Eastern Transport Holdings, the parent organisation of Stephensons of Essex and NIBS Buses, has been sold to an employee ownership trust.
The organisation, which operates 140 buses in Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Essex, employs 200 members of staff and has a current turnover of £16 million.
Its previous shareholder Bill Hiron sold the business to the trust, with the ownership transfer completing on 27 October. Hiron, who bought Stephensons in 2001, will remain chairman of the business under its new structure. Its leadership team will remain largely unchanged, with Dean Robbie, managing director and Gary Raven, finance director, holding their positions.
As part of the employee ownership trust, all of the organisation’s shares will be held in a trust on behalf of its employees, who are beneficiaries. The aim of the new structure, which gives them a stake in the organisation without personal risk or expense, is to boost employee engagement and motivation.
Hiron said: “Our organisation has grown from 10 vehicles and a turnover of a few £100,000 on the basis of continued investment in both new and modern second-hand vehicles, and a reputation for high standards of service. That has been achieved by the hard work and enthusiasm of everyone here, from cleaners and drivers, engineering and supervisors, to managers, so it seems entirely appropriate that the team should be given the opportunity of taking the organisation to its next stage of development.”
Robbie added: “We already benefit from being locally owned and managed, with short lines of communication and a lean management structure, but we anticipate that the prospect of working for an employee-owned organisation will set us above others in the area in our ability to retain and attract high-quality staff, enabling further expansion in the future. This is a hugely exciting development for all of the team, and I feel privileged to be at the helm as we evolve into this next phase of our existence.”
