A timber frame eco-building business based in Lampeter has become a workers' co-operative. Tŷ Pren is now officially a workers' co-operative through Social Business Wales.
The company has been running as a community business since it was established by Jamie Miller in 2013. However, as a workers' cooperative, Mr Miller and the team members will now run the business on an equal footing.
The company said the new structure will be "pivotal to the future" of Tŷ Pren and its mission to highlight "the importance of introducing roundwood timber building techniques as a sustainable and eco-friendly alternative to current modern building practices".
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Mr Miller said: "Everything we do at Tŷ Pren is about sustainability, about working with what we have around us to create frames for low carbon homes. We work with local woodland owners to help them manage their woodlands and give us the timber we need to design and construct houses and other buildings.
"We want to train a new workforce to work sustainably with our natural resources, creating meaningful jobs that make a real positive difference to each individual, and to our communities."
He added: "Our company ethos is more than just about construction, it’s about creating beautiful, much needed affordable, carbon neutral homes, that help towards making an environmentally progressive culture – and so being a workers’ cooperative was key to that."
The roundwood timber framing company was supported with its new society set up via the Employee Ownership Wales service, part of the Social Business Wales programme and delivered by Cwmpas (formerly Wales Co-operative Centre).
It is part of Business Wales and funded by Welsh Government and the European Regional Development Fund.
Derek Walker, chief executive of Cwmpas, said: “Again, it is great to see another successful Welsh business look at the cooperative model as a way to reflect its values as a business.
He added: "Tŷ Pren is a great example of how using a workers’ cooperative can help a business like Tŷ Pren further spread its message of sustainable, eco-friendly buildings, and make a difference to its team and its local community. I can’t wait to see it go from strength to strength under its new structure.”
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