We are pleased to announce that Scott Bader feature in the Employee Ownership Association’s (EOA) 2018 Top 50 Report as one of the fifty largest employee-owned companies in the UK, ranking at 28 in the list!

The Top 50 list, complied by RM2 in partnership with the EOA, covers independent UK-registered companies that are at least 25% owned by their employees on a broad basis and UK subsidiaries of non-UK companies that are more than 75% employee owned.

The findings from the list show positive growth for the employee ownership sector, with a combined sales value of nearly £20bn, five new entries to the Top 50 and an almost 10% median increase in operating profits.

Nigel Mason, Director of the RM2 Partnership said:

“It’s been a challenging year for UK businesses, especially for those on the high street, but total sales for companies on this year’s Top 50 list are up 6.5% on a like-for-like basis – a figure that shows resilience and sustained high growth in the employee owned sector.

“More than 250 businesses including Aardman Animations and Riverford Organic Farmers have transitioned to an EOT since 2014, many of them below the Top 50, which has helped the sector diversify in size. As more businesses realise the benefits of this business model and as we continue our conversations with government about support for employee ownership, we are very confident that the sector will continue to grow.”

The top findings from the report include:

• £19.8bn combined sales of Top 50 employee-owned companies (up 6.5% on like-for-like basis)
• 2% median increase in operation profits
• 3% increase in productivity year-on-year (Compared to UK productivity which fell by 0.1% Q1 2017 to Q1 2018)
• 171,000 combined employees (down 1% on a like-for-like basis)
• 54% of companies with no net debt

The employee-owned sector counts for over £30 billion contribution to UK GDP and is growing by a rate of 10% a year. Despite this, the sector’s profile is comparatively low and its potential contribution to the economy is under-exploited as a result.

To view the full findings of the Employee Ownership Top 50 Report, please click here.