London-based executive support recruitment firm Bain and Gray has become an employee-owned firm by establishing an employee ownership trust (EOT).
The EOT gives the organisation’s 20 employees a stake in the business, a greater say in how it is run and an annual share of its profits. Co-founders Emily Bain and Claire Gray will remain as managing director and finance director respectively, to ensure continuity of service.
The goal of the EOT was to create a springboard for future growth through staff stewardship of the business, complementing the organisation’s collaborative way of working and building on its culture of trust and inclusion. It also underlines its core values of integrity, equity, accountability and teamwork.
Bain said: “Choosing to create an EOT was a no-brainer: as co-founders we continue our active involvement in the company, while ensuring staff help steer our present and future. In doing so, we are creating a seamless strategy for succession. With a reputation for staff retention and longevity, and despite other approaches for the business, we felt that passing on the business to our team was exactly the right thing to do. We are securing the future stability of Bain and Gray in the hands of a highly competent team.”
Alice Stevenson, managing consultant at Bain and Gray, said: “It is such an exciting time for the business. The EOT effectively gives us shares in a firm and a say in how it is run, which is both motivating and rewarding. We all work hard, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for our tight-knit organisation.”
Bain and Gray offers its employees a weekly team breakfast, up to 30 days holiday per year including birthdays and Christmas, a quarterly team bonus, a 10% discount in local shops and restaurants, £50 per month wellness, fitness and lifestyle benefits, hybrid working, a home working allowance, enhanced parental leave, work anniversary rewards, a four-week fully paid sabbatical for long tenure and an annual trip away.
