Baxendale is a service created by Baxi Partnership Ltd to facilitate the transition of a company into employee ownership and to provide follow up support. Baxendale also works with companies already in employee ownership, to ensure their ongoing and future success.

Baxi Partnership Ltd has been active in this area for a number of years, although constrained resources meant that the service was limited. Recognising the need for this support, Baxi Partnership Ltd have invested in setting up a division specifically to meet this need.
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There are many different “flavours” of employee ownership. Our definition of employee ownership is where employees have a significant stake in the company they work for. This stake refers both to the ownership, and also to the expectation that employee owned companies run with a culture of partnership.
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Despite being a very successful ownership structure, knowledge about employee ownership is not yet mainstream. Baxi Partnership work solely in the field of employee ownership and have built up a wealth of knowledge and experience which can benefit companies in employee ownership, or looking to become employee owned.
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Our experience tells us that the most successful employee owned companies invest time and effort in getting the people aspects of the business right. It is easy at the time of the business transfer to allow the legalities and funding demands take priority over the people issues. Similarly, as businesses face the challenges of today’s market sometimes the culture can be neglected and the idea of partnership can slip. Baxendale can provide expert support to enable companies to meet these challenges.
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The Baxendale team consists of permanent employees who have a wealth of knowledge and experience in employee ownership. This expertise is complemented by a network of individuals who offer specific skills and knowledge in key areas.
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Employee owned companies who are part of the Employee Ownership Association all have highly professional management structures, and managers with job descriptions any plc would recognise. The only difference is that managers are more accountable to their colleagues – and co-owners – than they would be in a company owned by outside shareholders. Most managers who join employee owned companies find it a much more rewarding role than managing in 'standard' organisations.
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Employee buy-outs occasionally involve employees putting up some of their own cash to buy some of the shares but usually the sums involved are small. Typically most of the shares are bought - on employees' behalf - by a trust, financed by contributions from the company itself, or a loan that's then paid back by the company.
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Most employee buy-outs are financed via the company's own resources, or business loans. Often the process will involve staff choosing to buy some shares, but the Employee Ownership Association would always advise against staff over-committing to share purchase. Having part of the share capital in a trust is another way of ensuring employees are protected from being exposed to financial risk when they own the business.
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No – though many co-owned businesses do have some employee representatives on the Board because they find it's a good way to make sure employee views are heard. Co-owned businesses also tend to have employee representatives on the trust body that controls some or all of the shares. What is important is that the organization finds the best structure for them. Some companies find “Employee Councils” work very well.
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Employee owned companies have an excellent record of sustainability – at least partly because their employee co-owners are so committed to making sure the business does well. In particular, employee buy-outs have a much better survival record than management-only buy-outs [MBOs]. A remarkable proportion of MBOs fail, usually under pressure from the venture capital which will have funded the management takeover.
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Easily the most common trigger for employee ownership is business succession – typically entrepreneurs family owners who want to sell the company, and choose to sell to their own workforce and management. Another route into employee ownership can be through employee buy-outs used to stave off insolvency or hostile takeover. And some companies simply choose to be employee owned from the start.
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Companies where individual employees own all or part of the share capital have what's known as internal share markets. These use a variety of measures, often based on or validated by HM Revenue & Customs assessment, to allow share values to reflect the state of the business and market. A frequently used measure is a multiple of profit.
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Not automatically. Employee ownership generally produces superior performance and productivity only when it's accompanied by real employee involvement and well thought out ways to let staff participate in the business. It is very important to consider the people aspects of the business.
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Very much so. Most employee owned businesses are run by Boards, with professional managements, but their co-owners in the rest of the workforce tend to be more involved in the business than would happen in other kinds of company. The result tends to be highly competitive - staff in employee owned businesses have a built-in reason to help make their company succeed. Employee engagement and retention is better, and as employees share in the rewards of a successful business, they are motivated to contribute more.
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It needn't be, and can often be simpler than a management buy-out or trade sale, as well as less antagonistic and quicker to make happen. A big factor is whether the advisers helping with an employee buy-out are experienced in the process, and understand the special factors involved... Baxendale can help companies decide on structure and process, which makes the tasks for the advisers more straightforward and cost effective. We can recommend professional legal and finance advisers who have particular expertise in employee ownership.
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Trusts play two vital roles in making employee ownership possible and stable. They're an efficient vehicle for buying and 'warehousing' the shares being bought out; while shares permanently held in trust can't be bought and sold, hence don't need to be financed again, and so become an extra guarantee that ownership is secure.
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Profit is very important in employee owned businesses. The two big differences from other kinds of business is that dividends don't go to outside shareholders, and employees – as co-owners – tend to get more of a say in how profits are allocated and invested.
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