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.
Episodes
55 episodes
Alternative Exit #52 | Live from the EOA, Measuring What Matters - Jonathan Winchester on Customer and Employee Experience
Episode: Measuring What Matters - Jonathan Winchester on Customer and Employee ExperienceIn this live episode from the EOA Conference in Telford, Andy sits down with Jonathan Winchester, CEO of Insight6, a customer experience spec...
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23:01
Alternative Exit #51 | Live from the EOA, The Power of People - Andrew Lane on Building Real Employee Ownership at Union Industries
Episode: The Power of People - Andrew Lane on Building Real Employee Ownership at Union IndustriesIn this high-energy live episode from the EOA Conference in Telford, Andy sits down with Andrew Lane, Managing Director of Union Ind...
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19:41
Alternative Exit #50 | Live from the EOA, Exploring Insights with Dr Shelley Poole from WellingtonHR
Episode: Building Ownership Culture from Day One - Shelley Poole on HR in Employee-Owned BusinessesIn this live episode from the EOA Conference in Telford, Andy talks with Shelley Poole, founder of Wellington HR, who started her b...
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26:31
Alternative Exit # 49 | Live from the EOA, Unlocking Capital - Chris Walton from Shawbrook on Finance for Employee Ownership
In this live episode from the EOA Conference in Telford, Andy explores the critical but often overlooked piece of the employee ownership puzzle: access to capital. Chris Walton from Shawbrook, a specialist SME lender, explains why the UK's EO e...
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22:40
Alternative Exit #48 | Live from the EOA, Legacy Over Money - Catherine Cameron on Employee Ownership
In this live episode from the EOA Conference in Telford, Andy sits down with Catherine Cameron, founder of Agulhas (nobody can spell it, nobody can say it), a research and consulting firm specialising in climate change and conflict/fragility fo...
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21:27
Alternative Exit #47 | Live from the EOA, Direct Ownership Done Wright - Michael Hodgson from GLIDE
In this live episode from the EOA Conference in Telford, Andy sits down with Michael Hodgson, elected chair of Glide, an employee-owned membership organization that holds shares across three manufacturing businesses: Gripple (wire joiners, £130...
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35:56
Alternative Exit # 46 | Live from the EOA, The Middle of the Journey - Liam Toms on Grapevine's EO Evolution
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.ukIn this live episode from th...
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27:41
Alternative Exit #45 | Transformative Impact: Exploring Employee Ownership with Campbell Mcdonald
What does it really take to make employee ownership work? In this episode, I talk with Campbell McDonald, one of the UK’s leading experts on employee ownership and managing director of the Eternal Business Consultancy. With 14 years in the EO s...
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1:04:29
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Alternative Exit #34 | Tiara Letourneau on Innovative Finance and Employee Ownership
What does it take to build an entirely new employee ownership ecosystem from the ground up? In this episode, I sit down with Tiara Letourneau, co-founder and CEO of Rewrite Capital and board chair of Employee Ownership Canada, to exp...
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58:44
Alternative Exit #43 | Exploring the Benefits of Employee Ownership with Frank Cetera
What does it mean to truly live the values of shared ownership? In this episode, I sit down with Frank Cetera, Director of the Business Transfers Program at the Democracy at Work Institute, to explore his journey from a union household to becom...
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Episode 34
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40:28
Alternative Exit #42 | Eric Strickland on Employee Ownership & Innovation
What happens when you combine employee ownership with human services? In this episode, I sit down with Eric Strickland, CEO of 3TLs—a purpose-driven group of 18 employee-owned companies with nearly 700 employee owners across five states. Eri...
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49:55
Alternative Exit #41 | Redefining Succession: Embracing Employee Ownership with David Owen
In this episode of Alternative Exit, Andy Farquharson sits down with legal industry veteran David Owen (formerly CEO of Oliver & Co Solicitors) to unpack the real-world exit journeys from law practice, the shift to employee ownersh...
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41:04
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Alternative Exit #40 |The Data Behind Employee Owned Success with Rutgers' Adria Scharf
What drives a founder to sell their company to employees instead of outside investors? In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Adria Scharf, Project Director of the Curriculum Library for Employee Ownership (CLEO) at Rutgers University, to explore...
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39:05
Alternative Exit #39 | The Power of EOTs: Creating 3,500 Employee Owners with Christian Wilson
What does it really take to transition a business to employee ownership—and what happens after you sign on the dotted line? In this episode, I sit down with Christian Wilson, a specialist solicitor with over 25 years of experience in business l...
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42:39
Alternative Exit #38 | Karen McGuire's Succession: A Deep Dive Into Employee Ownership in Northern Ireland
What happens when personal loss becomes the catalyst for transformative business change? In this episode, I sit down with Karen McGuire, founder of Relinea, a successful GRP manufacturing company in Northern Ireland that transitione...
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53:02
Alternative Exit #37 | Redesigning Capitalism : How Share Tribe Built A Purpose-First Company
What happens when a tech startup realizes that traditional venture capital doesn't align with its mission to democratize platform ownership? In this episode, I sit down with Juho Makkonen, co-founder and CEO of Sharetribe, a Finnish marketplace...
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44:49
Alternative Exit #36 | Building Legacy Through Employee Ownership: A Conversation with Robert Postlethwaite
What drives a successful corporate lawyer to abandon the mainstream legal world and dedicate their career to democratizing business ownership? In this episode, I sit down with Robert Postlethwaite, partner and managing director of Postlethwaite...
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Episode 36
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39:21
Alternative Exit #35 | From 15 to 340: How Scotland Built a Global EO Powerhouse
How do you transform an entire country's approach to business succession? In this episode, I sit down with Glen Dott, a specialist advisor in employee ownership at Cooperative Development Scotland, part of Scottish Enterprise. Glen shares the r...
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42:37
Alternative Exit #34 | The Future of Employee Ownership and Financial Wellness | John Hoffmire
What happens when a 9-year-old's sense of justice grows into a $2.2 billion investment banking career dedicated to employee ownership? In this episode, I sit down with John Hoffmire, research associate at Oxford's Center for Mutual...
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42:45
Alternative Exit #33 | Employee Ownership vs. Traditional Capitalism: Insights from Ian Hiscock
What happens when you flip the traditional business pyramid upside down? In this episode, I sit down with Ian Hiscock, founder of IHC Limited and a seasoned voice in the UK employee ownership sector. After 30 years at the iconic John...
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44:21
Oxford Symposium on Employee Ownership Series - Day 3
Host Andy Farquharson closes out Day 3 of the Oxford Symposium on Employee Ownership with quick hits from the field. From the human side of ownership and employee wellbeing, to governance trade-offs in one-person-one-vote systems, to fin...
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7:57
Oxford Symposium on Employee Ownership Series - Day 2
Join Andy Farquharson as he hosts a special series live from the Oxford Symposium on Employee Ownership. Day two was filled with deep dives into various forms of employee ownership and impact investing, featuring insightful conversations with i...
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10:16
Oxford Symposium on Employee Ownership Series - Day 1
Join us as we delve into the highlights of the Employee Ownership Symposium, featuring insights from industry leaders like Karen McGuire, Chair of Employee Ownership Ireland, and Pascal Nieuwland-Jansen, Director ...
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9:45
Alternative Exit #32 | The Honest Truth about Employee Ownership: Lesson from Founder Turned Advisor
What happens when a founder realizes they're no longer the most passionate person in the room about their business's future? In this episode, I sit down with Chris Maslin, who made the bold decision to transition his accounting firm Maslin to a...
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38:58
Alternative Exit #31 | How to Exit Without Leaving: Tim Rettig’s Playbook for Purposeful Ownership
Alternative Exit #031 | How to Exit Without Leaving: Tim Rettig’s Playbook for Purposeful OwnershipWhat happens when you witness the worst possible exit scenario and vow never to repeat it? In this episode, I sit down with Tim Ret...
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37:19