Changes to Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI) share options from 6th April 2026

Hannah James, Solicitor

The Autumn Budget announced changes to Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) share options to make them more accessible to a larger pool of businesses, reinforcing EMI as being a practical and attractive tool for rewarding and retaining employees, particularly for scale-ups and high growth businesses.

The main changes from 6 April 2026 are increasing:

• the maximum value of options from £3 million to £6 million;
• the gross asset requirement from £30 million to £120 million;
• the limit to the number of employees from 250 to 500 employees; and
• the option exercise period from 10 years to 15 years.

These changes also apply to existing EMI share options, the extension to the exercise period being key if an exit has not been achieved as originally intended. Overall, positive changes to encourage growth through incentivising employees.