PROMOTIONAL MERCHANDISE SPECIALISTS EMBRACE EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP

EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP specialist Chris Maslin has supported a much-loved company boss to exit his business after 50 years, leaving it in the hands of his team.

It was back in 1973 when keen surfer Mike Stevens left a good job in Liverpool and moved to the coastal harbour town of Tywyn in Wales where he set up a surf shop.

“I left a good job and moved to Tywyn for a job as a waiter for the summer season as all I wanted to do was surf and be beside the sea. I set up a surf shop and the business grew. We were one of the first to sell skateboards back in the day. A few years later there was a craze from America which came over,  of having branded t-shirts made while you wait. No one had heard of that then. We came up with some designs and that was the start of the business people know so well today.” 

More than 50 years later Genesis UK now operates from a 6,000 square foot factory on the Pendre Enterprise Park and offers a huge range of promotional and branded merchandise and workwear and they operate as a collective with the best suppliers across the UK. 

However Mike, now 73, began to think about the future and how he could pass the business on. 

“I love life. I’m the kind of person who still leaps out of bed and attacks the day. However over the last few years I’ve lost friends, some suddenly and tragically, and I began to think of the future. I needed to pay attention to time passing. 

“I have three lovely daughters and none are interested in taking over the business and I felt I didn’t want them to be left wondering what to do with it. I knew I could easily sell it but was worried that if I did it would be taken away from Tywyn and my team would lose their jobs. I couldn’t let that happen. This community created my business and has sustained it for over 50 years.” 

Mike took advice from Business Wales and was told about creating an Employee Ownership Trust and that led him to Kent-based expert Chris Maslin.

Chris runs Go EO which provides an affordable process for moving a business into an employee ownership trust. In 2021, Chris moved his previous business, an accountancy firm, into such a trust after deciding it was time for him to move on to pastures new. 

“Like Mike, I was invested in my team but felt that my time leading the business should come to an end and I wanted to move on now that I had hit 40. I sold to an EOT, which I’m happy was a great move for all concerned. The process did however leave me thinking it could be done in a more streamlined and affordable way which was accessible for smaller businesses.”

An employee owned business means that the founder or owner can exit the business by selling their shares to a trust run by employees. That founder can exit immediately or over a period of time, whatever suits both the company and their own plans. 

Mike is now on the board of trustees of Genesis UK, he has stepped down as managing director and is currently in the office once or twice a week to support the new ownership team. 

“For me the biggest benefit was to be able to support my team to become owners of the business ensuring it stays here in my community where our business is well respected. There are some tax advantages to this structure currently which is a bonus but my primary goal was to secure this company for the future allowing it to continue to contribute to the local economy,” Mike said. 

For more information about Chris Maslin and Go EO visit https://goeo.uk