Alternative Exit #65 | He Bought a 94 yo Business, Then Gave It to the Team | Bob Whalen, HB Global

Alternative Exit #65 | He Bought a 94 yo Business, Then Gave It to the Team | Bob Whalen, HB Global

Bob Whalen walked into a 94-year-old, third-generation family business in 2008 and, within two years, transitioned it to a 100% ESOP. What started as a way to make the deal more tax-efficient became his professional purpose. Fifteen years on, HB Global has grown almost 10x, completed close to 20 acquisitions, and built over $110M of value sitting inside its employee owners' accounts. In this episode, Bob shares why he runs the business like a sports team rather than a family, how he protects culture through every acquisition, and why the person who "gave away" the most is the happiest about it. A genuinely different take on ownership, legacy and shared success. Chapters * 00:53 — Meet Bob Whalen and HB Global * 02:35 — Walking into a 94-year-old family business * 05:50 — Where ESOPs and ETA meet * 07:39 — Run it like a sports team, not a family * 10:50 — Bringing culture to life across the group * 13:26 — Why the "secret sauce" isn't really a secret * 14:44 — Where the people-first conviction came from * 19:58 — Spotting cultural fit in an acquisition * 22:58 — Branding inward: communicating mission daily * 26:38 — Keeping score and the great game of business * 28:10 — The one number: return on capital * 31:02 — Do frontline workers value ownership? * 33:37 — Why business schools don't teach ESOPs * 38:19 — Fast round * 42:11 — Advice for owners on the fence Key Takeaways * ✅ An ESOP can start as a practical, tax-efficient deal structure and grow into a genuine cultural strategy. * 💡 Run the business like a sports team: everyone does their job, and everyone shares what they create. * 🌟 Culture is what you do, not what you write down. The CEO has to live it first. * 🎧 Most acquisitions could fetch a higher price elsewhere. Owners choose HB Global to protect their people. * ✅ Frontline technicians hold rare, valuable skills. The first job is helping them value themselves. * 💡 Selling for top dollar often leaves owners unhappy. Decide what legacy you actually want. Notable Quotes * "It's my Christmas every year when our ESOP values come out. I get a spreadsheet with every single person's value." * "If there was anybody who'd be upset about doing the ESOP, it would be me. And I couldn't be more thrilled." * "It was a financial solution that started, but it gave me my purpose." Links * Bob Whalen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-whalen-4023a21b/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-whalen-4023a21b/] * HB Global: https://hb-global.com [https://hb-global.com] * Book — Beyond Your Ownership by Bob Whalen and Jamie Dykstra * Host, Andy Farquharson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andyfarquharson/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/andyfarquharson/] * a better monday: https://abettermonday.me [https://abettermonday.me]

Alternative Exit #64 | 400+ Transitions Later: What Actually Makes EO Work

After 400+ employee ownership transitions and over two decades in the space, Ewan Hall has seen what works and what doesn't. In this episode, he walks Andy through the practical realities of EOT transitions in the UK — from the tax recalibration last October to the four pillars every successful transition needs (deal, ownership, governance, culture). Ewan unpacks the concept of "enough" that unlocks seller psychology, the underused role of debt finance, and a deceptively simple framework — informed, consult, consent — that resolves who decides what after the founder steps back. Honest, experienced, and refreshingly free of the EO hype. Chapters * (00:00) Welcome and introduction * (02:26) The story behind 20+ years in EO * (05:53) Why employee owned firms still face succession challenges * (07:42) Separating ownership succession from leadership succession * (11:17) Why owners choose EO over a trade sale * (13:21) The concept of "enough" and the magic number * (18:00) The 25% rule: how long it really takes to fund a 100% disposal * (22:21) The 2014 tax relief and mainstreaming EO * (23:41) October 2024: from 100% to 50% CGT discount * (28:34) The missed opportunity around debt finance * (32:26) Refinancing the back-end of founder debt * (33:26) The four pillars: deal, ownership, governance, culture * (37:04) Informed, consult, consent in practice * (40:31) Day, year, extremis: stress-testing your structure * (42:27) Fast round: leaders, resources, advice * (45:00) Where to find Ewan Key takeaways * 💡 Ownership succession and leadership succession run on different timelines — don't conflate them. * ✅ The conversation about "enough" unlocks every other decision a founder needs to make. * 🎯 Profit multiple + 25% = roughly the years it'll take to fund a 100% disposal at flat profits. * 🌟 The four pillars of a healthy transition: the deal, ownership, governance, and culture. * 💷 EOT tax relief at 50% still saves around 12% — no other UK exit comes close. * ⚖️ Stress-test your structure across three scenarios: a day, a year, and an emergency. Notable quotes * "You don't just stick shares in a trust and call it a day." * "Once people get past the concept of enough, they unclench a bit." * "I want to be able to drive past this workplace and feel all right about it." Links * 🔗 Ewan Hall on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ewan-hall-3a7b902a/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ewan-hall-3a7b902a/] * 🔗 Baxendale Employee Ownership: https://baxendaleownership.co.uk [https://baxendaleownership.co.uk] * 🔗 Employee Ownership Association: https://employeeownership.co.uk [https://employeeownership.co.uk] * 🔗 Host Andy Farquharson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andyfarquharson/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/andyfarquharson/] * 🔗 a better monday: https://abettermonday.me [https://abettermonday.me]

Alternative Exit #63 | No Silver Bullet, But There Is Magic in EO | Joseph Cureton, Sarvis Health

Joseph Cureton spent nearly a decade building Obran Cooperative, the first worker-owned cooperative holding company in the US. In 2025, he exited and started something new. Sarvis Health is an ESOP-based roll-up of home care agencies, wrapped in a proprietary AI-enabled operating platform called Sarvis OS. In this conversation, Joseph breaks down why he shifted from co-op to ESOP, what he learned about the "magic" (and the myths) of shared ownership, and why home care is uniquely suited to employee ownership. He also shares how Sarvis is using AI to fix broken workflows, why design partners matter, and the one question every fence-sitting owner should ask themselves. Chapters: * (00:00) Welcome and introducing Joseph * (01:39) From Obran to Sarvis: co-op to ESOP * (07:10) No silver bullet — operations come first * (09:26) The real magic of employee ownership * (11:05) Home care and the Silver Tsunami * (13:29) Going head-to-head with private equity * (16:32) Rituals, open-book management, alignment * (23:50) Sarvis OS: the three-part rollout * (30:53) Investing in tech and people together * (34:00) The design partner model * (39:30) A five-year vision * (43:50) Fast round * (46:10) A question for owners on the fence Key Takeaways: * 💡 Employee ownership isn't a magic bullet. You still have to be a great operator every day. * ✅ The magic is a team of "disagreeable givers" aligned around shared outcomes. * 🌟 Home care fits employee ownership because workers already care deeply about their communities. * 🎧 A single AI-enabled platform turns ownership engagement into action. * ✅ Start with the detractors. The loudest critics make the best design partners. Notable Quotes: * "There's no silver bullet. And there is some magic." * "Clarity is kindness." * "In five or ten years, what option would you regret not taking?" Links & Resources: * Joseph Cureton: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephbuilds/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephbuilds/] * Sarvis Health: https://sarvishealth.com [https://sarvishealth.com] * Obran Cooperative: https://www.obran.coop [https://www.obran.coop] * The Companies We Keep by John Abrams * Collective Courage by Jessica Gordon Nembhard * Host Andy Farquharson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andyfarquharson/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/andyfarquharson/] * a better monday: https://abettermonday.me [https://abettermonday.me]

Alternative Exit #62 | From Fortune 500 to EO: why Kevin Clegg bet on his people & doubled profits

What happens when a CEO with over a decade in Fortune 500 companies returns to a family auto business and insists from day one that any exit must benefit the employees? You get America's first employee ownership trust – and one of the most compelling performance stories in the employee ownership movement. Kevin Clegg shares how Clegg Auto, a group of four repair shops in Utah County, doubled profits and grew employee profit-sharing tenfold in their very first year as an EOT – without raising a single price. He also digs into the real challenge: building an ownership culture from the inside out, and his evolving vision for a business cooperative movement that could reshape small business succession across the US. Key Takeaways: ✅ Employee ownership isn't just an exit strategy – it's an operating model that drives measurable performance from day one ✅ Structuring profit-sharing so employees benefit immediately (not after former owners are paid off) is what makes it real and tangible ✅ Financial transparency is a powerful tool – but open-book management only works when employees can see their own personal impact on the numbers ✅ Building an ownership culture takes years, not a transaction – and even seasoned owners don't always act like owners ✅ A business cooperative (not a worker cooperative) could be the scalable model to bring the Silver Tsunami of retiring owners into employee ownership en masse ✅ The best employee voice frameworks match decision-making authority to expertise – not a one-person, one-vote free-for-all Notable Quotes: 💬 "There should be some sort of exit that's beneficial for everyone – not just for the people who started the thing." 💬 "The hardest part of the transition to employee ownership wasn't coming up with the structure and transacting it. The hardest part still is – and is – the culture afterwards." 💬 "There's nothing better than preserving what you've created, and there's no better way to do it, in my opinion, than employee ownership." Links: 🔗 Kevin Clegg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-clegg-59655a/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-clegg-59655a/] 🔗 Clegg Auto website: https://cleggauto.com [https://cleggauto.com] 🔗 Host Andy Farquharson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andyfarquharson/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/andyfarquharson/] 🔗 a better monday: https://abettermonday.me [https://abettermonday.me]

Sleeping Giant: How One MD Tripled Revenue Through Employee Ownership | Colin Wade, Chemco

What happens when you stop looking for a younger version of yourself and start fixing what's actually broken? Colin Wade tripled revenue at a Scottish coatings manufacturer by doing succession differently. About the episode: Most founders approach succession by searching for someone just like them — younger, with decades of niche expertise, ready to replicate what made the business successful. Colin Wade's founder at Chemco International tried that approach multiple times. It never worked. The business didn't need another technical genius. It needed someone to cherish the strengths whilst fixing the weaknesses. Colin joined Chemco in 2018 specifically to lead its transition to 100% employee ownership — an unusual move for a seasoned MD, but one inspired by David Erdal's book about Loch Fyne Oysters. He started with a simple SWOT analysis, recruited to fill the gaps, and spent two patient years building a culture where factory floor workers became self-empowered shareholders. Chemco now runs a hybrid model with a 51% EOT and up to 49% direct shares distributed equally to all employees. This conversation explores deliberate succession planning, why manufacturing employees can absolutely embrace ownership, and how quarterly "shareholder meetings" change the relationship between management and workforce. Guest Information: 🔗 Colin Wade — Managing Director, Chemco International LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colinwade1967/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/colinwade1967/] 🔗 Chemco International: https://www.chemcoint.com [https://www.chemcoint.com] Chapters: 00:00 - Introduction 01:52 - Actively seeking employee ownership 03:05 - Why founders seek younger versions of themselves 04:26 - Inspired by David Erdal's book 06:22 - The succession unicorn problem 08:05 - Starting with SWOT analysis 09:10 - Cherishing strengths, recruiting for weaknesses 10:05 - Succession planning & EO transitions 11:30 - Collaborative problem-solving 12:43 - Can manufacturing embrace ownership? 13:18 - The settling-in period 14:33 - Resistance to change 15:30 - Two years to build the right team 16:24 - When self-empowerment feels overwhelming 18:17 - Quarterly shareholder meetings 20:04 - Hybrid model: 51% trust, 49% direct shares 22:31 - Skin in the game 24:17 - Patience in culture change 25:42 - Leadership in employee-owned businesses 27:46 - Best of capitalism and cooperation 28:38 - Advice for owners on succession 31:27 - Fast round 34:03 - Connect with Colin and Chemco About The Alternative Exit: A podcast exploring employee ownership as a succession planning strategy, hosted by Andy Farquharson of a better monday. 🔗 Host: Andy Farquharson — https://www.linkedin.com/in/andyfarquharson/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/andyfarquharson/] 🔗 Learn more: https://abettermonday.me [https://abettermonday.me] Links & Resources: * Chemco International: https://www.chemcoint.com [https://www.chemcoint.com] * "Local Heroes" by David Erdal (Loch Fyne Oysters story) * Employee Ownership Association UK: https://employeeownership.co.uk [https://employeeownership.co.uk] * Scottish Enterprise Employee Ownership support #EmployeeOwnership #EOT #Manufacturing #SuccessionPlanning #Scotland #EmployeeOwned #BusinessSuccession #AlternativeExit #Leadership #Coatings