Quintessa has launched an employee ownership trust.
The scientific and mathematical consultancy is now 100% owned by its employees after it launched the trust on 17 July.
Employee ownership is when employees own a significant stake in the organisation they work for.
Employees in an employee ownership trust organisation can receive income-tax-free bonuses of up to £3,600 per tax year.
The organisation was advised by Graeme Nuttall, head of employee and mutual ownership at law firm Field Fisher Waterhouse, and author of the Nuttall review on employee ownership, which was published in July 2012.
David Hodgkinson, founder and former majority shareholder at Quintessa, said: “The employee ownership trust model is good for our organisation and good for many other organisations.
“We have worked towards adopting the trust model for several years and the new favourable tax regime for employee ownership trusts provided the final encouragement for the shareholders to sell.
“We are delighted to have secured the future of the organisation in this way. The employee ownership trust model is a perfect fit for our organisation.
Nuttall added: “The shareholders in Quintessa saw immediately that control by an employee ownership trust was right for securing the long-term future of their organisation in the best interests of employees and clients.”
Danny Alexander, chief secretary to HM Treasury, said: “This is incredibly welcome news. The employee ownership model not only gives workers a stake and a voice in the organisations that employ them, it also allows them to benefit from their success.
“The government has worked hard over the last four years to create a legal and tax environment that encourages more organisations to set up in this way. I’m delighted that Quintessa is doing so.”