EMI Share Schemes could be key to retaining top talent

Norfolk UK, December 29, 2008 - Whilst the credit crunch continues to squeeze corporate purse strings tighter, there is a glimmer of hope for businesses looking to attract or retain top talent without having to invest in expensive incentives or bonuses, according to lawyers at Net Lawman, who are advising small business to consider the advantages of adopting Enterprise Management Incentive share schemes (EMI’s).

EMIs are tax advantaged share options for employees designed to help small, higher risk companies recruit and retain employees who have the skills to help them grow and succeed. They are also a way of rewarding employees for taking a risk by investing their time and skills to help small companies achieve their potential.

"An employee share scheme can help a company's owners to transfer ownership to those working in the business, for example to family or to enable a management buy-out. You can sell your company gradually and obtain tax relief while doing this. The tax relief available depends on the share scheme you choose", says Miriam Taylor of Net Lawman.

According to Taylor, there are generally three reasons why businesses might want to consider a share scheme;

• To allow employees to acquire shares in a tax-effective way over a period of time and to increase motivation and improve team performance.

• To lock-in the employee until the point of a sale (or IPO) or until a key milestone is achieved. Translating what would otherwise be cash benefits into future share rewards can be very beneficial for an early stage or fast growing company.

• To reward past loyalty ahead of a sale: it is quite common for owner-managers thinking of a sale to want to ensure that key employees who have contributed to the value creation share in sale proceeds.

Net Lawman have this month launched their new set of EMI share scheme documents which have all been drafted by lawyers specialising in this field. They provide all the documents required for an eligible company to set up and operate their scheme, as well as low cost back up legal advice.

Their range includes comprehensive EMI share scheme agreements, board minutes to adopt and grant the option, legal set up forms, buy-back agreements and Articles of Association with buy-back clause. Net Lawman are the first to offer these type of legal documents online and are renowned for their ability to provide jargon-free, documents written in plain English.

For more information visit www.netlawman.co.uk

Ends

Net Lawman Ltd is an English company operated by Andrew R. Taylor. Most legal work is undertaken by Andrew and Rajeev Goswami, assisted by English barristers for employment specialist work, and Rajeev's small team of Indian lawyers, as required

Andrew has a degree in economics and was an English solicitor for over 20 years. He resigned voluntarily as a solicitor in order to operate Net Lawman with unrestricted advertising. He has specialised primarily in commercial and company law. Working in a high street practice, he has covered a wide range of law. During that time, he has also been involved as a director and shareholder in a number of businesses, principally connected with commercial property or the Internet.

The documents provided by Net Lawman have been drawn by Andrew and a small team of specialist solicitors and barristers. The documents are regularly updated to take account of new law.

The Net Lawman service is designed to fill a gap between on the one hand the mass of "contractual" letters and messages produced by every business every day with confidence and on the other hand those cases where solicitor help is essential.

Net Lawman legal advice is provided on a "no liability" basis. The business is not regulated by The Law Society.

Miriam Taylor
Net Lawman Ltd
UK office: Astons Barn, North Green Road, Pulham St Mary, Diss, IP21 4YF England
Tel: 0061 432 393 296
Email: miriam@netlawman.co.uk
http://www.netlawman.co.uk

This release was published on openPR.