Tag: EO Day

Sarah Deas discusses EO Day 2016

July 1, 2016 /

Today (1 July) is EO Day (Employee Ownership Day) and with 16,000 employers in Scotland looking to transfer ownership in the next five years, we’re urging business owners to explore employee ownership as a viable succession route.

Throughout Scotland’s business community, the benefits of employee ownership (EO) as a driver for growth are becoming increasingly recognised.  EO can be implemented not just as a succession solution for long-term stability, but as a catalyst for sustainable business growth.

The advantages of employee ownership have been proven in Employee Ownership Association-led research, and include improving employee health and wellbeing, increasing productivity and fostering creativity and innovation across an array of industry sectors.

By having a stake in the business, employees have a vested interest in increasing productivity and driving innovation.  This sense of ownership leads to employees being more willing to contribute ideas, from developing new products to identifying new markets.

Many employee owned businesses in Scotland chose to sell to an employee ownership trust with the vendors being paid the value of their business from current and future earnings.  That way business owners receive a fair price for the company and employees don’t have to dig deep into their own pockets.

Co-operative Development Scotland (CDS) can help you decide on the best model of employee ownership for your business.

One of the organisations that sought the support of CDS during its transition to employee ownership is Black Light Ltd. The company, which specialises in lighting, staging, sound and audio visual solutions, became fully employee owned just last month (June 2016) and in this blog for Scottish Enterprise, its founder Gavin Stewart explains the process and his experiences.

Gavin also kindly gave up his time today to join us in a live, interactive webinar to discuss Black Light’s journey to EO. If you missed the out on this the full recording will soon be available on the Scottish Enterprise website.

Today, another employee owned Scottish business is also celebrating success. Computer Application Services (CAS) has achieved the silver ‘Investors in People’ award in recognition of its excellent team engagement and management practice.  Ken Naismith, CAS chief executive, believes this success is down to its talented and motivated workforce who are highly engaged in the business thanks to its EO model. You can read more about this fantastic accolade on the CAS website.

The number of employee-owned firms based in Scotland has doubled in the past six years and this growth is forecast to accelerate.  Currently there are 78 employee-owned businesses operating in Scotland, with approximately 6,500 employees and a combined turnover of around £900million.

Our aspiration is to achieve a tenfold increase in employee ownership in Scotland over a ten year period.

If you would like more information about employee ownership and how it could potentially benefit your business, please do get in touch and our expert advisers will be happy to chat with you.

Why working for an employee-owned company makes a real difference

July 29, 2015 /

sAt Aquascot’s ‘Successful Succession’ event on Employee Ownership Day, training assistant Sylwia Goluda described her experiences at the Alness-based company.

Her presentation provided real insight into an employee’s journey towards employee ownership and here she provides us with a summary of the talk that so many enjoyed on the day.

I arrived in Scotland from Poland in July 2006. It was a scary prospect coming to a strange country, having left behind my family, friends and job. Thankfully, everyone was so nice and friendly which made everything so much easier.

I came to work at Aquascot and immediately noticed a difference from how companies work in Poland. What struck me most was the attitude of the managers – they were open and helpful and told us how much they appreciated our hard work. They care for employees and this makes Aquascot a great place to work.

In 2008, the three directors announced at our annual conference that the company was moving to employee ownership. It was an exciting time and we all felt we were part of something bigger and better. A Partnership Council was formed and I was delighted to be elected to this with nine of my colleagues.

We meet on a monthly basis to discuss employee views and to propose ideas and suggestions for our business to grow and be successful. We have been involved in lots of projects including organising social events, charity initiatives, conferences and celebrations, such as the company’s 25th birthday party.

We are almost at the end of our journey to become 100 per cent employee-owned. You can tell that everybody is waiting for that milestone with great excitement. Personally, I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen and how it can lead to even more success.

I feel very proud to work here and I’m glad I have the opportunity to grow and be recognised and appreciated for going that extra mile. I believe that Aquascot’s future is very bright – not simply because we are employee-owned but because we have a great team of people who will make success happen.

Employee ownership – the key to a stronger Highland economy?

July 20, 2015 /

AquaScot Dennis Overton 94Earlier this month, Alness-based sustainable seafood company Aquascot opened its doors to the local business community for a ‘Successful Succession’ event jointly hosted with Co-operative Development Scotland.

Here, Aquascot chairman Dennis Overton reflects on the day and the company’s experience of employee ownership.

With 185 employees operating from two sites in the town, Aquascot is currently 85 per cent employee-owned and is set to complete the transition to 100 per cent employee ownership by 2017. As an enterprise, we have a 12 per cent share of the UK’s ‘ready to cook’ salmon market.

On 3 July – Employee Ownership Day – we welcomed employee owners, local business people and local MSP, Rob Gibson to our premises. We focused on how employee ownership has been a successful model for Aquascot, and how it can make a significant contribution to economic growth.

I believe the UK economy would be in a much healthier position if there were more employee-owned companies. At present, I feel we are overly focused on short-term gain to the detriment of long-term value creation.

Employee-owned firms are different. In ‘conventional’ businesses there is often disconnect between shareholders and the company they part own. This can be because shareholders have different, and often more immediate, objectives than the people inside the company who have its long-term success at heart.

In an employee-owned company, the employees control the shares. They are more likely to be concerned about the longevity of the business and know that innovation, productivity and profitability are key to achieving that. Indeed, as Aquascot partner Donald Beaton put it so articulately: “This isn’t just about creating good jobs for us, it’s about jobs being there for our children and their children.”

In the Highlands, succession is a concern. In a survey we conducted in 2005, we looked at what happens to non-family, first generation businesses when it comes to considering succession. The findings were not encouraging:

  • There were few independent businesses of any scale in the Highlands
  • The most common form of exit was a trade sale to a buyer out with the region
  • In the majority of cases , the acquired company no longer had a presence in the Highlands after five years

When our founders came to consider Aquascot’s future, they knew that the final decision had to consider the contribution made by its employees. We have exceptional staff and they have made the company the success it is today.

By selling to employees, our founders have enabled this success to continue, and Aquascot will remain in Alness providing jobs and opportunities for years to come.

Friday’s event encouraged several businesses to explore employee ownership more closely, and with Aquascot as an example, this can only be good news for the local economy and the people of the Highlands.

A route for successful business and business success

July 4, 2014 /

EO_logo_2014-01Today, July 4, is Employee Ownership Day – an opportunity  for companies that have chosen this model to celebrate their success and spread the word about its benefits.

Co-operative Development Scotland’s chief executive, Sarah Deas, tells us why it is worth celebrating – and why business owners looking for a succession strategy or even a different way of working should take notice.

It may only be in its second year, but already Employee Ownership Day has become a key date in the calendars of employee-owned businesses across the whole of the UK.

There is good reason for this. Employee-owned businesses have something to celebrate; many  have seen real, tangible benefits from the model. Staff work closer together, there is a genuine feeling of a common goal and productivity increases.

Today, Page\Park, one of Scotland’s newest employee owned companies, will host our EO Day celebrations,  A well-known architectural practice, Page\Park is another great example of how the model not only offers a sound succession option but also is an ideal model for professional practices.

Founders David Page and Brian Park have no immediate plans to leave, but they wanted to ensure that the company’s long-term future was safeguarded – and employee ownership was the best option for them. This was no knee-jerk decision either.

The firm was recently named the UK Employer of the Year in theArchitectural Journal Awards. So its transition is yet another example of how Employee Ownership isn’t just a successful route for business, but it’s a route for successful business.

There are other EO Day events taking place across Scotland today – all highlighting the value the model plays not only to individual businesses, but also to Scotland’s economy.

We’ll be tweeting live from the Page\Park event on @cdscotland. Do join us and  share your own employee ownership success stories.

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