Last week, I was lucky enough to spend a day at the Library of Birmingham for eoaLive! 2026. It was my first time at the conference, and having Kate and Ravi there alongside me as the I-COM team made the whole thing feel even more special.
I came away from the day with a notebook full of thoughts, a head full of ideas, and a genuine reminder of why employee ownership matters so much to me, both professionally and personally.
Here's a look at the two breakout sessions I attended, and what I took away from them.
The social impact of employee ownership
This session brought together a panel of employee-owned businesses of very different shapes and sizes, from a small engineering consultancy to a global insurance firm, and that contrast made for a really interesting conversation.
One of the things that stuck with me most was how the panel talked about the relationship between employee ownership and social impact. It isn't just that EO businesses happen to do good things in their communities. It's that the ownership model itself creates the conditions for that to happen. When people feel like genuine stakeholders in a business, they take a longer view. They think about reputation, about community, about what kind of organisation they want to be. As one panellist put it, employee ownership encourages long-term thinking, and long-term thinking is exactly what meaningful social impact requires.
There was also a refreshing honesty about scale. Smaller businesses on the panel talked about feeling like their contribution couldn't possibly match the reach of a large organisation, and then realising that wasn't the point. The value of showing up, getting behind a cause as a team, training together for a half marathon or working with a charity that aligns with what you actually do as a business, often has more impact internally than externally. It brings people together. It gives work a sense of purpose beyond the day job.
The idea of alignment came up again and again: align your social impact activity with what your business actually does, and it lands. It feels authentic. It's easier to communicate and easier to sustain.
I also found the conversation around the employee voice really resonant. Several panellists spoke about how social impact programmes can become a vehicle for people to have a say, to bring ideas forward, to feel heard. And that connects directly to the ownership mindset. The more people feel they can shape the culture and direction of the business, the more engaged they are in every dimension of it.
How being an EO champion shaped my career
This session was more personal in tone, and for me, it was the highlight of the day.
Josie, a trustee at Enhanced, spoke honestly about what it actually feels like to step into a trustee role without a roadmap. The self-learning. The uncertainty. The moment she realised she was sitting in board-level conversations she'd never have accessed any other way, not this early in her career.
A lot of what Josie said resonated deeply with my own experience as a trustee at I-COM. The challenge of sitting between your colleagues and your board. The way you have to hold both perspectives at once, representing the people you work alongside every day while also contributing meaningfully at a strategic level. The moments where you disagree with a decision and have to find the courage to say so, even when there's self-doubt creeping in.
What struck me about Josie's story was her clarity on why it matters. Being a trustee isn't just about governance. It's about growing as a leader, building commercial understanding, and developing the kind of emotional intelligence that doesn't come from a job description. She talked about how her confidence to challenge has grown over time, and how that growth has been uncomfortable, stretching, and completely worth it.
She also made a point I want to carry forward into the EOCC conversations we have in Manchester: you don't need a title to be an EO champion. The way you talk about ownership, the questions you ask, the way you show up in the day-to-day, all of that shapes culture. Apprentices who understand EO from day one. Council members who push ideas up rather than waiting for direction to come down. These are the people who make it real.
…And then there were the awards!
I'd be telling only half the story if I didn't mention the evening!
Seeing the I-COM name on the big screen twice, once for Kate as a finalist for EO Leader of the Year and once for me as a finalist for Employee Owner of the Year, was one of those moments that takes a second to sink in. It was a brilliant feeling just to be there among that calibre of people, and well done to everyone who won on the night.
It was also a reminder that the work we're doing here in Manchester, through I-COM, through the EOCC, through the conversations and connections we're building, is part of something much bigger.
Bring the conversation home
If eoaLive! left you buzzing the way it left me, don't let that energy fizzle out. Carry it on with us.
On Wednesday 8th July, the EOCC is hosting Impactful Leadership: Unleashing the potential of your EO business at Brabners in Manchester, 10am to 1pm. We'll be exploring exactly the kind of themes that came up in Birmingham: how leadership really works in an EO business, how to build it across your teams, and what it looks like when ownership and culture genuinely meet in practice.
Spaces are limited and filling up, so if you want to be in the room, don't sit on this one.
Register here for Impactful Leadership on 8th July
If you're not already part of the EOCC community and want to get involved beyond this event, you can also reach us directly at connect@eocommunitycatalyst.co.uk.
See you there.
