Suite TV announces move to employee ownership
JGA supports Suite TV in their transition to EO
We are delighted to share the news that Suite TV have become employee-owned. The award-winning television post production company responsible for providing editing facilities to the nation’s favourite comedy programmes became the latest business to join the employee ownership community.
This week’s announcement reveals that 100% of shares have been transferred into an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) on behalf of all their employees.
JGA’s MD and Founder Jeremy Gadd and our Associate Corrine Thomas have supported the founders’ ambitions to transition the organisation to an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT). From the initial contact made during a networking session earlier this year, the last five months have seen a great deal of planning and preparation to which Jeremy and Corrine have been able to add clarity and guidance throughout.
Suite TV provides editing facilities for a number of well-known national comedy programmes, including the popular ‘Have I Got News For You’ (with Ian Hislop and Paul Merton), critically-acclaimed ‘Afterlife’ (penned by the irrepressible Ricky Gervais) and ‘Not Going Out’ (the second longest running British sit-com). The team were also involved in editing the recent groundbreaking documentary drama ‘Partygate’.
At a staff meeting of the 40 employees this week, Julian Aston, Suite TV’s Chairman and Founder, announced this monumental news at the company’s headquarters.
Julian said: ‘The decision of the founder shareholders to sell their shares to the newly-formed Suite Employees TV Trust was the very best way to ensure the future of the business, and that by passing the ownership to the staff, the long-term future of the business was secured.’
Shelley Fox, Founder shareholder and Managing Director, said: ‘We looked for years to find the right succession strategy and employee ownership will, I hope, mean that we pass the baton on to our brilliant young and talented staff.’
The transition to employee ownership has taken more than three years, and Suite TV was assisted in this journey by William Franklin of Pett Franklin, Jane Jeavon of Legal Clarity as well as Jeremy Gadd of J Gadd Associates. JGA have been retained by Suite TV for a further nine months to support and guide the transition journey. Suite TV are full members of the Employee Ownership Association.
For any further information on Suite TV, please contact Julian@suitetv.com
How to create an award-winning EO culture – by a business that's done it
Hayes Davidson was thrilled to win the EOA’s Outstanding EO Culture title at 2022’s EO Stories Awards. Here, its Joint Managing Partner Neil Hughes reveals how the team developed its award-winning culture – and offers practical tips for others looking to do the same…
‘Emotional!’ That’s how Neil Hughes, Joint Managing Partner at Hayes Davidson, admits he felt when he heard that the business had won Outstanding EO Culture in the EOA’s EO Stories 2022 Awards.
And who can blame him? Like many other companies, Hayes Davidson, a leading architectural visualisation studio for more than 30 years, has been on a journey to bring its EO to life since it transitioned in 2015.
Add in a pandemic that’s permanently changed the workplace landscape and it’s no surprise Neil felt so excited about the result.
As he explains: ‘After all the challenges of the pandemic and remote working, entering our own EO story was a way of recognising what our team had achieved and the incredible collaborative effort needed to not only keep our culture intact, but to make it even stronger.
‘To be recognised by the EOA judging panel and collect our award at the EOA Conference in Liverpool (pictured right) meant a lot.’
Nurturing a collaborative culture
Culture can be hard to define, so what makes Hayes Davidson’s outstanding? ‘We are genuinely collaborative not only with our clients, but also with each other. Everybody knows they have a role to play in our ongoing success and that their individual contribution matters. There’s a real enthusiasm for wanting to do the best for our client – to explore what they want to achieve and be as creative and innovative as possible in telling their story,’ says Neil.
‘Collaboration has always been in our DNA, long before we became EO, driven by our incredible founder Alan Davidson. We feel it and hopefully our clients do too.
‘And there are no real ceilings here,’ he adds. ‘If you’re good at what you do, enthusiastic and embrace our guiding principles, you’ll go far.’
Drawing on your guiding principles to find the way
In fact, Neil says Hayes Davidson’s five guiding principles are integral to everything the studio does. He kindly recognises our MD Jeremy Gadd’s role in supporting Hayes Davidson to help define them back in 2018.
‘Our guiding principles have given us a strong basis for how we do business,’ he confirms. ‘We use them every day. They’re not on the wall, they’re in our everyday working behaviours.
‘We still have a strong organisational structure and a degree of hierarchy in that, but we work in a way that reflects our ethos. The team know they can ask questions, so they feel informed, engaged and have a voice. Feedback is central to what we offer – we value the process of listening and responding.’
Learning from others what it means to be EO
Hayes Davidson became EO in 2015. As Neil (pictured right) recalls: ‘Sadly, our founder Alan became very ill and knew he needed a succession plan for the business – we did it all in nine months.’
The government’s Finance Act 2014 had just made selling your business to an EOT a tax-efficient option for founder/owners, but in 2015 EO still felt ‘quite new’.
‘We had to figure it out – it felt like a great responsibility,’ says Neil. ‘Alan had already had to take a step back. So I was travelling around the country, meeting wonderful people like Baxendales, J Gadd Associates and Postlethwaite and trying to absorb what good EO practice looked like.
‘It’s different now,’ he agrees, ‘because any business becoming EO has so many people they can talk to as they transition. For us, a lot of things really started to come together in 2018/19 when we worked with Jeremy Gadd on our guiding principles, recognising that everybody in the business is an employee owner as well as how helpful our Trust Board can be.’
Enabling people to develop their own good ideas
In fact, two well-established initiatives that reflect Hayes Davidson’s culture have come directly from encouraging the team to share and take responsibility for developing good ideas. These are the annual HD5K run – which has now raised £250k for the Motor Neurone Disease Association in memory of Alan – and the eight-week HD Summer Placement. ‘I’m really proud of both,’ says Neil.
Drawing on his own experience since 2015, Neil would now recommend that any company becoming EO ‘gets a good accountant, a good solicitor and a good people person’ to support them from the start.
‘We had the first two – the financial and legal support – but we didn’t have a JGA around in 2015.’
Emerging stronger from the pandemic
‘It’s a bit of ‘push and pull’ but a strong organisational culture really comes into its own during tough times. It’s a mistake to put your company ethos ‘on hold’; it’s culture that will help you navigate difficult times. Consistency is everything’
Neil Hughes, Joint Managing Partner, Hayes Davidson
Some businesses have (perhaps unsurprisingly) put nurturing their ‘culture’ on the backburner in today’s challenging economic climate. Yet others have done the opposite, convinced of the link between a company’s culture and its commercial resilience.
What has Neil’s experience at Hayes Davidson been?
‘If anything, we ramped our culture up and became more EO during the pandemic because it was really important for us to still feel part of a team,’ he explains. ‘Online meetings can feel a challenge but we probably gathered more feedback from our team during the pandemic than before.
‘The two main issues we picked up early were IT (so we invested money in getting people the right kit for remote working) and the mental health impact of working from home. Now, with the cost of living crisis, we’re continuing to listen and, because of these things, we’ve talked more about the future of work, what’s working and what’s not, which has shaped the hybrid working arrangements we now have.’
Indeed, since Covid, Hayes Davidson’s culture has had to work even harder because some of the team are now permanently based overseas.
‘It’s a bit of ‘push and pull’ but a strong organisational culture really comes into its own during tough times,’ he confirms. ‘It’s a mistake to put your company ethos ‘on hold’; it’s culture that will help you navigate difficult times. Consistency is everything.’
Creating an outstanding EO culture – practical tips
So, having helped to create an award-winning EO culture at Hayes Davidson, what practical tips would Neil offer other leaders looking to do the same?
1. Be consistent with whatever you’re delivering and don’t be afraid of engaging the wider team. You might be surprised at their brilliant ideas. We’ve had some incredible insights around the future of work, while our D&I Steering Group is helping us to properly address a very complex subject.
2. Keep your people up to date on business performance and strategy. Take them with you, so they know where you’re struggling as well as what you’re working towards.
3. Encourage them to be inquisitive about the business. It’s a good sign your EO is working if they’re asking questions about the company.
4. Involve all levels in initiatives and key projects. If you have a working group and there’s an enthusiasm to be involved, bring them in.
5. Recap on achievements and the progress you’ve made together. All our client feedback comes to the team, we host end of year and values awards and we celebrate good artwork. This kind of sharing is important.
Want to know how JGA can support you and your business through our transition, people and governance services? Get in touch with us now.
‘Welcome to your new company!’ – Pym & Wildsmith celebrates becoming EO
‘Welcome to your new company’: that was MD Craig Taylor’s message to his fellow employee owners as Pym & Wildsmith – one of the Midlands’ leading metal finishing companies – officially celebrated its transition to employee ownership last week.
JGA Associate and Operations Manager Lisa Fryer was delighted to join the team for the party at their Staffordshire factory, arriving with her steel-capped boots following a very different morning commute. She has been providing transition support, including communication and announcement planning, to the family-owned company since early 2021.
‘Pym & Wildsmith’s transition to employee ownership has been a long time in the planning and at times there were questions about whether it was meant to be, but their resilience has been amazing,’ says Lisa. ‘I’m so happy they made it in the end.’
A challenging journey to EO
Resilience is the right word because, while every client’s journey to EO is different, Pym & Wildsmith’s has been particularly challenging after a serious fire destroyed a major part of their Uttoxeter factory last September – on the eve of their original transition date.
Fortunately, nobody was injured but the fire left their main building ‘in tatters’ and the team shaken, precipitating a sudden shift of priorities. Understandably, Pym & Wildsmith’s EO transition was delayed by 10 months.
Revisiting the factory last week for the first time since the fire for the party, Lisa says the celebration was ‘bitter sweet’.
‘Seeing the damage was an ongoing reminder of what Pym & Wildsmith have overcome. I also saw how the team has realised new opportunities, with equipment changes and efficiencies as a result of the fire.’
The fire gutted the main coating and oven shed, standing as a reminder awaiting rebuild
Securing the founders’ wishes
So where did Pym & Wildsmith’s inspiring journey to employee ownership begin?
In a conversation with Lisa and our Managing Director Jeremy Gadd in early 2021, during which Sarah Pym-Eaton – Pym & Wildsmith’s Finance Director and one of four family owners – explained that she had been investigating succession planning for several years, ‘discovered EO’ recently and that it was rapidly becoming the preferred option.
‘That initial conversation gave us a sense of how important it was for Pym & Wildsmith’s owners to make the right choices to secure what was important,’ recalls Lisa. ‘When Jeremy asked Sarah what was keeping her awake at night about the change, her immediate response was ‘the people part’.
‘I knew then that it would be vital to get a clear narrative in place and to support the business to recognise its history, while planning a new course for the future.’
Sarah revealed how the business had navigated turbulent times, with redundancies and talent being drained while managing to maintain key clients’ confidence. ‘Like all businesses, the pandemic and Brexit had presented further challenges, but they had a secure base and a resilient team, and knew the future held more opportunities to bounce back,’ Lisa explains.
The right support at the right time
JGA’s initial support was virtual (due to lockdown) and included a Founders’ Workshop with Steve and Wendy Pym, one half of the original founders’ team, and their children Ian and Sarah, who had joined the leadership team.
The thoughts captured in this session became the basis for Pym & Wildsmith’s Founders’ Wishes and a comprehensive FAQ to support the announcement and wider communications.
These included their heartfelt desire that, having committed their lives to the company, it should continue to provide for their employees’ families for generations to come.
Gradually senior leaders and key Admin team members were brought on board, with preparations carefully managed to meet a target transition date of September 2021.
‘That initial conversation gave us a sense of how important it was for Pym & Wildsmith’s owners to make the right choices to secure what was important’
Lisa Fryer, Associate and Operations Manager, JGA
Making clear communication a priority
However, in August, rumours started which had the potential to cause problems so JGA swiftly supported on-site briefing sessions for employees to prevent misinformation and avoid confusion.
‘Everything got back on track,’ Lisa explains. ‘Key clients and suppliers were contacted just ahead of the signing, culminating in a public statement on the eve of the transaction and an early night for the recently-appointed MD, Craig Taylor, in readiness for the big day.’
Then the call from the night shift came. The morning light revealed the damage. The Fire Service had done an amazing job but the impact was extensive.
The planned signing of the EO agreement was off, as the focus switched to securing Pym & Wildsmith’s survival. Months of communication with insurers, contractors and clients followed, while rebuilding plans left no space or energy for employee ownership. Pym & Wildsmith finally (formally) transitioned to employee ownership on 1 July.
Pride in an EO transition well done
Returning for last week’s party, Lisa was struck by Craig’s ‘pride in his amazing team’, as he introduced them to their new company plans.
As he explained: ‘What I saw that day [after the fire] was nothing short of a miracle. When the chips are down, we get things done.’
‘They’re not kidding!’ Lisa agrees. ‘Congratulations to Pym & Wildsmith from all at JGA for making it past this post. We can’t wait to see your next milestone and are excited to be joining you again on your journey now you’re officially employee-owned.’
If you’d like to know more about how JGA can support your organisation through our Transition, People and Governance services, please get in touch here.
EO transition: Practical tips - from a business that's done it
NC2 knew becoming EO would be a journey, but didn’t realise how valuable the learning would be – until the pandemic hit.
Here, Financial Controller and Employee Trustee Abi Knight reflects on their first 18 months (and counting) as an employee-owned business – and shares practical tips for those considering the same.
‘Don’t do it during a pandemic!’ is one of Abi Knight’s practical tips for founder/ owners transitioning their business to employee ownership. And yet, the timing of NC2’s own transition – mid-national lockdown and major shift to remote working – created a unique opportunity to learn for the software company’s team.
NC2’s previous co-owners – Neal Criscuolo and Neil Crawford – had already decided to complete the legal transaction first, then give themselves and the business a year to ‘make EO work’, when they signed the company over in May 2020.
Pre-transaction discussions focused on fostering the right levels of employee owner influence. ‘Studies show that EO is good for a business and good for the economy,’ says Abi. ‘The challenge is understanding how to reach that point without becoming an organisation where you can’t make a decision unless everybody agrees.’
So how do you do that?
Here, Abi reveals what’s worked for NC2 in its first 18-plus months – and how a clear process and structure has created a lasting result. These are her practical tips.
1. Get involved with the EOA
Joining the Employee Ownership Association (EOA) – with the practical advice and networking they have – connects you with other companies in transition or further down the road. I also read books such as The Employee Ownership Manual (Robert Postlethwaite with Jeremy Gadd) and listened to podcasts.
2. Seek expert professional help
Every transition is different but you don’t have to do this alone. For NC2, J Gadd Associates’ guiding support was incredibly useful in shaping our project and focus. They patiently encouraged us to work out our own answers, so we were responsible for and fully managed our own EO transition. So get help, whether that’s from the EOA, J Gadd Associates or an equivalent service provider.
3. Set up your EO transition as a properly resourced and timed project
After the transaction, we gave ourselves a year to work out what EO meant for NC2 and were clear with our team that nothing would change on day one. Then we set up our EOT project. J Gadd Associates helped us create this structured approach – with a clear plan, workstreams and a Steering Committee sub-set of ‘volunteers’ who became the ‘opinion’ of NC2. You don’t have to stick rigidly to it, but the project structure, process and drumbeat of a regular meeting really focuses the mind.
‘Every transition is different, but you don’t have to do this alone. So get help, whether that’s from the EOA, J Gadd Associates or an equivalent service provider’
Abi Knight
‘Studies show that EO is good for a business and good for the economy’
Abi Knight
4. Be clear about when you want influence/opinion and when you’re asking people to make a decision
It won’t all be plain sailing – things were tough for us at times, especially with so much remote working. But understanding the difference between influence and decision-making, and the level of employee owner input you want, is important.
5. Communicate clearly, regularly and be honest
We had no agenda for what our project’s output would be, but we knew we’d get there by working together. We shared monthly updates, were honest about what we didn’t know and assured our employee owners we’d try to find out. As Financial Controller, I was initially concerned that being more open about our financials would mean people would challenge all sorts of decisions, but this didn’t happen. Treat people like adults and they’ll behave like adults.
6. Trust your judgement
We all want to get things right, but occasionally it’s okay to say let’s do it like this for now, and if it doesn’t work we’ll change it. At one point, our senior team were still worried about which decisions should involve employee owner influence, but we have to trust we’ll know when we get there.
So what now?
Abi concludes that one positive (and lasting) impact of the way NC2 has transitioned is the useful structure it’s brought.
‘Becoming EO has forced us to grow up as an organisation,’ she says. ‘Previously, we were very ‘laid back’, but we’ve learned that people do like some structure, do like some boundaries and do like some process. All those things will serve us very well for the future.’
If you would like to know more about how JGA can support you with your Transition, People and Governance services, please get in touch here
Back on the road to clients – and we love it!
Laptops at the ready. Shoes polished, all set to go. Since summer, the JGA team has finally been out visiting clients and (petrol challenges aside) we’re loving being back on the road.
Like many of the organisations we support with our transition, people and governance services, our Associates have embraced virtual working. As a business, we’re now ‘digital first’ when that’s best for our clients. We’ve honed our skills on Microsoft and Zoom.
But we cover a wide range of sectors and, for us, nothing beats the prospect of a face-to-face meeting. After travelling to a new town, industrial estate or city, our clients’ coffee and snacks have never tasted so good…
A ‘proper workout’
Midlands-based Associate Lisa Fryer has been travelling south and north, by road and rail, after a year of working almost exclusively from home.
Romsey, Uttoxeter, Warrington. ‘It’s felt like a proper workout!’ she admits. ‘Really invigorating. I’m enjoying those short conversations with people that build connections, as much as the more structured 'training' sessions we’ve held.
‘I had a fabulous factory tour with one client, where the best conversations were with employees who weren’t sought out as 'our top man/woman', but people who genuinely wanted to understand some details for themselves.’
Bristol-based JGA Associate Kathie Robb made it to Cotswolds client The Rooflight Company. ‘It was lovely to finally meet the people I've been working with virtually for the last year ‘in person’ and to have those off-the-cuff conversations that would never have happened on Zoom,’ she says. ‘I’m getting to know the client even better.’
Coffee to go
And what about JGA Founder and MD Jeremy Gadd? From Cornwall to Cheshire, Lincolnshire to Lancashire, Jeremy says he has appreciated ‘being welcomed into our clients’ workspaces again’.
‘We’re social animals,’ he adds. ‘It’s interesting to see how the ‘herds’ are reforming – and the impact on those who aren’t able to join yet.’ So what’s next? As these ‘herds’ settle, Jeremy predicts that people will expect face-to-face meetings to be more than a simple in-person alternative to meeting online.
‘They should bring a greater sense of community and belonging, of a shared experience,’ he explains. And the chance to enjoy someone else’s coffee and biscuits, of course.
Want to know how we can support your business, both in-person and virtually?
Working with CDS at Childbase
Working with a great team from Community Dental Services who are holding a representative employee group meeting, which supports employee ownership within the organisation.
Supporting their journey, Childbase kindly agreed to host the meeting and share their experiences of employee ownership.
A great time, hard work and thought provoking.