Share plans offered

This plan is available to all eligible employees in a company. The shares owned by participating employees are held in trust, and usually on a tax-free basis (if the plan is HMRC approved), for as long as they participate in the plan. This plan was previously known as an “All-Employee Share Ownership Plan" (AESOP). A SIP can have four different types of shares, offered at the discretion of the employer company: Partnership, Matching, Free and Dividend.

For more information on this plan, please view our Share Incentive Plan (SIP) Factsheet  

The Sharesave plan is also known as the Company Save As You Earn (SAYE) or Savings-Related Share Option Scheme, and was introduced under the Finance Act 1980. Sharesave is an arrangement under which an employee has the right (known as an ‘option’) to buy shares at a future date at a price determined shortly before the options are granted, subject to the completion of a savings contract.

For more information on this plan, please view our Sharesave Factsheet

A CSOP is a plan under which an employee is granted a right or option to buy a fixed number of shares at a fixed price in a set period of time.

For more information on this plan, please view our Company Share Options Plan (CSOP) Factsheet

The broad structure of an Unapproved Share Option Plan is identical to the approved Company Share Option Plan or CSOP (see fact sheet on CSOPs). Accordingly, options are granted to individuals who are selected to participate. The option price is usually the market value of the shares under option as at the time of the grant.

The plan will also contain provisions regarding exercise of options following the third anniversary of grant, early exercise in certain circumstances (redundancy, injury etc), the adjustment of options in the context of variations of share capital and amendments to the plan. Unapproved share options are normally granted where the employee has already received his full allowance of approved options; i.e. the plan is used to ‘top-up’ the CSOP.

For more information on this plan, please view our Unapproved Share Options Plan Factsheet

Deferred Share Bonus Plans allow key employees to be granted all or part of their annual bonus with a right to buy shares at a later date. This is often accompanied by the prospect of receiving additional matching shares from the company, free of charge, at some point in the future.

For more information on this plan, please view our Deferred Share Bonus Plan Factsheet

Under an LTIP participants are typically provided with free shares after a period of time (usually a minimum of three years) subject to certain conditions such as remaining in employment throughout the period and the company meeting certain performance conditions. The shares that are to be provided to participants will be held in trust and notionally allocated to participants.

If the conditions attaching to the awards are met, the trustees release or transfer the shares to the participants.

For more information on this plan, please view our Long Term Incentive Plan (LTIP) Factsheet

Employees acquire ownership of the shares from the start. However, the shares at that time are subject to certain restrictions, which significantly reduce their value. They may also be forfeited if performance targets are not met or the employee leaves employment. Over time the restrictions fall away so that at the end of a predetermined period the employee holds unrestricted shares, which therefore have full value.

For more information on this plan, please view our Restricted Share Plans Factsheet

For businesses with fewer than 250 employees, EMIs offer qualifying companies the ability to grant options to a total maximum value of £3m.

For more information on this plan, please view our Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI) Factsheet