Yorkshire company celebrates 60 per cent revenue growth since becoming employee owned

The employee-owned business sector is growing at an annual rate of 10 per cent with research showing that employee-owned businesses typically outperform their competitors with regards to productivity, staff retention and absenteeism.

After two years of being an employee-owned business, Yorkshire based, access platform hire and solutions company Horizon Platforms shared their thoughts on the scheme.

As an employee-owned business, employees have the potential for annual bonuses associated with the performance of Horizon Platforms but do not directly own shares, allowing ownership to be transferred without the team needing to source funds to buy into the business.

Recently recognised by Best Companies, formerly the Sunday Times List, as one of the top 100 mid-sized companies to work for in the UK, Horizon Platforms became the first powered access company to become employee-owned in February 2021.

Since becoming employee-owned, between 2020 and 2022 Horizon Platforms has gone from strength to strength with revenue growth reaching approximately 60 per cent.

Todor Ilinov, senior repair engineer and current co-owner representative trustee director has described the employee ownership scheme as being “the cherry picker on top of the cake” and “that together [they] are greater than the sum of parts, and that’s what being employee owned is all about.”

Ben Hirst, CEO at Horizon Platforms, commented: “I believe that even before becoming employee-owned, Horizon Platforms had already created an aligned, empowering, and collaborative culture. There’s no question though, handing ownership to the team via an Employee Ownership Trust has enhanced it further.

“I link my thinking around this to two innate human needs, security and purpose, and I find it helpful to reflect on some similarities to home ownership. I guess it is safe to say that the majority of us wish to, at some point in our lives, own our own home.

“This provides us, and our families with security. I also regularly come across people who dream of building their own homes, wishing to influence the look and feel of a place they not only own but will spend significant time within.

“Allowing great people the opportunity to enjoy the security of working in a business they collectively own, as well as the opportunity to craft the look and feel of that same business plays straight into these human needs. Hence why I was, and still am, thrilled to have been able to facilitate this for the team here at Horizon Platforms.”

By Matthew Neville – Senior Correspondent, Bdaily

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