How do law firm owners pass on their business? Their culture and legacy? At a time when private equity investment is increasingly popular and offers a potentially lucrative route to exit, firms are also exploring the opportunities presented by alternatives; including employee ownership trusts (EOTs).
As Mark Slade, former CEO and current CTO of Fidler and Pepper, explains in this latest Today’s Conveyancer podcast, his firm has recently opted to become an EOT.
He candidly discusses how the directors began to explore their succession planning; initially a trade sale was an option. He says they explored private equity too. But the more he and co‑owner (and brother) Matt explored these routes, the more uneasy they became. Redundancies. Loss of identity. Earn‑outs. Reporting to new bosses. The risk of being “kicked into touch” after decades of service. None of it aligned with the firm they had built.
The success of another firm prompted Slade to look into EOT and he discovered what it offered was what he and Matt were looking for. A future shaped by the people who built the business; protection for long‑serving staff; flexibility for his co-directors, a structure that rewarded loyalty and performance; and importantly, a legacy bigger than any partner.
It’s not a “quick-win”… the payout is long‑term. The business must continue to perform. Succession still matters. But the reaction from staff, who were aware of plans to look at what the future of the business looked like, was immediate and emotional.
Slade concludes an EOT deserves a serious look for firms looking at their succession planning.
The Today’s Conveyancer podcast can be found on your preferred podcast provider and also at www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk. Subscribe and listen in for all the latest conveyancing industry news and views.
Thank you to our podcast sponsors LEAP Legal Software and InfoTrack
