Congleton-based Toucan Telemarketing has switched to an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) model to lock in ongoing competitiveness and sustainability.
Founder Paula Bates’ determination to deliver professional campaigns has resulted in the employment of 15 staff at her firm.
Those staff are now shared owners of Toucan Telemarketing.
Paula will remain in post as managing director, alongside fellow directors of the EOT Rachel Spencer and Nikita Shufflebottom.
Future of the company
She said: “I’d been giving some thought to the future of the company. While I’m aware exit options can be limited, it’s never crossed my mind to just shut up shop when I’m ready to bow out.
“Selling to another company doesn’t appeal to me either. It could compromise not only the longer-term job security of the Toucan team, but also the values that have driven our success.”
“Our business has survived and thrived over time because our value proposition sets us apart from our competitors. In fact, our motto is – ‘We work as you, for you, with you’. But we couldn’t continue to exceed client expectations if it was just me saying it, without the team living it.
“Becoming employee owned is the ideal way to seal in the company culture we’ve all contributed to, besides rewarding staff by giving them a say and a real input in their own future. was given the same opportunity 22 years ago to take the reins of the company when the time was right, and the rest is history.”
According to the Employee Ownership Association, there are now 1,418 employee owned businesses in the UK contributing £30 billion to GDP, with a 37% increase on the number recorded the previous year.
