I heard the news that Elon Musk has acquired Twitter and it made me think about what it means to work for and be part of an employee ownership trust (EOT). How does our EOT status differ from that of Twitter’s? How can it help us? More importantly, how can our employee ownership status help our clients?
At Team Consulting, we have had a long history of being run and owned by the people who have worked hard to create an award-winning medical device consultancy. Founded in 1986 by five friends – ‘partners’, Team made the decision in 2016 to become a fully employee-owned trust and since then we haven’t looked back. Introduced by the UK Government in 2014, an employee ownership trust is a company concept in which employees have a financial stake in the firm and a voice in how it operates. At Team, we utilise a Trustee Board that advocate on behalf of all staff. Our board oversees the Trust’s administration and compliance to keep Team running as a successful, independent and professionally managed company.
Our company ownership is now established. But for others that is not the case. As with Elon Musk acquiring Twitter, will their staff’s jobs be safe? Will they still have a great variety of work? Will they still have opportunities for development? It also has a big impact on the processes and systems they use as companies try to merge into one. This can always bring uncertainty and resistance together with a significant impact on the amount of time they will need to master new ways of working.
I heard on the radio that “the board has to do what is best for the shareholders so they will have to accept the offer of being bought, even if they don’t like it” reporting on the Twitter purchase. As part of the employee ownership trust, I am thankful that we don’t have any of these worries. Because we are employee-owned, the likelihood that we will be sold or merged with another company is very low. We will never be in the same position as Twitter, where the financial benefit to external shareholders is prioritised over all other considerations.
As an EOT company, you can be confident in working with owners of the business. We welcome any challenge, big or small, and can’t wait to work with you to make your medical device the best.
Get in touch now to see how we can help you.
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