Successful marketing communications company Coda, which specialises in supporting the industrial sector, has turned its business into an employee-owned trust to secure its long-term future. The company, based in Poole, Dorset started in 2008
Successful marketing communications company Coda, which specialises in supporting the industrial sector, has turned its business into an employee-owned trust, or EOT, to secure its long-term future.
In 2008, Chris Lawrenson set up an agency specialising in outsourced communications for the industrial sector. Chris grew the business profitably over 15 years to a team of more than 20 staff and six-figure turnover, and in 2023 started to consider how he would exit the business while ensuring it would continue and grow.
Today the company is run by its employees and headed up by CEO Jen Swain.
Jen said: “Becoming employee owned is already having a fantastic impact on our agency, and I believe it helped us achieve 105 per cent of our 2024 turnover target and deliver our best year ever. Although several elements contributed to that performance, the overall culture, the sense of shared initiative and ownership mentality cultivated by the EOT process has led to increased motivation and drive to do continued great work for our clients, and to drive our future continued success.”
It was back in 2020 that Chris first met Jen, who had been an operations director with a background in B2B marketing to deliver a STEM event for local young people. Three years later, Jen re-connected with Chris, and they discovered a shared vision and plan for Chris’s agency. In July 2023, Jen joined Coda as Head of Growth, taking over from Chris as CEO in January 2024.
Chris and Jen explored options for the future business model, agreeing that an EOT model matched their personal business ethics, the company vision of ‘creating a world made better’ and their sustainability aspirations for Coda.
Chris, Jen and the team were supported in becoming an EOT by Chris Maslin who runs Go EO, an independent company which works with SMEs considering this business model.
Chris’s former company, an accountancy practice in Kent, was transferred into an EOT when Chris decided it was time for him to move on.
“Having gone through the process myself, I felt it was, in many cases, far more complex and costly than it needed to be and came up with a more streamlined approach to help others embrace this business model,” Chris Maslin said.
An employee-owned business means the founder or owners can exit the business by selling their shares to a trust run by employees. That founder can exit immediately or leave over time.
With Coda, Chris Lawrenson was able to step back during 2024 and has now fully exited the company he founded.
He said: “From the initial enquiry, through to engagement, valuation, and finally the sale process itself, GoEO demystified and educated every twist and turn of the process, providing clear instruction, calm guidance, and wise counsel throughout. What could have been emotive and stressful was instead a satisfying and happy exit, with the bonus of the business I had built now being owned by the people who deserved it most.”
During 2025, the team at Coda have plans for further expansion. To find out more about Coda visit https://codacomms.com/
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