London headquartered creative agency, Brand Opus, has announced it has transferred to employee-owned status, following its sale of founder shares to staff in the form of an Employee Owned Trust (EOT).
As part of the deal, the agency, which consults on branding for the likes of Carling, Kraft Heinz, and Molson Coors, will create an Employee Council, which will give staff a permanent platform to become more involved in decisions the business takes going forward.
Nir Wegrzyn, founder and CEO, BrandOpus, said: “Founded as a partnership with a keen independent spirit, people have always been at the heart of our ethos, which is something the team are keen to further embed.”
He added: “We started reviewing the future of the business back in 2019 – where we explored everything from equity release to a complete sale of the agency. But the EOT model quickly became our favoured option because it enabled staff to become more invested in the business, and be involved in its future trajectory.”
The exact percentage transferred to the EOT in undisclosed, but under the terms of the deal, the current executive and leadership team will remain in place following the transition, whilst all former partners will now become employees.
The changes will become effective immediately and affect its entire population of employees – which also extends into employees working in America and Australia.
Wegrzyn said the move will allow BrandOpus’ founding partners to release some of their equity in the business, whilst retaining the agency’s culture of independence.
He added: “We have a culture of doing things differently here. The EOT gives us the opportunity to unlock value within the business without losing everything that makes the agency so special. People have always been at the heart of what we do, and so this is a natural evolution of our founding ethos.”
Brand Opus employs 62 people worldwide.
