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.
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.
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.
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.
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 celebrates 10th birthday!
It’s official – on 31 January, we will be 10 years old! But before we bring out the cake, here are 10 milestones that have shaped our first decade…
1. Spotting the gap in the market
Rewind to 2013. It was our founder Jeremy Gadd – fresh from a 30+ year career with the JLP – who spotted a gap in the market he knew he could fill.
That gap was supporting employee-owned (EO) and other values-led businesses to unlock the benefits of their ownership model, culture and teams.
In fact, Jeremy was so excited by the chance he saw to add real value that he went on to do his Henley Business School MSc dissertation on the impact on leaders when organisations become EO.
J Gadd Associates was duly created on 31 January 2014.
2. Establishing a track record of success
Our Founder Jeremy Gadd (right) with clients Neil Hughes from Hayes Davidson and Abi Knight from NC Squared
Every business has to start somewhere – it takes time and care to build your brand.
At JGA, bringing experienced Associates on board and understanding what it means to be successfully employee-owned have played a key role in our success.
As of January 2024, we’re proud to have supported more than 100 clients at all stages of their EO journey – ranging from household names Aardman and Riverford Organics to EOA award-winning businesses LUC, Hayes Davidson and The 1:1 Diet by Cambridge Weight Plan.
Happily, the work’s as fulfilling now as it was on Day One.
Read more about our clients here.
3. Strengthening the value we offer
From preparing founder/owners to let go of their business to embedding a culture of responsibility, opportunity and reward: we’ve always keenly focused on the relevance of what we do.
Since 2014, we’ve evolved to better serve our clients and create an impact that lasts. We were championing the fundamental value of sound governance long before it became headline news.
We’ve learned from every client we’ve had. Today, our services range from EO transition and change consultancy to board-level development, resourcing and succession planning – from leadership development to employee engagement and beyond.
4. Let there be cake… and buns!
Comms Support Katy Perceval gets the brownies ready for our Autumn Business Update 2023
Because, seriously, it’s our birthday so why not?
Like many businesses, we are blessed with several enthusiastic bakers who need no excuse to work their sugar-filled magic. We might not all meet face-to-face very often but when we do there will definitely be cakes!
Anyone for one of our Ops Manager Lisa Fryer’s A-MAZ-ING cinnamon buns?...
5. Proudly supporting the Employee Ownership Association
Team JGA ready for action at the EOA Conference 2023
It’s the ‘go to’ event for EO and we wouldn’t miss it for the world. That’s why JGA has been a key sponsor/platinum exhibitor at the annual Employee Ownership Association (EOA) Conference every year since 2016.
But there’s more to our EOA support than this. We’re proud to help deliver impactful EO leadership development and leadership succession planning through EO Learn and contribute to their webinars and events.
Not to mention our trips north to meet the team in person in Hull.
In 2023 we were also delighted to collaborate with them (and others) on two critical pieces of major EO research…
6. Contributing to data-based research on succession planning and EO
You know what they say: it never rains but it pours. And that is exactly what happened, in a good way, when TWO reports in which we’d been involved went live on the same day.
First up, ‘Generation EO: The Great Succession Opportunity’ showed how useful an increased awareness and understanding of EO would be to the thousands of SME owners planning to exit their business in the next five to 10 years.
Then ‘The Road to Succession: Exploring Leadership Succession in EO businesses’ spotlighted what works – and what doesn’t – during the critical handover/exit stage.
Both projects boost the body of data-based research now available on EO – a resource that’s got real value as the sector grows.
7. Welcoming our first Associate Employees
A real highlight for us in 2021 – moving JGA from an Associate structure to one with Associate Employees.
At the time, our founder Jeremy was exploring employee ownership as his succession plan for JGA and – although that’s no longer our path (see Milestone 10) – taking on employees was the next step.
First on board was our Ops Manager Lisa. We held our first ever JGA Employee Conference in the Cotswolds in 2022 and in 2023 recorded our first ever Employee Conference film!
8. Growing a network of trusted partners
JGA’s Lisa and Jeremy with Fieldfisher’s Neil Palmer and Alan Taylor
Over the last 10 years we’ve grown a network of trusted partners, each a professional expert in the financial and/or legal aspects of EO.
From Fieldfisher and Stephens Scown to Birketts, Postlethwaite and RM2, all operate with the same high standards and integrity that we do.
Each trusted partner is important to us but Fieldfisher wins the prize for the one with the best office view! Well, Tower Bridge does take some beating…
9. Bringing our personality to LinkedIn!
Associate Adrian Wheale and Ops Manager Lisa Fryer practice a selfie…
No white noise – that’s our promise. And it’s helped us create a quality network of followers across our social channels.
This is where we share the latest news about what we’re doing and why, in a way that brings the JGA personality to life.
Not following us yet? See some of what you’re missing on JGA’s Linked Company Page here!
10. Announcing our merger with Telos Partners
Telos’s Managing Partner Adam Campbell (back row, centre) with Jeremy and the JGA team
And finally (though it’s more a beginning than an end) came last November’s exciting news that we are to merge with Telos Partners!
Thanks to everyone – our clients, trusted partners and the wider EO community – for your super-positive reaction. Read our JGA and Telos merger announcement now and watch this space!
Want to know more about the transition, people and governance support we offer? Get in touch with us now.
Review of 2023 – our Top 5
2023, how to describe it? Exciting, high pressure, a rollercoaster of a ride – at JGA, a busy 12 months culminated in the news that we are to merge with Telos Partners.
Here’s our 5 ‘best bits’ to enjoy…
Getting together in the Cotswolds
We thought winter would never end, but it did and in May we made it back to Burford for our annual JGA Employee Conference. And what a conference it was!
Cue a packed 24 hours of ‘hot off the press’ updates, discussion and fresh ideas to develop the services we offer – including exciting plans for our succession planning and governance support. Plus, of course, the chance to catch up over a nice cup of coffee (and an ever nicer slice of cake).
Read about our conference here.
2. Enjoying the chance to make fudge…
Remember this? Our MD Jeremy donning his apron for EO Day 2023 in June?
Our days don’t usually involve (this much) sugar or large copper pans but Jeremy was delighted to be invited to ‘help out’ at Fudge Kitchen Windsor after we supported the business’s team with an Embedding EO workshop in the spring.
As the ‘people people’ of EO, working face-to-face with clients both before and after their transition is a key part of what we do. Even when it means rolling up our sleeves in the kitchen on a hot summer’s day.
Read more about some of the clients we’ve supported in our Case Studies here.
3. Supporting evidence-based research on EO
You know how it is: you wait ages for a bus and then two come along at once? Well, that’s what happened when the findings of not one, but two major EO-focused research projects which we’d supported with the Employee Ownership Association went live on the same day.
Both reports reveal why effective succession planning is so important for founder/owners and future leaders in SMEs. Essential reading if your current plans involve EO – and if they don’t.
Read more about ‘The Road to Succession: Exploring Leadership Succession in EO Businesses’ here.
Read more about ‘Generation EO: The Great Succession opportunity’ here.
4. Championing Employee Trustees (they’re good people!)
‘Brave, adventurous, willing to stand up and be counted and [with] such a passion for their business they’ll give anything a go!’
That’s our Associate Kathie Robb’s view of Employee Trustees… and we agree!
It’s why we’ve loved seeing Trustee Connect, our friendly confidential network for Employee Trustees, go from strength to strength this year. Free to current and previous clients, the next one will is on 9 January, with Kathie once again at the helm.
Find out more about Trustee Connect here.
5. Sharing our merger news
And topping off 2023, the exciting news that (drumroll, please) JGA is to merge with Telos Partners – announced just ahead of us appearing as a Platinum Exhibitor at the EOA Conference 2023.
We’ve been encouraged (and genuinely touched) by all the messages of congratulation we’ve had and can’t wait to start working more closely with Telos in 2024.
Read our merger announcement here and watch this space for more!
Wishing our clients, trusted partners and EO network a happy festive break – we look forward to working together in 2024…
JGA to merge with Telos Partners
Merger will enable us to provide even greater value for clients looking to leverage the benefits of EO…
JGA is delighted to announce that we will be more closely aligning our business with Telos Partners from 31 January 2024 – ahead of a full merger from January 2025.
Adam Campbell, Managing Partner, Telos (back row, centre) with our MD Jeremy Gadd and team
The merger builds on the relationship JGA and Telos have developed over the last four years, during which we have successfully collaborated to provide support to the Employee Ownership Association (EOA) and its members.
Our companies will initially focus on two key areas: providing our clients with access to a wider range of support and services to transition and accelerate their employee ownership (EO) while merging our back-office functions.
Both brands and organisations will continue to co-exist while we look to merge these more fully over time.
JGA’s founder Jeremy Gadd will remain MD of JGA for the foreseeable future, while joining Telos as a Partner from 1 February 2024.
Delivering greater value for our clients
So why are JGA and Telos merging – and why now?
Our experience of working together – specifically on the EOA’s EO Learn programme and, more recently, on an EOA project designed to benefit the sector as a whole – has encouraged us to make the most of opportunities where we know that, together, we can deliver more value and impact for clients.
With JGA approaching our 10th birthday (January 2024) and both businesses’ positive experience of working even more closely together, it became clear that the time was right to merge.
As Jeremy and Adam Campbell, Managing Partner, Telos Partners, explain: ‘We share a strong belief in the potential of employee ownership to create successful, sustainable organisations that better generate and more fairly distribute wealth.
‘The decision to merge will enable us to leverage JGA’s unrivalled experience of EO transitions alongside Telos’ deeper experience of larger organisations to better support clients to transition to, embed and realise the fuller, longer-term potential of EO.’
Shaping our future together
JGA and Telos’ existing clients, Trusted Partners and other key stakeholders have all been contacted by Jeremy and Adam ahead of today’s announcement.
Both businesses’ Employees, Associates, Associate Consultants and Partners have also been reassured that there will be no initial change to any existing client work or contractual relationship they have with either Telos or JGA.
Over the first 12 months, our teams will work even more closely together, sharing experiences, supporting clients and each other, while Adam and Jeremy’s focus will be on the sustainable, profitable growth of our combined business.
As they explain: ‘We strongly believe there will be ongoing opportunities for all beyond the initial transition period, if this is what people want. Our combined future is very much ours to own.’
Want to know who Telos are and what they do? Find out more on their website here.
You are also very welcome to come and see us on the JGA exhibition stand at this week’s EOA Conference (27 and 28 November 2023), which both our businesses are attending. We look forward to seeing you there.
Looking to the future: JGA's Autumn Conference 2023
Opportunity, growth and how to add value in a volatile landscape. Hot topics for every business which is why we used our Autumn Conference to focus on all three.
As usual, it was great to get (almost) all of our team together, this time at the John Lewis Partnership’s beautiful conference venue in Cookham, Berkshire.
The day gave our MD Jeremy Gadd the chance to run through our immediate operational priorities, business performance and preparations for November’s Employee Ownership Association Conference (already well under way).
However, his primary focus was on JGA’s future ambitions which include plans to evolve our transition, people and governance support while adding exciting new services to the mix.
Focusing on the future
MD Jeremy (left) with board and governance expert Adrian Wheale
As always, our discussions took account of the wider context in which our clients are operating – and the opportunities/challenges that presents.
Right now that includes not just HMRC’s review of EOTs and EBTs but the government’s White Paper Proposals on Audit and Governance, which (when implemented) are likely to have a significant impact on all businesses, including those that are employee-owned.
This should lead to an increase in demand for the experienced support with corporate governance and board development that our Associates already provide.
It’s tough out there, no two ways about it – but 2024, here we come…
Adding value in testing times
As Jeremy explains: ‘The opportunity for us to add value at a time when such a lot of change around corporate governance is coming is obvious.
‘The opportunity for [JGA] to add value at a time when such a lot of change around corporate governance is coming is obvious. It’s clear that testing times test business [and] we’re getting more enquiries from [EO companies] who want to ensure that their original model is right for the future’
Jeremy Gadd, JGA’s founder and MD
‘It’s clear that testing times test business.
‘If we link this to the growing number of EO businesses that have repaid their vendor loan, we’re getting more enquiries from those who want to ensure that their original model is right for the future – be it their organisational structure, employee voice, ability to leverage the real advantage of employee owner participation or, most importantly, that their approach to succession is robust, resilient and sustainable.’
Strengthening client relationships
With more businesses exploring EO and reaching out to organisations such as JGA for support, our conference gave Jeremy the chance to lay out the vision for how we will continue to meet that need.
‘It was also a good opportunity to look at how we’re strengthening our ongoing client relationships, building on the success of Trustee Connect [JGA’s confidential network for Employee Trustees] to develop our ‘JGA Connect’ offer.’ he reveals.
‘We’ll be sharing more on that very soon, including at the EOA Conference.’
He concludes: ‘With AI offering immense challenge and opportunities, it was fun to explore how we’ll continue to develop our approach, products and services while providing interesting and rewarding work for our team.’
Anticipating clients’ needs
So what did our Associates find most interesting about the day?
Comms Support Katy and Ops Manager/Associate Lisa
‘It was lovely to get together as a team,’ says Associate Corrine Thomas, whose responsibilities include leading JGA’s Coaching for Change service. ‘I enjoyed hearing what everyone is up to and seeing how the business is growing and adapting to work with the needs of a diverse range of clients.’
Operations Manager and Associate Lisa Fryer agrees: ‘It was great to spend time together, with the focus on what JGA will be prioritising as we enter our tenth year in 2024.’
‘For me, one of the best things about JGA is the personality each Associate brings to their work,’ says Comms Support Katy Perceval. ‘This means that whenever our team gets together – in person, with real cake and, this time, real Turkish Delight (thanks, Jeremy!) – it’s never dull.
‘What did I find most useful? Hearing how our offer is evolving to get ahead of what our future clients will want and need. The business world is in uncharted waters at the moment. There’s clearly a lot at stake for us all.’
Want to know how our transition, people and governance services can support your EO business? Get in touch.