Toy retailer The Entertainer has announced that it will hand over control of its business to its 1,900 employees.
TEAL Group Holdings, which owns The Entertainer, Early Learning Centre and Addo Play, said that the Grant family, which owns the organisation, would transfer 100% ownership and equity to an employee ownership trust (EOT). The transfer will be completed in September.
As beneficiaries of the EOT, employees will receive tax-free bonuses based on revenue generated by the business. They will also have influence over the business direction of the group, and a newly created colleague advisory board will help to shape policies and amplify employees’ views.
A representative of the colleague advisory board will sit on the EOT board. The Grants will also be rewarded from the sale, receiving a payout from the transfer that will be taken out of profits over time.
Gary Grant said the transfer to employee ownership marked a “momentous day”: “Over the last 44 years, we have invested our working lives into this business. All our children are shareholders, and our two oldest sons joined to work alongside us, 20 years ago, so it’s truly a family business,” he said.
He added that the decision had not been taken lightly, and that the business was in “strong hands” under chief executive Andrew Murphy, who joined from the John Lewis Partnership, another employee-owned business, two years ago.
Murphy said: “I know that our new structure will bring us even closer as a business and will provide our hard-working employees with a sense of opportunity, accountability and belonging as we work to create more memories, inspire wonder and deliver outstanding customer service. I am hugely excited for what lies ahead.”
The Entertainer will become a trustee member of the Employee Ownership Association (EOA).
James de la Vingne, chief executive of the EOA, said: “It’s always an exciting time when a major high street brand takes the bold move to become employee-owned. We’re seeing a growing trend for retailers making the move to employee ownership alongside calls to help save the high street. To my mind, a key piece of the solution is employee ownership.
“This is a bold and brilliant commitment to shared success and a stake in the future for the people who make the business what it is, arriving at a time when many retailers are rethinking what long-term success looks like. I have no doubt that other familiar brands will follow The Entertainer’s example of what’s possible. The future of the high street is employee ownership, and the future is already happening.”
