Although the effects of COVID-19 are still being felt across the globe, there are good news stories coming through and in our new blog article Clare Alexander, head of Co-operative Development Scotland, discusses these in more detail along with what is happening in the employee ownership sector.

Aquascot

I was delighted to hear how well the sector is responding to the COVID-19 crisis with staff from employee-owned Collective Architecture printing PPE parts for the NHS on 3D printers and Alness based employee-owned Aquascot donating fresh fish to vulnerable members of their community as well as sourcing materials used to make PPE for healthcare workers.

It was also a tremendous month for awards and award nominations.

QA-logo-print_international_trade-SmallGray-300x300

Employee-owned Woollard & Henry Ltd. were awarded the prestigious business accolade of Queens Award for International Trade 2020. This was the second time they have achieved this honour and demonstrates the continued success of employee owners who embrace new opportunities, adapt and learn the new skills necessary to complement their new product and service offerings.

I was pleased to see employee-owned businesses recognised in this year’s IoD Scotland Director of the Year Awards. Congratulations to Colin Wade from Chemco International who is a finalist in the International category and to Niall MacDonald previously with Aquascot who is a finalist in 2 categories; Large Business and Regional Director for Highlands & Islands. Good luck for September!

Finally, I was thrilled to see the results of the RM2 Partnership employee ownership trust (EOT) Survey 2020 which showed not only a substantial growth in EOTs for 2019, to a total of 314 new live EOTs since the introduction of the Finance Act 2014 but also that Scotland is continuing to punch above its weight in relation to EOT companies.  Scotland has around 5% of the UK business market but over 15% of the EOT market.

EOT survey 2020

To learn more about employee ownership and whether it could be right for your business, check out our resources page, listen to our podcast or get in touch with us here.