The background
British pub company J D Wetherspoon saw participation in their all-employee share plan grow to a staggering 99.9% when they migrated to J.P. Morgan Workplace Solutions in August 2024.
This achievement was recognised when Wetherspoon won ‘Best Overall Performance in Fostering Employee Share Ownership (5,001 – 50,000 employees)’ at the 2025 ProShare Awards.
The challenge
Having first introduced share plans to UK employees in 2004, the structure of the Wetherspoon plan remained relatively unchanged until the leading hospitality company moved to the Workplace Solutions platform. They took this as an opportunity to reinvigorate their employee equity awards.
For companies operating in the hospitality industry, staff turnover and attrition is a constant challenge. Giving employees a slice of the pie is one way to promote retention, but reaching all employees, especially when they work in non-office based roles, can be difficult.
The solution
Under their historic opt-in approach, Wetherspoon had boasted a participation rate of approximately 60% of eligible employees (14,500 employees). Moving to an opt-out approach led to a remarkable 40% increase in participation (23,000 employees).
After migrating to Workplace Solutions they switched from an opt-in to an opt-out approach. This means all eligible employees are automatically enrolled in the Free Share Award, while retaining the option to opt-out if they so desire. Giving employees access to these benefits, as they become eligible, ensures they don’t lose out on any growth or benefits due to lack of understanding or awareness.
On top of this, the company also offer a unique restricted stock element, to ensure employees don’t miss out on awards due to tax limits.
The company has also introduced the Workplace Solutions app which has allowed employees to access and engage with their awards via their phone or other personal device.
What about the plan?
The Wetherspoon offering is made up of two plans, run side-by-side. Firstly, a Partnership Share Purchase element, which employees contribute to from pre-tax pay, and also free shares offered as part of an All-Employee Share Incentive Plan (SIP). Both of these plans have an eligibility criteria of 18- months continuous service and are open to all levels of employees throughout the company.
Under the Free Share Award, shares are granted to employees and become available after 3 years (generally subject to tax) and available free of tax after 5 years. The Free Share Awards are generally granted every six months, in March and October.
J D Wetherspoon calculate the award for each employee based on salary, with the free shares granted based on a value of a percentage of salary in each tax year. Depending on grade and length of service, the award percentage is increased.
In the UK, HMRC’s (HM Revenue & Customs) limit on the maximum value of shares that can be awarded each tax year is £3,600, which works out at £1,800 per award for Wetherspoon employees. Rather than risk having employees miss out because of these limits, the unique nature of this award is that if an employee is going to exceed the £1,800 tax free limit in each award based on the % of their salary, that excess portion of their award is placed in a Restricted Stock Plan (RSU).
The restricted stock is awarded with a 3-year term and a cliff vest, meaning these shares will become available at the same time as those in the Free Share Award.
The Partnership Share Purchase is an opt-in enrolment plan where employees can choose to contribute from their pay each month to purchase shares and increase their shareholding in the company. This plan comes with tax benefits as money is taken from gross pay, and shares can be withdrawn tax-free after 5 years.
Participation in the Partnership Share Purchase plan is currently c30% (7,086 employees) of eligible employees. The industry average take-up for these is 12.5%, further evidence that the company have fostered a strong culture of share ownership.
What did success look like?
Since 2006, J D Wetherspoon has paid £614 million to its employees in respect of bonuses and free shares, with approximately 98% of this value going to employees below board level and around 86.1% paid to employees working in pubs.
Following the March 2025 vesting, 80% of shares were retained, and 20% were sold. This is evidence that employees are invested in the future of company and are choosing to remain shareholders. Wetherspoon also boosts a very low attrition rate with many managers having over 10 years’ service. As of March 2025, 160 pub employees have been with the company over 25 years and received additional awards.
What next?
J D Wetherspoon’s All-Employee Free Share Plan exemplifies dedication to employee welfare and share ownership. By working closely with the Workplace Solutions team and transitioning to an innovative opt-out approach and offering unique benefits through RSUs, the company has achieved remarkable participation rates and has become an exemplar of employee ownership culture.
To find out how the J.P. Morgan Workplace Solutions team could help you to reinvigorate your employee awards get in touch.
This publication contains general information only and J.P. Morgan Workplace Solutions is not, through this article, issuing any advice, be it legal, financial, tax-related, business-related, professional or other. J.P. Morgan Workplace Solutions’ Insights is not a substitute for professional advice and should not be used as such. J.P. Morgan Workplace Solutions does not assume any liability for reliance on the information provided herein.
