EOT adviser in Buckinghamshire

Paul Muggeridge-Breene – Thrive

An agency adviser, certified coach and qualified accountant, Paul has walked the same path as the founders he works with. He co-founded and grew an agency to 70 people and £5m turnover before exiting via an Employee Ownership Trust. This gave him the kind of first-hand knowledge that no amount of professional training alone can provide. Through Thrive, Paul now supports ambitious agency founders at every stage of their journey, including those exploring an EOT as their exit route.

EOT experience

Paul’s experience gives him an understands both the commercial mechanics and the human reality of the process, including the decisions you face, the concerns that surface along the way, and what a successful outcome actually looks and feels like. He brings this perspective to founders alongside deep commercial and financial knowledge, an intuitive understanding of agency team dynamics, and real expertise in organisational change.

Qualifications and background

An ICF-certified coach, a qualified accountant (MAAT), Paul is also a member of the British Psychological Society (GMBPsS). He is also a former international journalist, a background that gives him an unusually direct and clear communication style. His combination of coaching, accountancy, psychology and organisational design training makes him a distinctive adviser for agency founders navigating a transition.

How Paul works with Go EO

Paul works alongside Go EO to support founders considering an EOT sale. Go EO handles the technical transaction: valuation, legal documentation, tax clearance and trust registration. Paul's role is the advisory and human layer, helping founders think through whether an EOT is right for them, preparing the business for transition, and drawing on his own experience of the process to guide them through what it really involves.

What is an Employee Ownership Trust?

An Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) is a way for a business owner to sell their company to the people who helped build it. And in doing so, create something that lasts. The founder's shares transfer to a trust held on behalf of the workforce, and the business repays them over time from future profits.

Why sell your business to an EOT?

Many founders believe that the real value of an EOT goes beyond the financial mechanics. It's a way of stepping back whilst ensuring that what you've built – the culture, the values, the way of doing things – carries forward long after you have exited. For founders who have poured years into creating something they're genuinely proud of, it’s a way of selling without selling out.