Alternative Exit

Bob Whalen walked into a 94-year-old, third-generation family business in 2008 and, within two years, transitioned it to a 100% ESOP. What started as a way to make the deal more tax-efficient became his professional purpose. Fifteen years on, HB Global has grown almost 10x, completed close to 20 acquisitions, and built over $110M of value sitting inside its employee owners' accounts. In this episo...

After 400+ employee ownership transitions and over two decades in the space, Ewan Hall has seen what works and what doesn't. In this episode, he walks Andy through the practical realities of EOT transitions in the UK — from the tax recalibration last October to the four pillars every successful transition needs (deal, ownership, governance, culture). Ewan unpacks the concept of "enough" that unloc...

Joseph Cureton spent nearly a decade building Obran Cooperative, the first worker-owned cooperative holding company in the US. In 2025, he exited and started something new. Sarvis Health is an ESOP-based roll-up of home care agencies, wrapped in a proprietary AI-enabled operating platform called Sarvis OS. In this conversation, Joseph breaks down why he shifted from co-op to ESOP, what he learned...

What happens when a CEO with over a decade in Fortune 500 companies returns to a family auto business and insists from day one that any exit must benefit the employees? You get America's first employee ownership trust – and one of the most compelling performance stories in the employee ownership movement. Kevin Clegg shares how Clegg Auto, a group of four repair shops in Utah County, doubled profi...

What happens when you stop looking for a younger version of yourself and start fixing what's actually broken? Colin Wade tripled revenue at a Scottish coatings manufacturer by doing succession differently. About the episode: Most founders approach succession by searching for someone just like them — younger, with decades of niche expertise, ready to replicate what made the business successful. Col...

What if every business owner played a different game? Mark Hand has spent his career asking that question, first in community development in Latin America, then as an impact investor, and now as a scholar mapping the ownership economy. His weekly newsletter, The Stakehold, tracks everything from ESOPs to worker co-ops to purpose trusts, revealing an ecosystem most people don't realise exists. In t...

On 1st January 2026, Denmark made history. For the first time, the country passed dedicated legislation creating a vehicle for employee ownership — the EOC, or Employee Ownership Company. This is the story of how it happened. Andreas Pinstrup Jørgensen spent seven years cold-calling politicians, uniting seven parties across the political divide, building coalitions with unions and universities, an...

What if the most powerful way to create employee owners wasn't one company at a time - but through strategic acquisitions? Michael Morosi is proving that existing employee-owned companies can become acquisition engines that transform entire industries. As Co-Founder of 40 Million Owners and Managing Partner at Southeast Acquisition Capital, he's pioneered a model where ESOPs use M&A to grow, c...

Episode Summary: What if the solution to America's wealth inequality crisis was hiding in plain sight? Noelle Lentz is mobilising millions in capital specifically designed for employee ownership transitions. As CEO of Allivate Impact Capital, she's launched one of only two ESOP-focused funds in the US, providing the subordinated debt that makes employee ownership financially viable for selling own...

Keywords Employee Ownership, ETA, ESOP, Acquisition, Leadership, Business Strategy, Employee Engagement, Company Culture, Value Creation, Business Transition Summary In this episode of the Alternative Exit, host Andy Farquharson interviews Jeff Easterling, CEO of ART and Associates, who shares his unique perspective on employee ownership through the lens of entrepreneurship through acquisition (ET...

In this live episode from the EOA Conference in Telford, Andy sits down withIn this live episode from the Employee Ownership Association Conference in Telford, with Andreas Jørgensen, one of the architects behind Denmark’s renewed push for democratic ownership. Andreas shares how a cold winter classroom at Yale, a pregnant French professor, and exposure to extreme inequality in the US set him on a...

Episode: Measuring What Matters - Jonathan Winchester on Customer and Employee Experience In this live episode from the EOA Conference in Telford, Andy sits down with Jonathan Winchester, CEO of Insight6, a customer experience specialist who keynoted at last year's conference with a memorable twist: he mystery shopped the audience. Key Takeaways: Jonathan brings a unique outside perspective to emp...

Episode: The Power of People - Andrew Lane on Building Real Employee Ownership at Union Industries In this high-energy live episode from the EOA Conference in Telford, Andy sits down with Andrew Lane, Managing Director of Union Industries, a Yorkshire-based manufacturer of high-speed industrial doors. If you've bought food from a supermarket, it's been through one of their doors somewhere in its l...

Episode: Building Ownership Culture from Day One - Shelley Poole on HR in Employee-Owned Businesses In this live episode from the EOA Conference in Telford, Andy talks with Shelley Poole, founder of Wellington HR, who started her business in 2019 with the intention from day one to grow it into an employee-owned business. She also conducted doctoral research on employee voice in EO organizations, m...

In this live episode from the EOA Conference in Telford, Andy explores the critical but often overlooked piece of the employee ownership puzzle: access to capital. Chris Walton from Shawbrook, a specialist SME lender, explains why the UK's EO ecosystem has historically been underserved by finance and how that's changing. Key Takeaways: While the tax-free incentive has driven amazing growth in UK e...

In this live episode from the EOA Conference in Telford, Andy sits down with Catherine Cameron, founder of Agulhas (nobody can spell it, nobody can say it), a research and consulting firm specialising in climate change and conflict/fragility for international development. Five years into their employee ownership journey, Catherine shares why they chose legacy over a lucrative trade sale. Key Takea...

In this live episode from the EOA Conference in Telford, Andy sits down with Michael Hodgson, elected chair of Glide, an employee-owned membership organization that holds shares across three manufacturing businesses: Gripple (wire joiners, £130M turnover), LoadHog (returnable transit packaging, £45M turnover), and GoTools (tooling manufacturer). Key Takeaways: Glide operates a direct ownership mod...

Sponsor: This episode is brought to you by EOT Expert by Christian Wilson – providing technical expertise and compliance support for EOT transitions and ongoing governance. Learn more at eotexpert.co.uk In this live episode from the EOA Conference in Telford, Andy talks with Liam Toms, Communications and Engagement Manager at Grapevine, a managed service provider for IT and telecom services. Nearl...

What does it really take to make employee ownership work? In this episode, I talk with Campbell McDonald, one of the UK’s leading experts on employee ownership and managing director of the Eternal Business Consultancy. With 14 years in the EO space—from his early days at the John Lewis Partnership to leading the landmark 2023 EO Knowledge Programme—Campbell brings unmatched insight into what truly...

What does it take to build an entirely new employee ownership ecosystem from the ground up? In this episode, I sit down with Tiara Letourneau, co-founder and CEO of Rewrite Capital and board chair of Employee Ownership Canada, to explore how she's architecting Canada's emerging EOT market. With a Master's in Finance from Cambridge and a background in climate finance and impact investing, Tiara bri...

What does it mean to truly live the values of shared ownership? In this episode, I sit down with Frank Cetera, Director of the Business Transfers Program at the Democracy at Work Institute, to explore his journey from a union household to becoming a national leader in employee ownership transitions. Frank shares how early experiences with workers' rights shaped his career helping businesses transi...

What happens when you combine employee ownership with human services? In this episode, I sit down with Eric Strickland, CEO of 3TLs—a purpose-driven group of 18 employee-owned companies with nearly 700 employee owners across five states. Eric shares his 20-year journey from CFO to CEO, including the rare "ESOP-to-ESOP" transaction that launched 3Ls and his innovative approach to building employee...

In this episode of Alternative Exit , Andy Farquharson sits down with legal industry veteran David Owen (formerly CEO of Oliver & Co Solicitors) to unpack the real-world exit journeys from law practice, the shift to employee ownership, and why the toughest deals often happen internally. We dive into leadership, succession strategy, emotional and financial components of exiting a professional s...

What drives a founder to sell their company to employees instead of outside investors? In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Adria Scharf, Project Director of the Curriculum Library for Employee Ownership (CLEO) at Rutgers University, to explore her groundbreaking research on what motivates business owners to choose employee ownership as their exit path. Adria shares insights from her ongoing study...

What does it really take to transition a business to employee ownership—and what happens after you sign on the dotted line? In this episode, I sit down with Christian Wilson, a specialist solicitor with over 25 years of experience in business law and employee ownership. Christian has helped more than 62 companies transition to Employee Ownership Trusts (EOTs), creating 3,500 employee owners across...