Kambe Events, which hosts UK festival Shambala, has transitioned to an employee ownership trust.
The transition will see the organisation be owned by an employee ownership trust (EOT), ensuring it remains independent and that its team shares in future successes.
The festival’s original co-founders will step away from ownership and give the business to employees who helped build it over more than two decades.
Its new employee ownership representatives will include Tom Berry, EOT chair; Sarah Mason, EOT representative; and George Devereaux, EOT representative.
By placing ownership in the hands of its employees, the organisation is ensuring that its ethos of creativity, sustainability, independence and community will remain protected in the future. It is also reinforcing its commitment to independence, sustainability and ethical stewardship, and showing that it can evolve while still keeping its core values intact.
Chris Johnson, co-founder and managing director of Kambe Events, said: “While exploring alternative paths, we fell in love with the employee ownership model. All of us at Shambala have an emotional stake in what we have built over 25 years; now everyone has an ownership stake too. We would be nothing without our people, and they deserve to carry on the Shambala legacy as beneficiaries. Employee ownership is the next, natural step in Kambe’s adventures.”
Berry added: “Employee ownership is the very best long-term option for people-focused businesses looking to protect their culture and reward their people. The Kambe founders want a lasting legacy and employee ownership means everyone wins.”
Devereaux said: “Entrusting our organisation to those who know it best is a forward-thinking move that secures our independence and creative freedom. As someone who grew up attending festivals and spent most of their professional life working in events, it’s an honour to be shaping the future of Kambe.”
Mason added: “An EOT means the chance to retain our independence. It means the opportunity as owners to have oversight of our direction and performance and it’s an opportunity to ensure the values that we have always held as an organisation are upheld and still lived despite changes to governance of the organisation.”
