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Business Legal Services
Employee Share Schemes
Our employee share schemes solicitors work with a wide variety of high-growth startups and scale-ups
We can help your business attract and retain top talent without breaking the bank. Our employee share schemes align employees and consultants to your business goals, fit in with your company’s plans, constitution and shareholders and comply with regulations.
Careful planning and expert legal advice are needed to make sure that your employee share option plan meets the company’s commercial objectives, can cope with future changes to the company and workforce, takes advantage of whatever tax efficiencies and reliefs are available and provides protection for the company and its shareholders.
Employee share schemes solicitors
Experts in designing employee share schemes
As employee share schemes experts, we have the skills and experience to help you design an employee share option plan that’s right for your company and it’s employees, non-executive directors and (where appropriate) contractors. Employee share schemes awards made at an early stage are likely to provide the most tax efficiency, and where start-ups and growth companies become successful, awards may still be in place and very valuable years later (e.g. on an exit or investment round). So, it is important to get this right.
Our employee share schemes solicitors can support you with:
Designing a share plan that meets the company’s commercial objectives
Advising on how your company’s constitution may need to be adapted to facilitate the incentive strategy and protect the company and shareholders in the short-, medium- and long-term
Assisting with The Board level and shareholder level steps needed to put your plan in place
Advising on any regulations that relate to the employee share scheme plan
Drafting equity plan documents and template and/or individual award agreements
Advising on any employment law aspects of introducing and operating an employee share schemes plan
Obtaining any necessary clearances from HMRC and/or drafting share valuation submissions
Protecting the rights of investors (such as under the EIS and SEIS schemes)
Assisting potential dilution and other impacts for founders, investors and other stakeholders
Advising on Directors’ remuneration and other corporate governance issues
What are the benefits of employee share schemes?
Incentives that give staff and service providers a real stake in the company they’re working to build offers tangible benefits to both growing and established businesses.
HMRC tax advantaged share plans
Our expert employee share scheme lawyers can help assess your company’s suitability for any of the following tax advantaged share plans, obtain agreements for share valuation from HMRC, draft incentive plan documents, and assist in your dealings with HMRC.
Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI)
Most suitable for small, high-risk companies, EMI share options are highly flexible and can provide very favourable tax treatment in respect of shares with a value up to £250,000 per employee.
Company Share Option Plans (CSOPs)
If EMI is not available, CSOP options may be used to provide rights to acquire shares with a value up to £60,000.
Save As You Earn Schemes (SAYE)
Under an SAYE plan employees can be offered options to purchase ordinary shares at a favourable price that are linked to a savings contract of up to [£500] per month over a 3 or 5 year period.
Share Incentive Plans (SIPs)
Under a SIP employees can be offered free shares and/or rights to purchase shares tax free (with potential matching free shares) with an aggregate annual value of up to [£9,000].
Employee Ownership Trusts (EOT)
EOTs can provide a tax efficient exit for existing shareholders while providing a platform for future employee share schemes (whether tax advantaged or non-tax advantaged). We can advise on the merits of selling your company to an EOT, help you structure and implement the sale and advise on implementing post-sale employee share schemes.
Non HMRC tax advantaged employee share schemes
Non-tax advantaged employee share schemes do not need to meet specific legal rules like the HMRC tax advantaged plans mentioned above, so they can be more straightforward to set up. However, they may need to be structured carefully to attract the most effective tax benefits. Our employee share scheme lawyers can work alongside you to determine if a non-tax advantaged incentive plan is right for you and help with structuring, set up and ongoing administration:
Ordinary vs preferred shares and employee share classes
We can re-structure your company so you can make awards of ordinary shares to employees/consultants and advise on using different share classes to provide restricted rights for employee/consultant shares while retaining special rights for the existing shareholders such as voting rights and dividend rights as well as protection in respect of good leaver/bad leaver, compulsory transfer, drag along etc. These arrangements work well for early stage companies with shares of little value.
Growth share schemes
For growing companies with shares that have some value, an employee share class can be made subject to hurdle arrangements (growth shares) in order to reduce the acquisition value of the shares for employees. These arrangements work well to provide tax efficient employee share schemes for early-stage and growing businesses which do not qualify for the HMRC tax advantaged arrangements, but the conditions that apply and issues relating to company valuation need to be carefully managed.
We can review your company’s suitability for an employee/consultant share class or growth share arrangement, draft amendments to your company’s constitution to create an appropriate share class, draft share subscription agreements and work with share valuers to assess the value of the shares at the time of acquisition and to incorporate an appropriate hurdle for growth shares if required.
Share options, restricted stock units (RSU), share appreciation rights (SAR) and phantom/synthetic options
These arrangements don’t normally require HMRC clearance or company valuation, and the paperwork can be more straightforward. Our expert team can advise whether a non-tax advantaged share option, RSU, SAR or phantom (cash) arrangement is right for you, provide appropriate documents and support you through the implementation process.
Employee share schemes lawyers
Who we help: High-growth businesses and consultants
High-growth companies tell us that finding and retaining top talent when a business is scaling is one of their key risk areas, and balancing the needs of founders, investors and employees (while managing cashflow and protecting working capital) is crucial, particularly when considering an employee share plan. That’s why entrepreneurs, start-ups and SMEs lean on us. We know how to get the balance right – introducing an employee share schemes plan that aligns with your business strategy now and later down the line.
Testimonials
What our clients say
We are a small company and the process of setting up a company share scheme was pretty daunting. Abby Watson and Harper James Solicitors provided expert advice to ensure we understood the process and drafted all relevant documentation. We were very impressed with the service received and would recommend the firm to others.
Julie Robinson
CEO,
Move It or Lose It
We rely on Harper James to provide us with support across a full range of service areas, from commercial contracts and employment issues to fundraisings and investments. The team at Harper James are always available to provide us with cost effective, pragmatic and commercially focused advice.
Nick Holzherr
CEO,
Whisk.com
Harper James provides my small growing business with a scalable, reliable, team-oriented approach to legal advice. Whenever we face a problem, I know that Harper James are there to provide helpful and cost-effective advice, to scope out the options, make clear the costs and risks, and give me the information I need to make decisions.
Bryn Richards
CEO,
Aeristech
Harper James is a brilliant example of a company disrupting a traditional industry. Suddenly Solicitors become relevant and accessible for start-ups & small enterprises, with the best in-class knowledge of all major legal areas. I’ve used the business now for a year, and the Enable plan has been perfect for budgeting my company’s outgoings, and has given me a piece of mind when tackling key, decisive issues. Thank-you HJS!
Koral Ibrahim
Founder & MD,
The Ready House
The support, advice and guidance from Harper James was absolutely vital. Shubhu, Callum and the team there were always on hand to deal with any issues that we needed help with as the deal progressed. This is an exciting new stage in the development of the business.
Sam G Bose
CEO and Founder,
IntelliSense.io
Abby got the job done in line with expectations. No dramas! I have used Harper James with several companies and for a range of legal topics. They generally provide good service at a very reasonable price point. They have a good understanding of growing technology companies.
Matthew Dreaper
Co-Founder and CFO,
Helix Technologies
It's been fantastic - I've worked with 3 lawyers to date (commercial, incentive, employment) and all three have been very competent in their areas.
The value for money is unbeatable - I have already recommended it to another start up who plans to reach out shortly.
Colin Blakely
Head of Finance,
Qargo Tech Limited
The team at Harper James has got to know our business over 3 years and is super responsive, adaptable and versatile to our needs. The lawyers are helpful and just really nice people who we’ve come to trust.
Aela Callan
Co-founder,
Head Set Studio Limited
Ease of use, a familiar legal team supporting my business who understand my business, and provide value for money.
Daniel Lawrence
CEO,
Bots For That Ltd
Employee Ownership Trusts are quite a niche area, so while looking for a law firm that could give the correct advice, we were also looking for a team our client would approve of, being lawyers themselves. The price point was also attractive to us as we are a small business ourselves. As we act as an intermediary between our clients and lawyers, we always want to make sure our clients get the best deal possible whilst getting expert legal advice. Ian and the team at Harper James have been a pleasure to work with.
Kingsley Tedder
Founder,
Mobius Group
It was a pleasure working with Tristan, Matt and James. We are very pleased with the quality of advice and your team's in depth knowledge.
Raymond Lam
Executive Director,
Aeramine Limited
Thanks Sam and Nikki. We really appreciate all your help with our EOT transition and patience answering our questions to get to this point. I am sure there might be a few more that are thrown up as we start to communicate with the team, but it's a new chapter and one we are very much looking forward to.
Martin Coyne
Managing Director,
Bond & Coyne
Choosing Harper James was the best decision we made during this process. At one point, we felt stuck and struggled with providing certain documentation. Brigitta and the team knew how to explain what was needed and suddenly the process became much clearer. The guidance we received helped us avoid unnecessary delays and expenses. It made all the difference.
Steve Carrod
Co-Founder,
DMPG
We are a small company and the process of setting up a company share scheme was pretty daunting. Abby Watson and Harper James Solicitors provided expert advice to ensure we understood the process and drafted all relevant documentation. We were very impressed with the service received and would recommend the firm to others.
Julie Robinson
CEO,
Move It or Lose It
We rely on Harper James to provide us with support across a full range of service areas, from commercial contracts and employment issues to fundraisings and investments. The team at Harper James are always available to provide us with cost effective, pragmatic and commercially focused advice.
Nick Holzherr
CEO,
Whisk.com
Harper James provides my small growing business with a scalable, reliable, team-oriented approach to legal advice. Whenever we face a problem, I know that Harper James are there to provide helpful and cost-effective advice, to scope out the options, make clear the costs and risks, and give me the information I need to make decisions.
Bryn Richards
CEO,
Aeristech
Harper James is a brilliant example of a company disrupting a traditional industry. Suddenly Solicitors become relevant and accessible for start-ups & small enterprises, with the best in-class knowledge of all major legal areas. I’ve used the business now for a year, and the Enable plan has been perfect for budgeting my company’s outgoings, and has given me a piece of mind when tackling key, decisive issues. Thank-you HJS!
Koral Ibrahim
Founder & MD,
The Ready House
The support, advice and guidance from Harper James was absolutely vital. Shubhu, Callum and the team there were always on hand to deal with any issues that we needed help with as the deal progressed. This is an exciting new stage in the development of the business.
Sam G Bose
CEO and Founder,
IntelliSense.io
Abby got the job done in line with expectations. No dramas! I have used Harper James with several companies and for a range of legal topics. They generally provide good service at a very reasonable price point. They have a good understanding of growing technology companies.
Matthew Dreaper
Co-Founder and CFO,
Helix Technologies
It's been fantastic - I've worked with 3 lawyers to date (commercial, incentive, employment) and all three have been very competent in their areas.
The value for money is unbeatable - I have already recommended it to another start up who plans to reach out shortly.
Colin Blakely
Head of Finance,
Qargo Tech Limited
The team at Harper James has got to know our business over 3 years and is super responsive, adaptable and versatile to our needs. The lawyers are helpful and just really nice people who we’ve come to trust.
Aela Callan
Co-founder,
Head Set Studio Limited
Ease of use, a familiar legal team supporting my business who understand my business, and provide value for money.
Daniel Lawrence
CEO,
Bots For That Ltd
Employee Ownership Trusts are quite a niche area, so while looking for a law firm that could give the correct advice, we were also looking for a team our client would approve of, being lawyers themselves. The price point was also attractive to us as we are a small business ourselves. As we act as an intermediary between our clients and lawyers, we always want to make sure our clients get the best deal possible whilst getting expert legal advice. Ian and the team at Harper James have been a pleasure to work with.
Kingsley Tedder
Founder,
Mobius Group
It was a pleasure working with Tristan, Matt and James. We are very pleased with the quality of advice and your team's in depth knowledge.
Raymond Lam
Executive Director,
Aeramine Limited
Thanks Sam and Nikki. We really appreciate all your help with our EOT transition and patience answering our questions to get to this point. I am sure there might be a few more that are thrown up as we start to communicate with the team, but it's a new chapter and one we are very much looking forward to.
Martin Coyne
Managing Director,
Bond & Coyne
Choosing Harper James was the best decision we made during this process. At one point, we felt stuck and struggled with providing certain documentation. Brigitta and the team knew how to explain what was needed and suddenly the process became much clearer. The guidance we received helped us avoid unnecessary delays and expenses. It made all the difference.
Steve Carrod
Co-Founder,
DMPG
The law firm for start-ups and scale ups
Why choose Harper James?
We’re a modern law firm with a difference. Our innovative remote operating model means that you can access expert City-grade legal advice from partner-level solicitors at a fraction of the cost of traditional law firms. Our senior solicitors have all been recruited from top 100 UK law firms or large international businesses. Our expert employee share schemes lawyers include:
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An alternative to our subscription plans, offering access to full service legal expertise on a project-by-project basis.
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Monthly subscription plan for £215 per month, with £145 monthly credit and access to all legal services at 50% discount on our Standard Rates.
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Fully account managed and scalable annual subscription plan with support from a curated team of partners and senior solicitors, with up to 34% discount on our Standard Rates.
Employee share schemes
Types of employee share schemes
Our legal team can assist you across all areas of employee share schemes, including: