NHS GP practice Minehead Medical Centre in Somerset has become 98% owned by an employee ownership trust (EOT).
According to the practice, being an employee-owned entity allows its 50 members of staff to have a say in how the practice is run without needing to invest their own money. All profits made will be invested back into the practice to help improve services, training and wages.
London-based Postlethwaite Solicitors, which specialises in employee ownership, advised on the transaction, working alongside MLP Law, who acted for the transferee and the ongoing GP shareholders. Porter Dodson Solicitors acted for the transferring GPs.
Ed Ford, the GP who led the development of the employee ownership trust at Minehead Medical Centre, said: “We have a fantastic management team and wider staff team, so partners at the practice felt we should give them more control of the business. We also wanted to ensure that the business structure shouldn't rely on individuals holding shares that could be difficult to transfer if people wanted to leave, hence the idea of becoming an employee ownership trust.
“EOTs offers GP practices an alternative, more flexible operational model; offering staff a greater say in how GP practices are run and opportunities for the team to develop their careers by having a greater leadership role, without needing to have the funds to invest as a partner.”
Robert Postlethwaite, founder and managing director of Postlethwaite Solicitors, added: “A practice owned by an EOT can enjoy many potential benefits, including greater employee engagement through a say in how things can be done better, improved performance as well as being an attractive place to work for both existing and new employees.
“The practice, alongside many others in the UK, faces the challenge of recruiting GPs and it’s hoped this transition, which moves away from the traditional partnership model, relying on new partners to make a significant personal financial commitment to buy shares, will help in their recruitment efforts.”
