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Soft services provider, Churchill Group, has become an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT), in a move which the company says will ensure it “remains true” to its founding entrepreneurial ethos, and its core values while continuing to grow and evolve for the greater long-term benefit of its employees, customers and communities.
An EOT is a trust that enables a company to become owned by its employees and can be set up by a company’s existing owners. EOTs do not involve direct share ownership by employees, rather a controlling interest in the company is transferred to an all-employee trust which is then held for the benefit of employees.
The decision by Churchill was based on the multiple benefits to the employees and the opportunity for everyone in the company to benefit from the reward and to put in place responsible succession planning.
The company continues to be managed on a daily basis by the existing leadership team, with the founders acting as a guiding hand to support the long-term stability and sustainability of the business.
James Bradley, Group CEO, said : “Churchill is proud of its difference in the FM market, achieving significant growth over 30 years. The EOT is a natural transition as it continues our unique culture and retains our values of doing right, seeking better and putting people first.
“Our colleagues are what makes Churchill’s specialist businesses so successful which is why our founders wanted it to be them who should share in the future success.
“When considering ways in which to take the company forward, we were impressed by the benefits becoming an employee-owned business would bring including furthering our sustainable purpose with better impacts for people and the environment.
Churchill’s businesses (Churchill Cleaning, Amulet, Portfolio, On Verve, Chequers, Churchill Environmental, and Radish) have a nationwide customer base delivering cleaning, security, front of house, water hygiene, social housing FM and groundworks, and catering services within all major sectors and for some of the UK’s leading organisations.
Churchill Group has been supported and advised on the EOT transaction by Grant Thornton UK LLP.
