SME Companies' Thirst for Knowledge About Employee Share Schemes

Directors of over 100 growth companies learned about how an employee share scheme can improve business performance, in a one-day conference organised by the Institute of Directors and the Employee Ownership Centre on 9 October 2007.

Robert Postlethwaite, founder of the UK law firm POSTLETHWAITE and a speaker at the event, comments:

"In recent years, there has been an explosion of interest among UK private companies in employee share schemes. Entrepreneurs know that a well-designed and operated scheme can have a significant positive impact on performance and the available tax incentives also make this route attractive. And although changes announced in the Pre-Budget Report on the same day as the conference do impact on share scheme tax incentives, I don’t think this will adversely impact on the popularity of share schemes".

Robert explained to delegates how company owners could transfer shares to employees, using Revenue-approved tax breaks for owners, employees and their company. He was also a member of the speaker’s panel, responding to a barrage of questions about the practical operation of a share scheme and how each company can design the solution which is best suited to them.