Employee Ownership and B Corp: Key Insights for Purpose-Driven Businesses
On 1 October, we hosted a webinar exploring the relationship between employee ownership and being a B Corp and why more purpose-driven businesses are considering the two approaches together.
Hosted by Robert Postlethwaite, the session explored how employee ownership can help businesses strengthen employee voice, support succession planning and reinforce their organisational values, while hearing first-hand from Orms Architects' Practice Director, Robert Bird about their journey as both an employee owned business (via an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT)) and a certified B Corp.
While the structures themselves are different, both movements are built around creating long-term value for people, businesses and society.
How does Employee Ownership support B Corp goals?
Employee ownership and B Corp certification share many of the same underlying principles. Both seek to create businesses that are more inclusive, purpose-led and resilient. They encourage organisations to think beyond short-term profits and focus on wider stakeholder outcomes, employee engagement and sustainable growth.
During the webinar, Robert explored how employee ownership can help businesses:
- Strengthen employee voice
- Share financial value more broadly
- Improve engagement and retention
- Support succession planning
- Reinforce organisational purpose
- Build long-term resilience and performance
For B Corps in particular, employee ownership can be a powerful way to put values into action by giving employees a meaningful stake in the future of the business.
Which Employee Ownership model is right for a B Corp business?
The webinar also explored the range of employee ownership models available, these included:
- Employee Ownership Trusts (EOTs)
- Direct and personal employee share ownership - SIP
- Share option plans - EMI, CSOP, SAYE
- Minority or majority employee ownership structures
A key message for businesses considering employee ownership was to begin by asking:
- What are we trying to achieve?
- Who should participate?
- How do we want ownership to feel in practice?
- What outcomes do we want for future generations of employees?
The Orms' employee ownership story
One of the highlights of the session was hearing directly from Orms Architects about their employee ownership journey.
Orms transitioned to an employee owned company via an Employee Ownership Trust in 2018 as part of its succession planning. The founders wanted to preserve the firm's collaborative culture while creating opportunities for future leaders without requiring them to personally fund a management buyout.
According to Robert Bird, employee ownership felt like a natural fit for a people-centred architectural practice where success depends on collaboration and shared effort. The transition allowed the business to continue rewarding employees while creating a sustainable ownership structure for the future.
Since becoming employee owned, Orms has grown significantly, expanded its leadership team and repaid the founders' deferred consideration ahead of schedule, demonstrating that employee ownership can support both cultural and commercial success.
How B Corp built on Orms' existing values
Interestingly, Orms' B Corp journey followed its employee ownership transition. Robert explained that pursuing B Corp certification was not about changing the firm's values but creating a framework to formalise and strengthen practices that were already important to the business.
The business used the pandemic period to develop sustainability-focused research initiatives, leading to new approaches around material reuse and the creation of a dedicated sustainability team. These initiatives aligned closely with the broader goals of the B Corp movement and helped reinforce the firm's commitment to balancing people, profit and purpose.
How can employee-owned businesses create meaningful employee voice?
Orms established an elected employee council, representing a cross-section of the business and providing a mechanism for employees to influence decision-making. The council helps gather feedback, explore issues affecting the workforce and presents recommendations to leadership.
Combined with regular communication about company performance and strategy, this approach helps ensure that employee ownership becomes part of how the organisation operates day to day.
Making ownership meaningful
Another important takeaway was the role of profit sharing. As Robert Bird noted during the discussion, ownership becomes real when employees can see and experience its benefits. Orms has consistently sought to share profits with employees, using a transparent distribution model based on service and remuneration criteria.
The result is a tangible connection between the success of the business and the people who help create it.
Key Takeaway
The webinar highlighted that employee ownership and B Corp certification can complement each other exceptionally well. For organisations exploring their future ownership structure, succession plans or purpose strategy, employee ownership offers a practical framework for embedding many of the values that B Corps seek to promote.
Watch the webinar
Want to explore whether employee ownership could support your B Corp ambitions, succession plans or long-term purpose strategy? Watch the full webinar recording on YouTube here.