SHARE INCENTIVES AND REWARD

As a business owner, you want your business to be successful. You want your management team to be loyal. And you want them to take personal responsibility for growing the business.

In return, your management team will want to be rewarded. And with your competitors offering benefits a-plenty, a share incentive plan could play a key role in attracting and retaining the best people.

WHY SHARE INCENTIVES?

Share incentives (i.e. giving a stake in the ownership of your business) can be one of the best ways to reward and motivate your top talent. Maximising exit value or long-term performance will become the aim of the game. And that means that your key people are aligned to your overall objective.

There are numerous government-designed, tax-advantaged schemes to choose from, alongside a whole range of other advantageous options. Meaning you can reward them in a very tax efficient way.

Oh, and there’s lots of flexibility around how an incentive can be designed. Which means we can work with you to tailor a share incentive plan that meets your commercial objectives, both now and in the future. All it takes is a bit of expert guidance to find the perfect fit for you.

TAILORED DESIGN

Who would you like to participate in the share incentive plan? A single, key individual? A select group or perhaps the entire workforce?

We’ll then discuss the rewards: what you’d like them to be and when you’d like your people to hold them.

We help clients just like you to implement tax-advantaged incentive plans, including Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI) and Company Share Options Plans (CSOP).

And if these plans aren’t suitable for your situation, or you don’t qualify, there’s no need to worry. There are a huge range of other share-based plans out there, including direct share issues, unapproved share options, nil or partly paid shares, and growth or flowering shares. Or we can look at cash settled plans such as phantom share schemes or long-term incentive plans (LTIP).

TURNING THE PLAN INTO A REALITY

Our specialist team will look at your current structure, the valuation of your business, the event intended to convert the equity award into cash and the appetite of existing shareholders to make sure you’re making the right decision.

Then we’ll work with you to implement the plan seamlessly. Keeping you informed and working alongside your solicitor while they draft the governing documentation.

We’ll be working in partnership, with one common goal: to protect your equity and give you peace of mind. If participants choose to leave the business, you don’t want to be forced to buy them out at value. And if performance isn’t up-to-speed, you may want the equity award to fall away so that participants don’t benefit at all.

THE PERSONAL TOUCH

When it comes to share incentives and reward, you need to work with a team of people who know exactly what’s possible. You’ll need them to have plenty of relevant design experience. And you’ll need them to talk you through your options in a personable, easy to understand way.

Our specialist team advise on share schemes every week of the year. Many of the team have relevant background in the 6 largest global accountancy firms. And on top of that, we’re part of Tolley’s 2018 Best Tax Practice in a Regional Firm.