Valloop teams up with Guy Carpenter to support the transfer of one million SME workers into employee ownership
Manchester, (18 June 2025) – Valloop has today announced the launch of an innovation in finance and insurance that disrupts the way small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are bought and sold.
Valloop, partnering with global reinsurers, will offer a new type of capital to allow one million employees in 20,000 companies to buy their companies from the original founders.
Reinsurance brokerage Guy Carpenter and a consortium of reinsurers have offered £39 billion in new capital to back this innovative global financial product from Valloop, which will enable SME employees to buy the business for which they work. The product will be available in Europe, Australia, Canada, UK, and the USA.
“This is going to change the landscape of UK companies by democratising ownership and providing the opportunity directly into the hands of the workers for the first time ever,” said Stephen Greenwood, Founder and Global Chief Executive Officer of Valloop. “By partnering with the global reinsurance markets, we can make the capital structure cost and the outcome more equity efficient, which will open up the opportunity for employees to have the chance to buy the SME they work for when private or institutional owners need to exit.”
Valloop Exchange has launched a global campaign today called ‘1by30’ – to aim to transition one million workers into ownership by 2030. This is aligned with three core United Nations sustainability goals of addressing worker poverty, gender equality, and reducing wealth and income inequality. Such contemporary ownership models deliver social impact and are also proven to increase enterprise productivity.
Valloop is a socially-conscious single marketplace for SME employees who want to go through the transition of becoming employee-owned through the use of its technology platform, which uses a blend of Artificial Intelligence and a range of innovative financial instruments.
Mr. Greenwood added: “The surety product and reinsurance capacity will allow the Valloop Exchange platform to accelerate the sale and purchase of an SME business at a fair value to transition to employee ownership without the need for institutional private equity. In doing so, Valloop delivers financial inclusivity for SME workers who have historically been excluded from profit and vote.”
According to National Action Plans (NAPs) on business and human rights, there are approximately 400 million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) worldwide. In the UK, about 30% of SME owners are aged 55 and over, says Valloop, adding that there are currently 180 million SMEs with retiring owners needing to sell in over 10 years, 99% of which are owned by one to three shareholders at the exclusion of all workers.
The Valloop platform is targeting SMEs with 10-250 employees, making £2 million to £50 million in turnover, and £250,000 to £15 million profit.
“We launched Valloop to support the many millions of employees that work in small, medium and listed businesses,” said Mr. Greenwood. “After two decades in the market, we have seen a burgeoning need to help retiring business owners who are looking to sell to their employees.
“Our platform delivers everything employees need to lead the business in its transition to their ownership, and it allows them to focus on growing their business rather than wasting time on the friction that can arise in normal M&A sales. The significance of the support from the global financial markets sector is a strong endorsement of the impact we will make to millions of employees around the world.”
David Edwards, Head of Credit, Bond and Political Risk at Guy Carpenter, added: “Through this innovative surety instrument, small and medium-sized companies will be able to seamlessly transition to employee ownership while investing in their future growth and supporting their employees. Guy Carpenter is excited to be contributing to making this possible.”
Valloop has Baroness Sharon Bowles of Berkhamsted – one of the UK’s leading advocates for responsible corporate governance – as a Non-Executive Director on its Board. – She said: “By encouraging an environment where employees feel genuinely responsible for the company’s success, businesses can unlock a level of engagement and initiative that helps drive significant improvements in performance. I call this the ‘Whoosh Effect’.
“By this, I mean the effect of catapulting employees into a state of ownership and involvement from which they were previously excluded. Imagine one day you are working nine to five, and the next, you have a stake in the company, and people are welcoming your opinion. No longer is there idle chatter and false hope; instead, there’s transparency and a reality that gathers momentum. You are not just hired, you are heard.”
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