ING Media’s EOT 101 Event

Employee ownership is on the up – there are now 30% more businesses adopting the model than this time last year. And a great number of them are in the built environment, particularly architecture.

The Employee Ownership Association has found that employee owned businesses are up to 12% more productive; 50% more likely to be expanding their workforce, and 25% more likely to have seen profits increase in the last five years. But is employee ownership right for every practice? What are the pitfalls? And does it really make any difference?

These are just some of the questions we sought to answer at our EOT 101 event earlier this month. Félicie Krikler of Assael, Oliver Richards of Orms, and Roddy Langmuir of Cullinan Studio each shared their candid insights on the trials and tribulations of becoming employee owned, and making it work in the long term.

Communication was a common theme, in terms of explaining the rationale behind any transition, setting expectations for what this will mean in practice, and keeping people engaged throughout the process (and beyond).

It was also clear that a significant amount of preparation is required to become employee owned – it is not simply a case of signing some paperwork. The more time you have to put systems and protocols into place, the more seamless any change will be, which can only help to reassure your team too.

To read experiences of other practices’ experiences of becoming employee owned, as well as other succession stories, you can download our Practice of Succession report here.

Rose Marshall
Associate & Trustee Director