Wed, 06 Mar 2024 | BUSINESS SALE
Airborne Environmental Consultants Limited (AEC), a compliance risk and health and safety consultancy, has moved to an employee ownership trust (EOT). The move to the new AEC Trust model will give the company’s employees a significant stake in the business and greater involvement in its growth.
AEC, which has operations in Manchester and Essex, was founded in 1997 by Robert Harris and Mandy Reid, initially providing asbestos consultancy. Today, the company has more than 130 full-time staff and provides service including asbestos consultancy, fire safety, health and safety, occupational hygiene and Legionella and water hygiene. The firm trains approximately 3,000 delegates each year.
The move comes at a time when alternative exits such as EOTs and management buyouts (MBOs) are becoming increasingly popular, as owners seek to sell their businesses while retaining elements such as their brand, workforce and ethos. Currently, The Employee Ownership Association (EOA) calculates that there are in excess of 1,400 employee-owned companies in the UK.
It also comes amid resilient M&A activity in the UK’s consultancy sector, with strong acquisitive sentiment among strategic industry buyers and private equity firms. Concerns have been raised in some quarters, however, that such sales could disrupt some smaller consultancies, meaning EOTs and MBOs have also been a notable feature of recent activity in the sector.
AEC Director and co-founder Mandy Reid commented: "At the heart of AEC has always been a key focus on how we look after our staff and customers, and it was very important to me that we continued to protect the legacy of what we had built and that we also secured the future growth plans for the company. Any member of the AEC team, whatever their role in the business, will be in control of their destiny".
Fellow Director and co-founder Robert Harris added that the new ownership structure would “ensure the company continues to operate with a common goal and that we put in place the framework to secure the longevity of the company for the future.”
Reflecting one of the major sentiments behind the growing popularity of EOTs, Harris continued: “After 27 years of building the business, it was important when considering the move to an EOT that we were able to allow all staff to feel the benefits of their success."
Find out about exit strategies for consultancy owners
Read about the growing popularity of employee ownership trusts
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