With an array of expertise, our expert panel will be discussing the key aspects of Employee Ownership Trusts (EOTs), including funding options, tax implications and benefits and legal considerations.
We will also be hearing first-hand experience from Wavehill, a leading social & economic research and evaluation company that has recently moved to Employee Ownership.
Hosted by Robert Lloyd Griffiths, Wales Director of ICAEW, the discussion will be interactive, with an opportunity to ask your burning questions.
Stephen Thompson – Partner, Darwin Gray
Head of the Corporate and Commercial teams at Darwin Gray, Steve has extensive experience with transactional corporate work including acquisitions, disposals, joint ventures, investments and group restructures. Steve will be sharing key legal considerations on employee ownership and what they mean for you and your business, including the selling shareholders, employees and new corporate structure.
Richard Bowles – Director, Regional Business Development, ThinCats
Richard brings a wealth of experience within the banking and finance industry and is responsible for supporting deals across the South West and Wales, where he works alongside the business community delivering funding solutions for growing regional businesses. Richard will be exploring how specialist alternative finance providers, like ThinCats, can fill the current employee ownership funding gap and successfully support the financing of EOT transactions.
Martin Knight – Director, BPU Chartered Accountants
Martin joined BPU Chartered Accountants in 2007. He has extensive experience of working with a variety of companies in terms of both size and business sector. Martin specialises in simplifying and presenting tax matters and regularly presents at local networking groups as well as client seminars. Martin focuses on helping owner managed businesses and SMEs in a number of areas including mergers, acquisitions, extraction of funds, remuneration strategies, venture capital schemes, succession planning, raising finance, property transactions and employee reward and retention.
Paul Cantrill, Specialist EO Advisor, Cwmpas
Paul is a business adviser with over 40 years’ experience in both the private and public sectors. Paul joined Cwmpas in 2009, advising companies on succession planning, incentivisation and employee ownership. He specialises in using Employee Ownership Trusts, share schemes and management buyouts. He was a participant in the work following the Nuttall Review which led to the EOT provisions in the 2014 Finance Act and is still working with Graeme Nuttall of Field Fisher, the lead adviser to the UK government, in the ongoing review and consolidation of the EOT arrangements and the promotion of these arrangements as succession solutions in other countries.
Mark Willis, Director, Wavehill
Mark co-founded Wavehill in the 1990s. During the lifetime of the company Mark has gained a wealth of experience working with community regeneration projects across England and Wales, leading and co-ordinating evaluations, research studies, community consultations, training and large-scale surveys.
In 2020, Wavehill became an employee-owned company. This has ensured greater input and increased accountability across all levels of the business. Structures in place allow staff to articulate what matters most to them and better share in Wavehill’s success.
