Chartered Accountants
Set up of EMI Scheme to Incentivise Staff
Our Employer Solutions Taxperts were asked to support i-confidential Limited, an information security business based in Edinburgh, in setting up an EMI scheme for three members of staff.
The company had recently moved to an Employee Ownership structure with the majority of their shares (55%) being sold to an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) for the benefit of their employees.
Unfortunately, employees that are family members of continuing shareholders, of which there are three, are not able to benefit from an EOT, and would therefore not share in any sale proceeds if the company were to eventually be sold. The shareholders and directors of i-confidential were keen to incentivise and reward all staff, and therefore looked for other means of doing so for these three employees, opting to go down the EMI route.
How we helped our clients
The team were successful in agreeing a low option price with HMRC, being the price at which the employees can buy shares in the employer company at some future date.
As a result, our client has been successful in incentivising those employees who otherwise would have been at a disadvantage to the rest, and who will ultimately benefit financially in years to come in the event that the company is sold.
‘This was the first time i-confidential had worked with EQ and found them to be a highly professional and easy to work with organisation. We were able to smoothly put the EMI in place and provide the employee equality we desired.’
Ian Harragan,
Director
i-confidential Limited
For more information or to discuss further, please contact the Employer Solutions Taxperts.
