The right share class can hand someone a real stake in the future while you keep the value already on the table. Get a straight answer on whether growth shares or alphabet shares fit your plan.
A founder comes to us with a familiar dilemma. They've got a brilliant operations manager — the person who actually keeps the business running — and they want to lock them in with a real ownership stake. The instinct is to hand over, say, 10% of the shares. Then the penny drops: the company is already worth £600,000. Handing over 10% of the ordinary shares means giving away £60,000 of value the founder spent years building, before the manager has added a single pound of new growth.
That's the crux of it. You want to share the upside from here — not gift away the value that's already in the bank. And depending on whether your goal is rewarding a key employee, splitting income within the family, or tidying up before an exit, the right tool changes.
This article compares the two structures owner-managers most often weigh up: alphabet shares and growth shares. We won't re-explain each one from scratch — the pillar guide to alphabet shares covers the mechanics and has a section on growth shares too. The job here is to help you choose.