EOT adviser in Oxfordshire

Kate Mercer – Leaders Lab

Leaders Lab work with UK founders of growing businesses to build the structures, roles and culture their organisations need to thrive. Kate’s work has particular relevance for businesses transitioning to employee ownership. It is at this moment that a company needs to change how its led, governed and organised.

EOT transaction experience

Kate has worked alongside employee owned businesses, providing leadership coaching and organisational support to businesses going through the transition. Her support helps leadership teams to step confidently into new roles as their businesses moves to employee ownership.

EOT expertise

Becoming employee-owned doesn't just change who owns the business, it changes how it needs to work. Kate helps leadership teams navigate that shift: redefining roles, clarifying accountability, and building the shared behaviours and operating rhythms that allow an employee owned organisation to perform at its best. She has specific experience coaching senior leadership teams through the transition from founder-led to collectively-owned structures, supporting them to step into new leadership positions with confidence and clarity.

How Kate works with Go EO

Kate works alongside Go EO to support businesses through the organisational side of an EOT transition. Go EO manages the technical transaction – valuation, legal documents, tax clearance and trust registration. Kate's role is helping the business and its people get ready for what comes next: clear roles, shared accountability, and a culture that makes employee ownership genuinely work.

What is an Employee Ownership Trust?

An Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) is an exit route that transfers a founder's shares to a trust held collectively on behalf of employees. The business repays the founder from future profits, employees share any profits when the company has excess profits. The company continues on its own terms, stays independent, and keeps its values intact and in the hands of the people who built it.

Why work with an EOT adviser?

Transitioning to an EOT changes more than ownership – it changes how a business needs to be led, organised and governed. Roles that were built around individuals need to serve the whole organisation. Leadership teams need to step up in new ways. Culture needs to be actively built rather than assumed. An experienced adviser helps businesses prepare for that shift: making sure the people side of the transition gets as much attention as the transaction itself.