UK – The management of B-Loony from Chesham in Great Britain has announced that it intends to convert the company into an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) from February 2023 onwards. This legal structure means the employees don’t directly take over the company, instead their shares are managed by a trust fund. The aim is for the employees to profit from the success of the company that manufactures balloons, flags and bunting as well as other promotional products. According to official accounts, the reason for the decision was to preserve the values and the culture of the company to the benefit of the loyal and long-serving employees.
This historic change marks the beginning of a new chapter in the company’s 45-year-long history. On behalf of the executive board, the Managing Director, Andy MacInnes, explained: “Becoming an Employee Ownership Trust is a natural next step for B-Loony. Our employees have been the backbone of the company for 45 years, many of them long serving and we believe that giving them a stake in the business will only strengthen our commitment to excellence. B-Loony has been creating lots of fun experiences for customers’ events, supplying printed balloons, flags, bunting and top-quality promotional products for over four decades. By setting up an Employee Ownership Trust we maintain our unique B-Loony brand identity, protect the jobs of our employees and give them an incentive in the future growth of the business. We are really excited about this new opportunity for B-Loony and the benefits it will bring for our employees, customers, and the local community.”
EOTs were introduced by the British Government in 2014 to promote the participation of employees in companies. Since then thousands of companies have chosen this path, which all sides involved are to profit from. The employees namely partake in the economic success, which in turn increases their performance and their bond to the company. In terms of the firm’s structure, the move hardly affects the day-to-day operations at B-Loony. The existing executive board and the management team will continue to run the business and all relations to the customers and suppliers will remain intact.
