A government-backed secondary market for private company shares, PISCES, is set to give UK employees a fresh avenue to monetise their equity—potentially unlocking an average £82,000 cash boost.
PISCES, announced earlier this year, enables trading of existing shares in private firms, allowing investors to buy and sell stakes in high‑growth SMEs and startups. Beyond widening access to early investments, the platform aims to help these businesses raise capital and accelerate expansion.
For staff participating in government‑approved share schemes or holding share options, this development represents an alternative to traditional exit events—such as acquisitions or IPOs—for realising the value of their equity.
According to HMRC, over 20,000 UK companies operate at least one of the four major share schemes—EMI, CSOP, SAYE and SIP—with EMI alone covering 19,000 companies and 52,000 employees granted options in the 2022–23 tax year. Vestd’s analysis of HMRC data shows that the 11,000 employees who exercised their EMI options last year saw an average uplift of nearly £82,000.
“The introduction of PISCES is great news for employees who are already part of a share scheme or have share options with their employer,” said Yaroslav Kinebas, Special Project Manager at Vestd.
“PISCES will give employees more control and another way of exercising their share options and accessing the value of the shares they own. Previously, this value was most commonly realised through a liquidity event like an acquisition or being listed on a public stock exchange, also known as an IPO, but employees at businesses that join PISCES will have more choice about how and when they decide to cash in on the rewards of their hard work.”
Over the past decade, the number of companies offering employee share schemes has doubled, as firms seek to attract and retain top talent. However, uptake among SMEs remains low—less than 1% currently use government‑backed schemes compared to almost 80% of FTSE 100 firms.
“Having ‘skin in the game’ is a powerful motivator for teams and should be the norm in every business. Employees having genuine ownership of their business is a great way to increase engagement and unite everyone behind a company’s growth,” explained Ifty Nasir, Founder and CEO of Vestd.
“However, employee share ownership is still massively underutilised and I expect to see more employees demand equity as more companies join PISCES. As well as the Government-supported schemes, there are a number of other options to share equity with your teams, including unapproved options and growth shares, which give employers more flexibility about how they share ownership.”
By opening a regulated marketplace for private‑company shares, PISCES promises to transform how employees realise the value of their contributions—and could deliver substantial windfalls for thousands of UK workers.
For more on employee share schemes and how to prepare for PISCES, visit Vestd.
