Switching to an employee-owned business model can bring numerous benefits, including increased profitability, competitiveness, and sustainability, according to the managing director of WCF, a UK part employee-owned company.

Research conducted by the Employee Ownership Association revealed that the number of employee-owned businesses in the UK had grown by 37 per cent in the past year, with 332 new businesses adopting this model.

WCF, which has its head office in Brampton, Cumbria, operates in the leisure, retail, and logistics sectors.

Jo Ritzema, managing director of WCF, said: “Being an employee-owned business drives productivity and innovation because the team is invested emotionally and financially in the long-term success of the company.

“At WCF, it has enabled us to grow the business steadily and organically without the pressure to take risks which would benefit stakeholders only in the short-term.

"We are able to make decisions which put the interests of our employee owners first, with the ultimate aim of handing over the business to the next generation in a stronger financial position than when we inherited it, so future employee owners can benefit from its continued existence.

“By not having to worry about the business being sold, we can ensure that the WCF legacy, history and culture is passed on.”

The Employee Ownership Association's report indicated that the number of employee-owned businesses in the UK reached 1,418 in the 12 months leading up to June 2023.

Ritzema, who leads a team of over 350 people at WCF, highlighted the positive impact of employee ownership on productivity and innovation.

She said: “Being employee-owned empowers the team with a real sense of purpose and collective responsibility for the future of WCF.

“We devolve a huge amount of autonomy and trust to our team, with the general managers in each division running the business as if it were their own.

“We operate a diverse range of businesses across multiple sites at WCF, from working on the shopfloor in retail to managing campsites, and our shared values and culture ensure that whatever our role in the company, we are all working towards a common goal.

“Listening to our employee voice, responding meaningfully and being influenced by team responses is absolutely vital to our business, and we are continually looking for ways we can build on how we communicate and do it better."

Jo is on the board of the Employee Ownership Association. Its most recent research into UK employee-owned businesses was created in collaboration with the White Rose Centre for Employee Ownership.