Mon, 04 Nov 2024 | BUSINESS SALE
Inverness-based Optimum Underfloor Heating Ltd has moved to employee ownership. The company will now be 100 per cent owned by its three employees through an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT).
Optimum Underfloor Heating was founded by husband and wife team Rory Haigh and Eilidh Sutherland in 2007. It supplies warm water underfloor heating throughout the UK for both residential and commercial customers and recorded a turnover of £1 million in the 2023 financial year.
The company, which is understood to be the first underfloor heating firm in the UK to become employee owned, said the transition was driven by a ‘desire to remain independent, to preserve the company’s values and a recognition that the company was built on the hard work and commitment of its employees’.
Both Haigh, managing director, and Sutherland, financial director, will continue to work closely with the leadership team made up of design manager Marcin Witek, designer Gavin McLean and storeman Trevor Hoades.
Haigh will remain on the board of Optimum UFH along with Witek. Sutherland along with Hoades and Alan Cooper from CMM Accountancy will make up the trust board.
Haigh said: “Sometimes you just need a new challenge in life and the EOT sale provides a gentle exit from your business whilst ultimately benefiting our staff. My staff are a great bunch and I know they are all keen to further develop Optimum’s standing within the floor heating industry. Too many SME’s are being bought up by larger corporations, an EOT sale protects your workforce whilst ensuring the money stays within the local economy. It also provides reassurance to our loyal customers that they will continue to receive the first class service they have become accustomed to.”
Witek added: “We are excited to be part of the EOT scheme and look forward to what the future holds while still providing the same excellent level of service for our customers.”
Optimum UFH was advised on the deal by Ralph Leishman of 4 Consulting, Douglas Roberts and Nimarta Cheema of TLT and Hilary Clelland of Saffery LLP.
Find out more about the growing popularity of Employee Ownership Trusts
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