EOT adviser in Manchester

Fran Spence – Still We Grow

Fran Spence is co-founder of Still We Grow, a Manchester-based multidisciplinary consultancy helping SMEs navigate growth, ownership change and increasing organisational complexity. With deep experience across ownership transitions, including EOTs, MBOs and PE, Fran supports founders and leadership teams at the moments that matter most in a business's life.

EOT expertise

Fran works with businesses across the full EOT journey: from assessing whether employee ownership is the right route, through early transition and reset, to scaling and sustaining long-term value post-completion. Alongside her consultancy work, she acts as an Independent Trustee Director for Employee Ownership Trusts. She brings commercial, operational and governance insight to boards, focusing on supporting responsible growth, clear decision-making and long-term stewardship.

Qualifications and experience

Still We Grow draws on expertise across accountancy, law, leadership, design, and technology. Fran also works as a freelance tutor with Salford Professional Development, supporting business professionals across sectors and business models – keeping her thinking grounded in how organisations actually operate in practice.

What is an Employee Ownership Trust?

An Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) is an exit route that places a business into the long-term stewardship of its people. Rather than selling to an external buyer, whose priorities may shift over time, the founder transfers their shares to a trust held on behalf of employees. This creates a structure designed to support the lasting health and success of the business. The trust holds the company for the benefit of its workforce, with governance built around responsible decision-making and the long-term interests of the team that work there.

Why work with an EOT adviser?

An EOT transaction – the nuts and bolts of the sale – can be completed relatively quickly. But the real work begins after the documents are signed. Building a business that genuinely thrives under employee ownership takes time, intention and the right support. That means getting governance right, developing leadership capability, embedding an ownership culture, and making sure the business has the strategic foundations to grow sustainably from its new structure. An experienced adviser helps organisations think beyond the transaction itself, supporting founders, leadership teams and employee owners through the change, and staying alongside them as the business finds its feet and builds momentum as an employee owned company.