Oxford-based law firm Hedges Law has announced that its 40 employees have become part owners of the business through an employee ownership trust.
This means all employees are eligible to become beneficiaries of the trust after six months of employment, with 10% of the organisation’s distributable profits to be shared equally among all staff. The firm said it intends for a further majority shareholding to be sold to the employees in two years’ time.
Hedges Law said it was advised on the legal aspects of employee ownership by law firm Stephens Scown, which is also employee owned.
Nikki Poole, managing director of Hedges Law, said: “The team at Hedges has been absolutely incredible and as we powered through the pandemic, looking after the needs of our clients as they navigated their own crises, I knew the best way to say thank you was to take the step to move to employee ownership .
“Employee-owned businesses promote fairness and economic resilience; things that we need now more than ever as we recover from the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic. This will enable employees to share both the responsibility and the rewards of the business.
“It will increase employee engagement and therefore productivity and profitability, and especially importantly, employee ownership is known to increase the happiness of the company’s clients, as they interact with employees who are happy in their work by virtue of being informed, engaged, trusted and well rewarded.”