On the growth of employee-owned businesses in the UK, check out the latest data from the White Rose Employee Ownership Research Centre (led by Prof Andrew Pendleton of the Uni NSW), which was released on EO Day (Friday, 20th June) in the UK.
The theme for EO Day 2025 in the UK – EO Smile – highlighted the far-reaching impact of EO: boosting wellbeing, driving innovation, and delivering stronger outcomes for people, places, and the planet.
With the sector now topping 2,470 businesses – a growth of over 1,600% since 2014 – EO continues to anchor jobs in the UK economy for the longer term, offering a resilient and inclusive model for succession and growth.
EO Day Sector Snapshot
The UK’s EO sector now includes around 2,470 businesses, employing approximately 358,000 people.
In 2025 alone, 118 businesses have transitioned up to May (with more expected as reporting catches up and the year progresses). This follows a record 560 transitions in 2024, or about three every two days.
Since 2014, the sector has surged by 1,640%, driven largely by small businesses, which make up 65% of the EO total.
Top EO sectors include professional services (28%), manufacturing (15%), construction (14%), admin/support (14%), and wholesale/retail (11%).
Also, on the ‘success’ of the EO research report from Prof Andrew Pendleton (UniNSW) for all the latest data on the growth of EO in the UK, check out this report – Employee ownership trusts: an employee ownership success story – which was published earlier in 2025. It answers all the queries people have been making about EO, along with actual evidence.
