Netmatter is an award-winning digital agency, offering websites, ecommerce solutions and digital marketing services from a team of agile creative, design and digital professionals.
The business was looking for ways to retain and attract the right key staff, something that agencies and tech business can sometimes find a challenge. We suggested using an EMI scheme to offer a share option to their staff, giving them a core benefit as an employee.
Before: the original issue faced by the client
Staff churn and losing key members of the team can be a big issue when you’re running an agency built around a small core team. Netmatter came to us because they wanted a solution that could keep their team motivated and engaged by their core business aims.
Their key requirements were:
- The need to reduce staff churn
so they could create a more stable team of digital professionals and could provide some long-term stability for the business. - A cost-effective way to offer employee benefits
which offered the right level of incentive, but without a huge cost or administrative burden for the company. - An option without adverse tax implications
so their employees wouldn’t suddenly see their tax position change and could make the most of any financial incentive. - A solution that incentivised the team
and made them feel more involved and enthused by the financial and business successes of the agency as a whole.
Mike Greaves
Managing Director
Netmatter
After: how FLB provided a workable solution
Our solution for Netmatter was to suggest an Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) scheme , where share options of up to £250k per employee could be offered to qualifying employees without this giving rise to an income tax or NIC charge.
The key benefits of an EMI are that:
- Key staff get share options
so they feel they’re fully invested in the business and will benefit from any long-term growth in the company’s share value. - The company can set performance targets
increasing the percentage number of shares for each employee, based on them meeting targets and performance goals. - It’s extremely tax efficient for staff
with none of the share options resulting in an income tax or National Insurance charge for your employees. - It promotes reduced staff churn
with employees able to convert their shares into equity based on today’s share price, as long as they stay in the scheme for 5 years. - Keeps staff motivated
making them feel involved in the long-term growth, profits and business successes of the company they’re working for.
Talk to us about how an EMI could work for your business
An EMI can be a very successful way to keep your team on board and help your employees to feel invested in your company’s strategic goals.
If your small business is looking for a simple way to improve employee benefits and engagement, please do get in touch.