Rubicon Recruitment Group has become employee owned after transferring ownership of 100% of the business to an employee ownership trust (EOT) model.
The change to the Dorset-based business, which has since rebranded itself as Rubicon People Partnership, means it is now completely owned by its 30 members of staff.
According to Lloyd Banks, founder of Rubicon, the move was a natural progression for the company and also solved a looming problem of succession-planning.
He said: “Our business has always prioritised positivity, consistently, doing the right thing, integrity, fairness and openness. Although I don’t expect to retire for at least five years, if I’d sold the business in the traditional way, there would undoubtedly have been job losses, and we would have put at risk the incredible culture that we’d built up over this time.”
Banks added: “Employee ownership protects jobs, retains our culture, provides clients with even more confidence in service delivery commitments and I believe will be a catalyst for growth. It also gives us additional resilience to face the challenges and opportunities ahead.”
Under the terms of the new ownership, every employee now has an equal voice at the firm’s quarterly meetings. Meanwhile, an individual – not the boss – representing the EOT will sit on the board.
Additionally, employees will now been called ‘partners’ and will enjoy an equal share of the business’s profits.
Banks explained: “As well as rewarding our existing team and giving them the opportunity to shape the future of the business, we expect our new employee ownership status to attract more talented new colleagues to help us grow.”
He added: “It’s very well proven employee-owned companies tend to excel in retaining the best people, and they attract talented new staff.”
Rubicon People Partnership joins a growing band of firms switching to employee ownership. Other high-profile employee owned businesses in the region include Lush and paint brand Farrow and Ball.