Our founder, Ernest Bader, was a man of deep integrity and understood that equality, fairness, and respect, mattered most to people. Knowing this, he realised the best way to ensure the wellbeing of Scott Bader and the communities we serve, was to entrust it to the colleagues who make it what it is. So, in 1951, the Bader family handed over their company shares to the people who worked here, calling it the Scott Bader Commonwealth Ltd, a registered charity. Being a Commonwealth is what makes us different.

This rare ownership structure brings great benefits:

• The business is totally independent and cannot be taken over or sold, enabling more secure and sustainable business relationships
• Colleagues have an instrumental role in running the business, a role that is much greater than their everyday tasks and empowers them to learn and grow
• Our charitable status brings a commitment to the wider community, to be socially responsible and make a positive difference in everything we do

One of our more recent points of difference achievements is to be recognised as one of the world’s first manufacturers to attain the prestigious ISO 30415 Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) standard. This celebrates our efforts to work to a robust D&I framework that ensures everyone in our business has the knowledge and training needed to ensure our colleagues feel psychologically safe and equally empowered to reach their full potential.

Today, Scott Bader features in the Employee Ownership Association’s (EOA) 2022 Top 50 Report as one of the fifty largest employee-owned companies in the UK. It is a prime example of how a business can be run differently, whilst also being successful.

Take a look at how the Constitution that sits at the heart of Scott Bader, guides us in everything we do.