This week I was in Birmingham for the latest event hosted by the Employee Ownership Association for EO businesses. Birmingham is a regular fixture for me in my ongoing pursuit of good beer. I didn’t have much chance to stray further than the conference venue, though I did get to finally check out the excellent Colmore pub operated by the iconic Thornbridge Brewery (perhaps you’ve had a Jaipur?).
The same day as the event, my episode of the Stake & Soul EO podcast hosted by Barry Horner from Paradigm Norton went live. I recorded this one a couple of months back and it’s my longest / most in-depth EO podcast appearance so far.
I always try to share as much as possible, on and off the record. I don’t think being overly guarded is helpful to anyone, in a conversation or interview. Of course there are commercial sensitivities in business that draw a practical line, but I want my contribution to these platforms to be worthwhile for anyone who chooses to give it their time.
There’s a lot here about Grapevine in general, our company history and how we operate as an employee owned business, three and a bit years on from our transition, as well as my own ‘career’ adventures from Bournemouth University in the 2010s through to today.
Having been a guest on a couple of other EO podcasts and event panels before, I do feel it’s important that my voice isn’t the only one people hear from our business, nor should our business take a space too often where another EO company’s story might be heard.
At 1hr 20m this may be the complete story from me for now. I’m grateful to Barry and the PN team for inviting me to take part in this series and to have a snapshot record of where we’re at with employee ownership in 2026.
You can find the audio version on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other platforms.
When we first transitioned to employee ownership, Alan Braithwaite from Yellow Tuxedo told me I needed to document the journey. I was a bit daunted at the prospect at the time for some reason (maybe the additional work / time commitment?). I have been doing this though and now have a nice archive to look back on.
Liam Toms 