as it is now?
For our MD Jeremy Gadd, the answer is clear. Clarify and articulate the ‘Three Rs’ (rights, responsibilities and rewards) of employee ownership – then bring each meaningfully to life.
JGA’s founder and MD Jeremy Gadd
Through his work with JGA, and elsewhere as an Independent Trustee, Jeremy has seen how each can play a practical role in enabling clients to drive their business’s performance.
As he explains: ‘The most successful employee-owned businesses know how to use their employee ownership as a business lever. The Three Rs underpin everything they do.’
Unlocking the best of EO
‘The Three Rs are the component parts that allow your business to have a different relationship, and different conversations, with your employees as ‘owners’.
‘When people can articulate how the rights, responsibilities and rewards of EO are effectively applied across all levels of their business – that’s where you can unlock really great EO.’
Jeremy cites Arup, The 1:1 Diet by Cambridge Weight Plan, Gripple, Richer Sounds and Riverford Organic Farmers as businesses whose understanding of the Three Rs has made them positive examples of EO in action today.
With #ProudlyEO the theme of the eoa’s EO Day 2024 on 21 June, each demonstrates the deeper value that the best employee ownership can deliver – for people, businesses, communities and the economy.
Recognising the role of leadership
‘At one level, EO is simply another ownership model. If you really want to pull the lever it affords you, going though this process and bringing the Three Rs to life – that’s what enables you to… secure the outcomes you want’
Jeremy Gadd, Founder and MD, J Gadd Associates
Over the last 10 years, Jeremy’s appreciation of the Three Rs’s has been boosted by seeing how useful JGA’s clients have found the process of clarifying what they mean for their own businesses.
‘Often, when clients reach out to JGA for our support, they’ll say: ‘Our people don’t get it’,’ he explains.
‘When I ask what it is that their people don’t get, the reply is ‘being EO’. Understanding the Three Rs will go a significant way to helping them ‘get it’.’
He points out: ‘At one level, EO is simply another ownership model. If you really want to pull the lever it affords you, going through this process and bringing the Three Rs to life – that’s what enables you to unlock the discretionary effort of your employee owners and secure the outcomes you want.
‘This is why a key part of our work at JGA is helping our employee-owned clients to explore what they’re trying to achieve, how they’re engaging their people and whether they have the right leadership in place.
‘That last point is important because every business needs great leadership to be successful, irrespective of its ownership model.’
Putting the Three Rs into practice
Riverford Organics’ journey shows how the Three Rs can work in practice
So what do the Three Rs look like in practice?
Every business is different, but Jeremy starts by explaining that there are three questions every employee owner should understand:
• What am I allowed? (my rights)
• What do I have to give? (my responsibilities)
• What will I get? (my rewards)
‘The rights of employee ownership might include the right to understand, influence and challenge how your business is working, to engage and be consulted with on major (and some smaller) issues,’ he says.
‘The responsibilities might be to participate positively, work collaboratively and support your fellow co-owners, to drive the performance of your business beyond your day job. To look for solutions, not problems.’
Understanding different types of ‘reward’
And the rewards?
‘The obvious one is the reward of receiving a share of the financial profits,’ says Jeremy. ‘Indeed, some people believe EO only works when you’re sharing profit.
‘However, I disagree with that – there are not-for-profits, mutuals and spin-outs where the rewards aren’t a profit-share but can be the ability to influence, to participate and to have the opportunity to create a culture with a deeper sense of belonging.
‘The ability to influence how surplus is invested for customer, client or patient care (depending on sector) is very appealing.
‘In an EO business the reward may be that you feel more in control of your destiny – that the future is more stable because there’s a lower risk of buy-out by a venture capitalist or competitor.
‘There’s also the reward of working in an independent business where your input makes a difference and your voice is truly heard.’
Creating a fresh relationship with your employee owners
Jeremy and JGA’s Kathie Robbie enjoy supporting clients to make more of their EO
But clarifying your employee owners’ rights, responsibilities and rewards is only half the picture. The next step is to bring them to life.
It’s not rocket science.
‘You may already be doing some of this in your business,’ Jeremy says. ‘But when you become EO, you should recognise that it’s powerful to create a different relationship with your people – and explore how you want to make that real at different levels of your business.
‘For example, if you believe the right to influence is important, you need to create the mechanisms to support that. If you’re going to pay a bonus, you need to be clear about how that can be achieved – it may be linked to the responsibility to reduce wastage and improve efficiency.
‘If you do this, the individual can see how they can make a difference and truly play their part. It’s important to look at your people as your fellow owners, not as employees.
Making the most of your employee-owned model
‘This is where having the right leaders in place – who can connect with the ideal yet who also know how to make EO ‘real’ at all levels of your business – is essential.
‘Get this right and that’s how you can become and remain successful, both through transition and beyond.
‘Fundamentally, the Three Rs are about making the most of your ownership model to drive greater performance,’ Jeremy concludes.
‘And this is why the evidence suggests that the most successful employee-owned businesses are more productive, more resilient, have higher morale and lower attrition – and benefit from their ability to take a long-term view.
‘This was the clear finding of the eoa’s landmark EO Knowledge Programme last year. It’s exciting to see how this important research is now informing the drive to build a thriving EO sector in the UK – including its role in the new EO Framework, which our Telos Partners colleagues helped develop for the eoa.’
Want to explore how JGA could enable your business to make the most of being EO? Book a no obligation meeting with us now.
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.
Leadership succession – what every EO business should know
Leadership succession planning is a key challenge for every business – and not something any of us would choose to do ‘on the hoof’.
Yet ‘on the hoof’ is how the leadership succession process is likely to be unfolding in many companies today.
It’s easy to see why.
The economic environment is tough, so if you’re a business owner who’s chosen employee ownership (EO) for your exit strategy – or an MD picking up the reins – finding the time and resources to plan a smooth leadership succession can be hard.
Getting the timing right
Jeremy (far left) with business founders he has supported – Chris Barrington Brown (Cunning Running), Neal Criscuolo (NC2) and David Sproxton (Aardman)
Yet, as our MD Jeremy Gadd says: ‘Planning your own succession is one of the greatest responsibilities a leader of any business can have.
‘One of the first things to recognise when stepping into a new leadership role is that your time is limited and it’s important to plan.’
Jeremy’s view reflects what he’s learned from supporting a wide range of founder owners – and their successors – to navigate the succession process over the last 10 years.
He has also seen effective leadership succession in action through his role as an Independent Trustee.
He says: ‘In my experience, the leaders who have achieved the smoothest successions are those who have started thinking about it long before it’s crossed anyone else’s mind.’
Creating a foundation for success
So timing has a role to play. But how else can you prepare yourself and your EO business for a successful transfer of the reins?
The first step is to get informed. Understand the challenge of leadership succession – and what’s at stake.
The ‘The Road to Succession: Exploring Leadership Succession in EO businesses’ report is a good place to start.
JGA and Telos Partners co-delivered this major project on the transition of leadership in employee-owned businesses for the Employee Ownership Association (EOA, carrying out the separate interviews with 40-plus former owners and successors on which the Road to Succession’s findings are based.
Learning from experienced hands
‘I’d recommend the Employee Ownership Association’s ‘Road to Succession’ report to any founder or MD who’s leading an employee-owned business today’
Jeremy Gadd, MD, J Gadd Associates
The result is an invaluable piece of research that spotlights what works (and what doesn’t) with practical insight and guidance for those planning, or undergoing, leadership succession in their own EO business.
This includes top tips from founders and MDs with lived experience of the challenge, ranging from getting started early and setting a realistic timeline to not being ‘afraid’ to ask for support.
The fact that the Road to Succession report draws on the first-hand experience of the 20-plus EOA member companies who took part sets it apart.
‘I’d recommend this report to any founder or MD who’s leading an employee-owned business today,’ Jeremy confirms. Download the Road to Succession report here.
Investing in the right support
Telos presents the report’s findings at the EOA Conference 2023
So you’ve read the report – what next? The second step is to seek the trusted support you need to guide you through this part of the journey.
After the Road to Succession report was published, Telos Partners’ Adam Campbell and Alex Bloom shared the key findings in a packed session at the EOA Conference 2023.
‘The number of people who attended the session reinforced the importance that employee-owned companies place on leadership succession,’ Alex says.
‘Feedback from the event pointed to the benefit of being able to tap into experiences and insights from businesses who have already navigated their way through leadership succession.’
Jeremy agrees.
‘Getting your succession planning right is an important responsibility for every business leader,’ he concludes. ‘The key is to start thinking about it long before anyone else so you can prepare yourself and your business for the time when you’ll no longer be there.’
Find out how we can support your EO business to plan and navigate your leadership succession. Get in touch with us now.
Meet Adam – helping to shape the future at Telos and JGA
Running aerobics classes in a village hall might not seem the obvious start for a career in business consulting but, as the saying goes, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Or with a single ‘step-up’ (to 1990s music) in Adam Campbell’s case…
How so? Because Adam – now Managing Partner of Telos Partners, with which JGA is in the process of merging – spent the first 15 years of his career in the fitness and leisure industry.
Adam (right) and JGA’s MD Jeremy Gadd in London this spring
Today, what he learned then remains a force for good in his life.
Not only is he a keen cyclist but, as he explains: ‘My personal purpose is about helping people achieve their ambitions. Previously it was their personal fitness – now it’s in their business.’
Learning from experience
Adam progressed from his first part-time job in a leisure centre to qualify as a Personal Trainer (PT), gaining a Chemistry degree in between.
He spent the next four years ‘knocking on the doors of busy executives at 6am’, taking them out for a run or putting them through their paces in their conservatories, before moving on to co-found two businesses – a training business and a chain of eight health clubs. The former was sold to fund the latter.
After turning down an offer of £12m, and having to pull a planned AIM listing, the business was unable to generate sufficient funds to keep the business growing and the clubs were sold off – at which point Adam signed up for an MBA at Cranfield School of Management.
‘It was my rehabilitation,’ he says. ‘I wanted to learn where we had gone wrong and that’s where I found and fell in love with consulting.’ It’s also where his connection with Telos began.
Finding where he belonged
Adam joined Telos Partners in 2005.
The consultancy had been co-founded in 2000 by a group of 15 individuals who believed that organisations are the product of their relationships, rather than just the sum of their transactions.
He’d heard about it through a Cranfield colleague and, having spent a day in its Windsor offices, liked what he saw.
‘It was the people,’ he recalls.
‘And I enjoy being part of something where I can connect, influence, own and learn, while working with larger organisations to help to create sustainable success.’
He’s also ‘always liked the act of creation’, he says. ‘Starting with a blank sheet of paper, shaping ambition, creating a plan and making it happen.’
Creating a positive impact
‘That’s what attracted me to Telos and continues to attract me to working with founders and leaders who are seeking to create a positive impact or leave behind something worthwhile.
‘There’s nothing better than meeting new people, discovering things about them and their business, finding out how it works, but also staying with them and being able to look back at how far they, their people and the business have come.
‘Within all of that is the delight of collaboration,’ he adds.
‘Getting people together where there may not be clarity or consensus, bringing out different views and perspectives, and ending up with something clearer and stronger than any one individual could have dreamt up on their own.
‘That way of working with others is invigorating.’
A business owned and run by its people
‘It constantly surprises me how long our clients have remembered the things we’ve done and how much they say that we have helped. This is what gets me out of bed each day’
Adam Campbell, Managing Partner, Telos Partners
Adam was asked to become Telos’s Managing Partner in 2022 and now leads the consultancy, which works with a diverse range of businesses in both the UK and abroad.
Its clients include FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 companies as well as SMEs that, like Telos, are employee-owned. With its mix of Partners, Employees and Associates, the principle is that the business will be owned and run by the people who work in it.
Reflecting on his 19 years with Telos, Adam says: ‘For something to keep my attention for this long, there must be something happening there. It is the mix of the ‘hard’ and the ‘soft’ and the impact that our clients tell us we have.
‘It constantly surprises me how long our clients have remembered the things we’ve done and how much they say that we have helped. This is what gets me out of bed each day.’
Strengthening our value to clients
Adam and Jeremy with JGA’s Lisa Fryer (left) and Telos’s Jane Kershaw – working on our merger plans
Happily, this year there’s something else getting Adam out of bed each day – Telos’s ongoing merger with JGA.
‘It’s the learning opportunity: here we are again at a point of creation,’ he explains.
‘This time, we don’t have a blank sheet of paper but the opportunity is ours to shape. We have very similar values and a complementary set of skills and experiences where A + B can give C more value.
‘We’re excited about the potential to better support clients and create better businesses, and we’re already enjoying being in client conversations together.
‘I’m also enjoying meeting JGA’s team and looking at how we can combine our skills and strengths – and by the potential for this to help both our businesses’ succession planning too.’
Cycling, dog walks – and the power of the great outdoors
So, with a busy year ahead, what 5 things get Adam through his working day?
1. My wife and kids. The reason I do what I do. They keep me grounded and stop me from getting overly grumpy! They challenge and support me too.
2. My dog, who wakes me up and gets me out each morning. If I want to think of a good idea I load the client’s question in my brain, get out into the fresh air (rain, hail, snow or sun) and let the walk work its magic…
3. All things two wheels. I have a turbo trainer and like road and mountain biking. Cycling is my relaxation.
4. The fact that at Telos we’re trying to create a perpetual business that’s here for generations to come – supporting our team as well as our clients.
5. Helping our clients achieve their aspirations. I love it when people find their own strengths, passions, ambitions and can fulfil them.
JGA and Telos – 5 things that link us both
‘Overwhelming – but in a good way’. This was how our MD Jeremy Gadd described the response to last November’s news of JGA’s planned merger with Telos Partners. All in all, it was quite a week.
Now with the process officially under way, here’s 5 things you might not know about Telos and JGA…
Some of JGA’s team enjoy meeting our new Telos colleagues in Windsor
1. We’ve worked together before
It’s how it started. Our paths crossed at Employee Ownership Association events, leading us to collaborate on key projects for the EOA. We now jointly provide two employee ownership (EO) leadership development programmes for them through EO Learn.
But that’s not all.
Last year we jointly supported the EOA’s ‘The Road to Succession’ research by carrying out the separate interviews with founders and successors in EO businesses on which it’s based.
Find out what you need to know about EO leadership succession here.
2. We both serve the employee-owned sector
While JGA specialises in supporting business founder/owners and their teams to realise the benefits of becoming EO, Telos is no stranger to the EO world.
It might have a proportionately smaller number of EO clients but it’s growing, with our merger strengthening the combined value to clients our teams can add.
Plus Telos itself has a direct employee ownership model.
3. We’ve built our teams in similar ways
Telos’s Managing Partner Adam Campbell (left) with Telos’s Alex Bloom and JGA’s Garry Davis
At Telos and JGA, our people make us different – always have done, always will. We’re proud that, individually, each brings something special to the mix.
We’ve also built our teams in similar ways. We both have employees and 'contractors', whose expertise and broader skills we can call upon to support our development as well as the clients we serve.
This mix keeps us open, agile and ensures our conversations have that added spark!
4. We both enjoy working in-person
A packed room at Telos’s session on leadership succession – EOA Conference 2023
It’s no secret that our JGA team loves working face-to-face with clients. The good news is that Telos does too…
Of course, delivering our services in person isn’t always practical or what’s required.
However, it does explain why we enjoyed teaming up at 2023’s Employee Ownership Association Conference in Liverpool – supporting each other’s sessions where we could.
Now we’re excited to start working with more clients together. Watch this space!
5. We both like cake!
JGA’s Katy Perceval gets baking ahead of our 2023 Autumn Update
At least we hope we do…
It might be early days in our merger process, but JGA has already established a clear track record in this area – with several of our team keen bakers of cake, buns and bread.
No pressure, Telos, but we’re looking forward to experiencing your baking skills very soon!
Read about our merger here and get in touch to see how JGA and Telos can support your employee-owned business to grow.
JGA @ the EOA’s Robert Oakeshott Lecture 2024
‘Today, everything you did was about three motivations…’
Who knew? But then the Employee Ownership Association’s annual Robert Oakeshott Lecture is meant to be thought-provoking – and 2024’s speaker Matthew Taylor, CEO of the NHS Confederation, didn’t disappoint.
JGA’s Katy Perceval and Libby Unsworth at the event
The lecture, held at London’s Bayes Business School last week, celebrates the life, legacy and work of the EOA’s founder Robert Oakeshott.
As well as the chance to hear Matthew speak, it was a great opportunity for EOA members to network with each other and the EOA team who had travelled from Hull.
Making the case for co-ownership
A packed theatre listens to Matthew Taylor speak
So why was Matthew invited to give this year’s lecture?
In his previous role as Chief Executive of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), he wrote 2017’s ‘Good Work’ report – an independent review of modern working practices – for the government.
His 2021 book ‘Do we have to work?’ went on to re-examine our ideas about work and its relationship to our social and personal lives.
Both make the case for employee ownership and other co-ownership business models.
Taking to the stage, Mathew began by asking: ‘Why is change difficult?’ and how we might think differently about our approach. How indeed?
Exploring what motivates us at work
‘The most successful organisations are those that manage to achieve a balance of all three motivations [individuality, solidarity, hierarchy]… which employee-owned companies have the capacity to do’
Matthew Taylor, CEO of the NHS Confederation
He explored the ‘three motivations’ (individualism, solidarity and hierarchy) that drive everything we do – and outlined why employee ownership (EO) has a ‘substantial advantage’ in relation to human motivation, dynamism and social change.
But he also pointed out that although EO can provide a strong foundation, it’s not enough to guarantee success.
Instead, the key to achieve chosen goals is to both ‘combine and align’ all three motivations – avoiding a ‘monoculture’ or ‘deficit culture’ where only one or two are expressed.
‘The most successful organisations are those that manage to achieve a balance of all three motivations,’ Matthew explained – something he believes ‘employee-owned companies have the capacity to do’.
Even if ‘having all the ingredients in the kitchen doesn’t mean getting the recipe right’!
Topics raised in the Q&A that followed ranged from how to change a ‘deficit culture’ to whether generational differences might influence the way the motivations are expressed at work.
The value of a shared purpose
JGA’s Katy and Telos’s Alex Bloom meet in person for the first time!
JGA Associate Libby Unsworth and Comms Support Katy Perceval both attended the event. Alex Bloom, Consultant at Telos Partners, was also there.
JGA is in the process of merging with Telos, following our exciting announcement last year.
‘Matthew’s lecture was about the heart of what it means to be EO – values which clearly aligned to his own,’ says Libby. ‘It was my first Robert Oakeshott lecture and I enjoyed an insightful and thought-provoking afternoon.’
Katy agrees. ‘These in-person events have a different vibe to online, and Matthew’s ideas certainly gave me food for thought. I could see how the motivations he described influence my own work and other areas of my life.
‘Naturally, it was fun to catch up with Libby, meet Alex and chat with familiar and new connections too.’
Alex also enjoyed the event, especially ‘catching up with EOA members and hearing how they and their businesses are doing’.
‘It was a very engaging and thought-provoking lecture from Matthew,’ he says. ‘I was interested to hear his ideas around the importance of aligning individualism, solidarity and hierarchy to achieve successful organisational change, and the central importance of having a shared/common purpose.’
Want to know how our Transition, People and Governance services can support your EO business?
The founder’s journey – what our MD Jeremy’s learned
What motivates someone to launch their own business? For our founder/MD Jeremy Gadd, it was a ‘perfect storm’ in 2013 that gifted him the time to reflect, explore and spot a gap in the market he sensed he could fill.
Combined with more than a touch of entrepreneurial spirit, of course – well, no-one said running your own business was easy!
Jeremy with JGA’s Corrine Thomas
‘I knew it would be hard work and that didn’t bother me,’ Jeremy explains. ‘But how do you find the energy to keep going?
‘There has to be some element of the ‘evangelical’ in the founder/owner of a business. Not everyone wants to be at the top. The buck stops with you.’
Understanding the challenge of change
‘Transitioning to EO is like any major project – you have to prepare for the impact that change will have on you and your organisation’
Jeremy Gadd, JGA’s Founder and MD
Jeremy launched JGA in January 2014 and says: ‘I still get a buzz out of what I do. I’m involved in interesting and rewarding work most days.
‘Exciting, challenging, exhilarating – the last 10 years have been all three.’
The ‘gap’ he’d spotted in 2013 was that founder/owners were transitioning their companies to employee ownership (EO) but finding down the line that EO wasn’t ‘working’ as they’d assumed – that some people ‘didn’t get it’.
‘I could see clients were well served with the legal/tax aspects, but they weren’t understanding that transitioning your business to EO is a massive organisational and governance change as well,’ he explains.
‘It’s like any major project – you have to prepare for the impact that change will have on you and your organisation. Understandably, this wasn’t the main focus. We set about building JGA to meet this need.’
The unique nature of the founder’s role
Jeremy with business founders Chris Barrington Brown (Cunning Running), Neal Criscuolo (NC2) and David Sproxton (Aardman)
In the decade since, JGA has supported more than 100 clients at all stages of their EO journey, from exploring succession planning options to transition and beyond.
Through it all, Jeremy’s interest in what motivates someone to launch their own business – and how, in time, that shapes their exit strategy – has grown.
‘I still love meeting founder/owners,’ he confirms. ‘I take care to remain objective, but I can identify with their concerns and aspirations. I bring my experience and understanding of a unique role.
‘I understand why succession is something many don’t want to think about. So much of our work is about our identity, and that’s not necessarily appreciated by the exiting founder/owner.
‘Considering how they’ll spend their time after they let go of their business, involving their loved ones in the decision, is important to the employee ownership transition’s success.’
Planning his own succession
So what about Jeremy’s own succession planning at JGA?
He’d been exploring options for quite some time. However, being involved in interviewing 20-plus founder/owners and their leadership successors for ‘The Road to Succession’ research project clarified his thoughts.
JGA co-delivered ‘The Road to Succession’ with Telos Partners for the Employee Ownership Association last year.
‘It confirmed the time and effort it takes to find your successor, and that highlighted my own process as a founder/owner,’ he explains.
‘We’d been collaborating with Telos Partners for a while, we overlapped and shared similar values. Merging our two businesses just made sense – it was a no brainer.
‘I’m not retiring,’ he adds. ‘Quite the opposite! This is about growing JGA and Telos together. It’s a very exciting time.’
What 5 key things has Jeremy learned?
So what has Jeremy learned as a founder/owner that’s useful for our clients today?
Here’s what he says.
1. Trust your gut…
‘… Especially pre-transition if your succession planning includes EO. I’m kind of intuitive about the big stuff.
‘The detail will help you deliver but do the answers to the big questions come easily? If so, it’s probably the right thing to do.’
2. The best strategies fit on a single page
‘I came out of a company where a lot of time was spent creating/supporting business strategy that ended up in the second drawer down.
‘Yet at its heart a business is a very simple entity: you have a product or service you must sell for more than it costs to produce or deliver.
‘Revisit your strategy to clarify or update it, but keep it to a single page.’
3. Change evolves in different ways
‘One thing I’ve learned from employee ownership is that good change comes as a result of people reflecting, evolving and implementing their good ideas.
‘If you’re the one implementing the change, be mindful of how long it can take others to come with you.’
4. Communicate clearly – and allow enough time
‘People absorb information in different ways and at different speeds. I’ve learned to recognise that and help others recognise it too.
‘People will challenge you all the time. They’re not being difficult – they want to understand.
‘Work with it: communication should be encouraged, not dismissed. Communicate, communicate, communicate.’
5. Recognise the difference between ‘need’ and ‘want’
‘One of my biggest learns from building JGA – you can see ‘need’ but ‘want’ is the recognition that someone is able and willing to invest in your service or product.
‘Communicate in a way that enables others to understand the value you’ll add.’
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