Bath telecoms and IT firm Grapevine is taking the next step in its evolution by becoming the latest business to set up an Employee Ownership Trust.
The firm, which began life in 1991 as a chain of mobile phone shops across the South and South West, said the move would bring its team to the forefront of the business.
Now a full-service IT and communications support provider, Grapevine has come a long way from its early days as a reseller of mobile contracts and operated a store on Widcombe Parade under the Grapevine Communications name.
It said many of today’s team have been a part of its success story, with a number of 30-year and 25-year staff anniversaries taking place alongside the setting up of the Employee Ownership Trust (EOT).
0wnership of the business will now transfer from the founders to the broader team of 20 staff members.
The scheme rewards those who have dedicated a substantial amount of time to company as well as more recent additions, who have each contributed to Grapevine’s transformation.
Technical director Edward Lewis said the business, based on Bath Business Park at Peasedown St John, had a “fantastic track record” when it came to staff retention.
“We wanted to explore ways to continue and further reward that longevity, which is how we came up with the idea of moving to an employee ownership model,” he said.
“As an Employee Ownership Trust everyone has a genuine stake and interest in the success of the business.
“Every contribution has an immediate return as we achieve our growth plans together. We’re proud of the service we provide to our clients and this move will see us take that to an even greater level.”
Chairman Peter Boby, who started the business alongside director Brian Vockins, said the EOT move was important to protect the company’s legacy.
“For Grapevine, becoming an Employee Ownership Trust just felt the right thing to do,” he added.
“With such a loyal and committed group of staff other alternatives, such as selling the business to a trade buyer felt wrong.
“Instead, an EOT offered the opportunity for long term stability and for the company’s values and culture to continue for years to come.”
Around 800 companies have become employee owned since the government introduced the scheme in 2014.
The EOT model encourages a business’s shareholders to set up a corporate structure similar to retail group John Lewis as a way of widening employee-ownership via an indirect holding.
Other local firms to become employee-owned include Chippenham-based defence sector technical consultancy Engage Technical Solutions, Trowbridge-based business management consultancy SA Group and Bath’s Simon Morray-Jones Architects.
According to the UK Employee Ownership Association, employee-owned businesses achieve higher productivity, greater levels of innovation and are more resilient to economic turbulence, with workforces that are more engaged, more fulfilled and less stressed.
