Alternative Exit

Alternative Exit is a dedicated to educating small business owners about the possibilities, benefits, and challenges of transitioning to an employee ownership model.

There are over 200m SMEs with an owner who will be retiring in the next 10 years, many of which will never find a buyer for their business, forcing them to close their doors.

There is an alternative. This show will explore various the different forms of employee ownership and best practices for successful transitions.

Each episode features interviews with experts in employee ownership, business owners who have made the transition, and consultants who facilitate these changes.

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Alternative Exit

Alternative Exit # 46 | Live from the EOA, The Middle of the Journey - Liam Toms on Grapevine's EO Evolution

December 02, 2025 • Andy

Sponsor: This episode is brought to you by EOT Expert by Christian Wilson – providing technical expertise and compliance support for EOT transitions and ongoing governance. Learn more at eotexpert.co.uk

In this live episode from the EOA Conference in Telford, Andy talks with Liam Toms, Communications and Engagement Manager at Grapevine, a managed service provider for IT and telecom services. Nearly three years into their employee ownership journey, Liam shares candid insights about being somewhere "in the middle" - past the early surprises but still navigating challenges.

Key Takeaways:

Liam represents a common experience: he found out Grapevine was transitioning to EO through individual meetings, not a broad announcement. He'd heard whispers the week before and "did a very good job of pretending to be totally surprised." While conventional wisdom suggests consulting staff beforehand, Liam acknowledges the tradeoff: "If you're going to work for a company rather than starting your own business, you're doing it because you want the features of being employed. Suddenly you're saying people have these heightened responsibilities they didn't ask for."

The business set up an EO forum with their longest-serving employee (33 years), Liam, and a very new recruit. What started as employee representation became a "task squad" - lifting rocks that hadn't been moved in years, dealing with organizational "life laundry" accumulated over 30 years. This gave Liam and his senior colleague confidence to move into management roles.

The conversation explores the challenge of profit share volatility: year one had healthy profit share, year two didn't. Logically, averaging across two years is still good. But people don't think that way. "It's like we did really well and then we're not doing well." The business is still learning how to help people see the bigger picture.

Memorable Moments:

Finding out individually and pretending to be surprised
The EO forum becoming an organizational "task squad"
"Do things different so people see that something has changed" - Bella's key advice
The challenge: "People don't really get it yet, like what they can and can't do"
Year one profit share vs year two: "Business is like a piece of trucks"
Hosting their first annual conference (after the venue cancelled a week before)
Liam's advice: "Give it a go. What's the alternative? You sell to a bigger organization. I think we've had enough of that."

Guest: Liam Toms, Communications and Engagement Manager at Grapevine

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liamtoms/
Company: https://grapevine.uk.com