Business and financial adviser Grant Thornton UK has introduced an employee benefit trust (EBT) to reward its people for their contributions to the firm’s future success.
Following its external investment with private equity firm Cinven to accelerate growth, the firm’s partners voted to set aside some equity to reward its senior employees below partner grade. This will be held in an EBT, which will provide a pool of value that will be used as a tool to reward, retain and attract current and potential employees.
Eligible employees at manager level and above will be allocated equity units by the employer to reward them for their contributions. As the enterprise value of the firm increases, the value held in the EBT will also rise and be released following a secondary transaction.
There is no cost or buy-in for eligible employees. Some of the equity units will be allocated now, while further units will be given out over the next three years as new employees join or are promoted, or to reward exceptional performance.
This is on top of their normal salary and bonus rewards, and in addition to the exceptional bonus the firm paid its staff this year.
Malcolm Gomersall, chief executive officer at Grant Thornton UK, said: “As we embark on the next growth chapter for our partnership, we want to recognise the contributions of our people by giving them a greater stake in the future success of our firm. The EBT is an innovative approach that will unite our more experienced talent across the firm, ensuring they are pulling in the same direction and coalescing around our collective effort for the benefit of our clients.
“This kind of reward is unmatched in our profession. We are the only firm of our size and scale to ringfence equity in an EBT so that our employees can benefit from the firm’s increased enterprise value, at no cost to them. It’s a game-changing reward programme for our industry, and we are eagerly embracing this opportunity to be part of something truly exceptional.”
