JDP

Too good to be true

Steve says: “Towards the end of 2019, I went to an event about Employee Ownership Trusts (EOTs) that was targeted at architects. I had an ulterior motive – I wanted to build relationships with architects – but I found the event fascinating. Jeremy Gadd was one of the speakers and I was also involved in a breakout group with him. At the time, JDP was working out its options for succession and a trade sale looked most likely but, after hearing about EOTs, I thought this could be a plan. Jeremy stood out as the first person to speak to, so my director colleagues and I got together with him as a fact-finding exercise. He explained how an EOT might work and how it would affect us. There was an element of ‘this looks too good to be true’ because of the tax benefits and income distribution and we struggled to find a reason not to take the conversation on another step.”

Clarity of message

“We met with Jeremy and Associate Libby early in 2020 to expand on what would be different as an EOT and to work out whether it was right for us. We seemed to have the right environment for an EOT; we were already sharing the same values. There would be massive change, but it would be a continuation of our culture. Jeremy recommended legal and financial support advisors to us, and advised that we should have upfront consultations with our employees to see how receptive they would be. He gave us a framework of what we should be saying. Jeremy is hot on ensuring the clarity of message. He helped us to shape our message and we felt more confident because we knew he had successfully helped other businesses. We spoke first to a group of key individuals from across our business to gauge their reaction, then to the senior team and then to all staff. We got a positive response.”

Thinking like owners

Richard says: “We transferred to an EOT at the end of June 2021. There had been many conversations about having champions to promote it to staff and I became part of our Think Tank. Jeremy and Libby came to facilitate our first workshop in September 2021. They got us to understand the importance of responsibility and consequences, to make sure we were thinking like business owners rather than staff to ensure the EOT mindset became instilled with everyone in the business. Jeremy has got so much experience in this area and he can deal with all the questions and fears that you have. His high-energy approach and hand-holding were invaluable: I’m not sure we would have got it right if we’d done it on our own. He’s driven us to the outcome we wanted, and that’s the value he added.”

Right for us

“Jeremy and Libby made a lot of effort to understand our business and the type of people we have. They are understanding and people-orientated themselves, so that comes across in the support they give. They are good at what they’re doing and make you feel at ease. They gave us the right amount of support: we did not want someone in our face, telling us how to do things. They helped us to decide what we wanted and allowed us to decide how things applied to our business. It was explaining outcomes, giving us the tools to achieve outcomes and allowing us to find a way that was right for us. Of course I would recommend J Gadd Associates. We enjoyed working with them – and their advice has proved to be good advice.”