INDUSTRY
The Benbow Group, a leading manufacturer of interior joinery primarily to prestige, luxury retail stores, is pleased to announce the transfer of ownership to their 82 staff through a sale to an Employee Ownership Trust (“EOT”). The transaction was led by Avondale.
Sold to an Employee Ownership Trust
Formed in 1949, the company was acquired by John Bailey and Nigel Roberts in 1994. With the support of their strong team, they have built a highly successful business, with a team-driven ethos and a great reputation. When considering exit options, an EOT seemed the natural choice, allowing them to further embed the family culture and reward the loyalty of their employees.
Avondale structured all elements of the legal, financial and change management aspects of the sale to achieve a full commercial value and secure the succession of the business.
“An EOT was the perfect fit for The Benbow Group. As owner-managers we know personally and care greatly about our employees and wanted to ensure that their future would remain secure beyond our ownership, and that the business would continue to invest in their training and welfare. None of these things are guaranteed in a trade sale, whereas the move to an employee-owned business model creates the perfect mechanism to secure such a legacy.”
“We chose Avondale because they demonstrated superior knowledge and experience of this relatively new business structure, and because they offered a complete service including the naturally detailed legal process. As with any change of ownership, there is a lot of information to both produce and discuss but this was well handled through a series of video calls and face-to-face meetings. We remained very satisfied with our choice and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them to others.”
Nigel Roberts, Benbow Group
