As one of the UK's most successful champions of employment ownership, Gripple hosted an Open Day in support of the first government and Employment Ownership Association (EOA) initiative - National Employee Ownership Day.
Companies which had not yet embraced the business model were invited to Gripple's HQ in Sheffield, The Old West Gun Works, where they were able to learn and understand face to face its proven benefits, and Gripple staff enjoyed a free ice cream thanks to their fellow shareholders.
The EOA's vision is to see 10 per cent of UK GDP produced by employee owned companies by 2020 and the special day aimed to raise awareness to a far higher level. The EOA has two UK offices, one based at Gripple's Sheffield HQ and the company's chairman, Hugh Facey has been on the Association's board for a number of years.
Gripple is so committed to EO that the company has recently moved the model on further by establishing a private employee owned company, GLIDE (Growth Led Innovation Driven Employee Company Limited), which represents all the shareholder members working in its partner companies with an employee elected board of directors, speaking for all GLIDE members – the staff.
At the Open Day visitors had an opportunity to talk to Gripple staff and other members of the Gripple "˜family' of employee owned companies – Loadhog and PMS Diecasting – and also representatives from local companies which have already taken the step after recognising the advantages of EO. They included John Lewis, KPMG, Swann Morton, Abacus Design Associates, School Trends, City Health Care Partnership, Walker Morris, Spectrum Community Health, Sheffield Hallam University, TransaveUK, Co-ownership Solutions, Wrigleys and Wicker Pharmacy.
Ian Dickinson, managing director of Lifetime Financial Management in Barnsley who came to the Open Day with his communications director, Bill Bottomley, said: "We left Gripple with a real "˜buzz' after engaging with like-minded people, which will help us to achieve our company's EO ambition. Anything we asked of Gripple staff, from factory operators through to top management, and other EO companies attending, was answered with time and consideration. It is obvious why companies which have embraced the EO ethos are so successful. We now look forward to asking more questions as we take our own EO thoughts further."
Speaking about the Open Day, Andy Davies, Gripple's business development director and chairman of the GLIDE board, said: "EO companies in our region are keen to spread the good news that the model can be of tremendous benefit to their businesses, because staff feel that they own them.
"We were delighted to welcome those who wanted to learn and dispel any misconceptions they may have had about EO."
