It’s been one year since we became an Employee-Owned Trust (EOT); in fact, we’re the second biggest EOT in the UK with 10,000 employee owners!
In a company which is owned by an EOT, some or all of the company’s shares are held by the EOT for the benefit of its employees. For us, that means that just over half of our company shares have been transferred to an EOT and those shares are held by the EOT for the benefit of our employees. If you’d like to learn more about what it means to be an EOT, click here.
CEO, James Bradley explains why we made the transition:
“A year ago, we made what felt for us as a business and collective team, a very natural next step in our exciting journey – a step we are all very proud of, becoming an Employee-Owned Trust. As we celebrate this milestone together, as owners, we’re reminded of how this decision has aligned so strongly with our core values and commitment to local autonomy. Over the past year, we have together embraced this ownership model, knowing that our contributions directly influence our shared successes. Empowering our colleagues through employee ownership reflects our core value of ‘doing the right thing,’ and today, we celebrate not only the success we’ve achieved together but also the exciting opportunities that lie ahead of us.”
Beyond empowering our teams to share our goals and shape the future of Churchill Group, being an EOT ensures that we are always striving to support our colleagues in the best possible way. Here are a few highlights from the last year and a look ahead to some of our future plans.
Employee Voice Group
We are excited to be launching our new Employee Voice programme, a key initiative aimed at strengthening our employee engagement culture as we continue to grow as the UK’s second-largest employee-owned business. This programme will serve as a platform for our employee owners to share their feedback, ideas, and concerns, ensuring their voices influence decisions across the company. Building on some of our existing initiatives and through regular meetings, training, and open forums, we aim to create an inclusive environment where every employee’s opinions, concerns, and suggestions can drive meaningful change.
Own Your Future development programme
‘Own Your Future’ is our very own bespoke management development programme created in partnership with a credited external training provider, that has been working closely with our internal project team to understand our business and the role of our frontline managers. The comprehensive programme comprises six modules that take place over in-person over 12 weeks.
‘Own Your Future’ is designed to equip our frontline managers with advanced soft skills and tools to enhance both client and colleague experiences. The first cohort has completed the course, and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with many participants already applying their new skills in their current roles. We’re expanding this training to other parts of the business, with cohorts 2 and 3 scheduled for next year.
Social value partnerships
We have partnered with the Social Value Portal (SVP) and joined the Social Recruitment Advisory Group (SRAG). Both collaborations will drive social value and inclusive recruitment, which demonstrate Churchill Group’s commitment to supporting the communities it operates in.
SVP developed the National Themes, Outcomes, and Measures (TOMs) Framework to create a practical method to measure social value and how organisations contribute to society.
SRAG supports businesses to make a positive difference in recruitment and awards accreditation based on a continuing commitment to high employment standards and practices. Churchill Group was founding co-signatories on the Social Recruitment Covenant, an initiative to support employers to hire from disadvantaged groups to make the workforce a fairer place. If you would like to find out more, click here.
We’ve been speaking to some of our colleagues to find out why they love working for an EOT and what it means to them.
Looking ahead, we are excited to build on the progress we’ve already made, with initiatives like the Employee Voice programme and the continued expansion of our ‘Own Your Future’ development programme. These efforts, along with our partnerships in social value, demonstrate our dedication to creating a workplace where every voice matters and every contribution is valued. Thank you to all our employee owners for making this first year such a success. Together, we are shaping the future of Churchill Group, and the best is yet to come.
If you want to find out more about some of the benefits of working for an employee owned business, take a look at our blog.