It was our great pleasure to support Purplefish – a PR and communications agency specialising bold campaigns that create meaningful impact – with their transition to employee ownership in 2024.
Given Purplefish are comms experts themselves, it was important to the team at Purplefish to communicate their transition to employee ownership with pride, in a way that included both their people and clients.
What follows are top tips from Purplefish on making the most of communicating your employee ownership transition. At Baxendale Employee Ownership, we know there’s no one-size-fits-all way to announce an EOT – internally or externally – but aspects of Purplefish’s approach to the external announcement may provide inspiration for you / your own business.
- Tell a compelling story
Our transition was rooted in our core values. We crafted a clear narrative around why we chose to become employee-owned—emphasising continuity, and a long-term commitment to our team and clients. This story resonated because it was authentic and aligned closely with our founder’s vision that sits at the heart of our brand.
- Leverage external champions
We collaborated closely with trusted external advisors Baxendale Employee Ownership, who helped us break down the jargon and understand the key points regarding our new structure that were important to share with our partners.
- Keep it simple with a three-step communication approach
Our external communications rollout was simple but effective. We were keen that our clients were the first to know, so I sent a personal email to everyone to share the news. Then it we implemented our three step external comms approach:
- We shared a press release to local business and trade media to share the news
- We created personal videos from each member of the newly created EOT Board regarded what this meant to them, and the wider business
- We built a suite of social updates to ensure everyone connected to us would hear the news, understand what was happening, and what it meant to them
Throughout this period, we had open conversations with our clients regarding the transition to answer any questions they might have.
- Tailor your message
As a PR business we understand the importance of audience-specific communications. For our clients, we stressed that our high standards and quality would remain unchanged or even enhanced. For local communities and media, we highlighted themes around sustainability, local leadership, and employee empowerment. Suppliers and industry peers appreciated messages about strong governance and continued operational excellence.
- Demystify employee ownership
Employee Ownership Trusts (EOTs) are a relatively new concept for many people. Clearly explaining the practical implications—particularly how ownership, profit-sharing, and decision-making works—proved essential. Simple graphics, FAQs, and straightforward language helped external audiences quickly understand and appreciate our new business model.
Looking Ahead
Becoming employee-owned has been transformative for Purplefish, positively impacting our culture and driving deeper engagement with our stakeholders. These steps helped us communicate this transition effectively, setting the stage for sustainable success and growth.
About Purplefish
Transitioning to become an employee-owned business was an important part of our journey here at Purplefish. Having been certified as a B Corp since 2022, we operate on a triple bottom line of people, purpose and profit. The people working within the business are central to this so it only felt right to become employee owned as part of our founder’s succession plan. This has provided the wider team with more opportunity to be involved in the running of the business and help shape its future, in turn benefitting from a share in the profits.
Download our three-step guide to communicating your EOT with pride below.
Looking for help to celebrate your transition? Get in touch today and we can share our celebration comms packages with you to ensure you make the most of this unique opportunity.
By Lucy McKerron, Managing Director, Purplefish
Celebrating becoming an EOT_PR
Emily Alston