A County Durham manufacturing firm has transferred to an employee ownership trust in a bid to protect its future and give staff a say in the way it is run.
Peterlee-based Gliderol, which makes garage doors, hopes the switch to employee ownership will help the business thrive and grow.
Employee Ownership Trusts were introduced in the Finance Act 2014 in a bid to expand share ownership to individual employees. They also aim to encourage greater productivity and innovation at work.
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100% of Gliderol’s shares are now held in a discretionary trust for the long-term benefit of the company’s workforce.
Managing director Roy Sinclair said: “The establishment of employee ownership through the Employee Ownership Trust at Gliderol will provide continued job security for all staff.
“It will also enable the employees to effectively have collective control of their future to continue to deliver our market leading products and service.”
He added: “Employee ownership makes us less vulnerable to acquisition and therefore any interruption to the supply of our customers’ products.
“It is also securing the future of the business, including its ethos, values and employees, while rooting itself for the longer term to the benefit of the customers which it serves. It’s a win-win all round.”
Well-known companies that have moved to partial or entire employee ownership in recent years inclulde retail chain Richer Sounds, adventure firm Go Ape and Wallace and Gromit creators Aardman Animations. In the North East, Washington firm Canford Audio moved to an Employee Ownership Trust in 2019.
Studies have shown that employee-owned firms can be more resilient and are proven to weather economic cycles better than most.
Gliderol, which was set up in 1986, manufactures and distributes garage and industrial doors throughout the UK and Ireland.
Gordon Gilbraith, sales manager at Gliderol, said: “This is great news for all the staff at Gliderol who now have a stake in the business and will share in the profits.”
