Apex turns down takeovers to become employee owned

East Kilbride-based Apex Traffic Management has transitioned to employee ownership after turning down a series of takeover approaches. That means the business will now be run by its 108 employees through an Employee Ownership Trust.

The £10 million turnover group, which also has depots in Dumfries, Ashford in Kent and is set to open a new depot near Aberdeen, operates all over the UK providing traffic management for roadworks - including major motorway projects. It operates 150 sets of traffic lights.

In addition, it provides traffic management for major events such as this year’s British Open in Troon and meetings at Hamilton and Ayr racecourses.

The move to an EOT follows the rejection of takeover approaches by the three previous shareholders.

Directors Iain Griffin, Daniel McGinley and Ian Murtagh - each of whom will remain with the business under its new structure - have built up Apex over the past 20 years. As part of the deal some Apex employees will be promoted to management positions.

Griffin said: “We had two or three other companies come in to try and buy us, but the offers on the table just didn’t feel right. We like to think we treat our people well and many of our employees have been with us for many years. A trade buyer would basically have been buying our order book. The interests of the employees wouldn’t have been a priority.”

He added that the directors decided to explore other avenues and heard about EOTs.

“The more we looked into that, the more we felt this was the route to go down. It gives us a long-term exit strategy and ensures we have something in place which leaves a legacy,” he explained.

Apex has been guided through the transition to employee ownership by Ownership Associates, with legal advice from Lindsays. Ownership Associates have been involved in more than 30 transactions in 2024.

Director Carole Leslie said: “This was such a rewarding project to work on. The selling shareholders genuinely wanted what was best for the people. When I met with the groups of employees, the respect for the directors was obvious. While they have had offers to buy the company, when it came down to it, they just did not want someone else telling their people what to do. That made the EOT route perfect for them.”

Find out more about the growing popularity of employee ownership trusts

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