Creating value and a path to new growth for a business switching to employee-ownership

Challenge

When Seetec, a leading provider of public services made the decision to move to an employee-owned structure, they asked Eterna to plan and execute a communications strategy to secure the support of their employees and position the company to create future value and unlock growth.

Approach  

Eterna worked closely with Seetec’s founder, Peter Cooper, the leadership team and its financial and legal advisors to understand the transaction, the business, its strategy for the future and its values in detail, to create a new chapter in the company’s story with sector-wide impact. We worked with Peter Cooper to craft his legacy of wishes – a key founding document for employee-owned firms – as well as developing a full suite of internal and external stakeholder communications to support the transaction.

Impact  

Reaction from stakeholders inside and outside the business was overwhelmingly positive, with interest from a wide range of Government and opposition politicians including business minister Kelly Tolhurst and Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey. CBI Director General Carolyn Fairbairn hailed the move while coverage in the Financial Times led on Peter Cooper’s wish for the transaction to be seen as an “alternative way” to create social value.

Seetec executive chairman, Peter Cooper, said:

“Eterna recognised the far-reaching consequences of moving to employee-ownership for us and took great care to understand our business and our values. Eterna’s work created an emotional response from colleagues to the announcement – helping to secure their early support – and put Seetec at the heart of a wider debate on alternative ways to deliver public services.”