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Locking in Human Capital (EMI Scheme)

jon_davageLocking in your key employees is always a balancing act between work life balance, remuneration packages and showing employees they are valued and part of the very fabric of the organisation.

One of the most effective ways of imbedding employees into your business is through capital ownership, which provides a shared goal towards exit and increasing value.

This is a powerful way to tell a key employee of their value to the business and can create an “in this together” attitude.

Such a structure creates rewards for all on a fair basis through the eventual sale of the business.

One of the most popular types of employee share option schemes with SMEs is enterprise management incentives (‘EMI’).

EMI schemes are a popular way of attracting and retaining employees and they can provide significant tax benefits.

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Is Employee Ownership an Option for your Business?

robin-hastings-1-1What do Riverford, the organic vegetable box company, Richer Sounds, the hi-fi chain and Turleys, the planning consultancy have in common? Well, as from May 2019, they are or are about to become employee owned businesses with Julian Richer being the latest business owner to announce he is transferring 60% of his shareholding into an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT).

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Family Investment Companies

robin-hastings-1-1Traditionally, the most common way to pass down family wealth has been by way of discretionary trust structures. However, recent changes to the tax regime now mean that family investment companies (FICs) could offer more favourable tax treatments when deciding how to deal with future generations – particularly for individuals with large inheritance tax (IHT) estates.

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Share Buybacks – When Are They Void?

A share buyback (a process whereby shares in a company are bought by the company itself and cancelled) is a popular and relatively less-complex way for companies to provide an exit route for, or return surplus cash to, its shareholders. Whilst the law and procedure for carrying out a share buyback is quite clear and straightforward, we have dealt with a number of instances where the validity of a share buyback has been questioned and further action required to be taken in order to ratify the validity of a buyback transaction.

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Buying distressed businesses

jon_davage

In this article, Jon Davage outlines some pointers for those seeking acquisition opportunities via an insolvency process.

The folding of a company may be catastrophic for the stakeholders of the relevant company, but insolvencies provide buyers with the ability to acquire assets and valuable customer contracts at reduced prices. However, acquisitions of this type are not without their perils and often have hidden costs. Here are some issues to consider before you embark on this type of deal.

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How FinTech could be the future of your business

‘FinTech’ or financial technology is a phrase increasingly used in the media, the finance sector and the business world in general. In the broadest sense, financial technology is any technology that is used and applied in the financial services sector which improves the delivery of financial services. But what does that mean and why should you care that it is one of the fastest growing areas for venture capitalists or that the sector generated almost £7billion revenue in 2016?

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Are you a person with significant control of a business? Be aware of new legislation

The PSC or ‘persons with significant control’ register is a new statutory register which will effect UK Companies and LLPs from 6 April 2016 that will form part of the statutory books of the company. The register will contain details of ultimate beneficial owners and controllers, and details of company’s holding, which will ensure this information is available to the public.

The public availability of the register targets the Government’s objective to achieve transparency in the legal and beneficial ownership of UK companies, aiding the fight against tax evasion, money laundering and terrorist financing. Furthermore, the Government’s ‘transparency’ provisions are hoped to develop a climate of confidence amongst companies and consumers alike.

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