FITOUT AND FURNITURE FINANCE SPECIALISTS EMBRACE EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP

SUCCESSFUL finance company Plus Finance Ltd, based in Chesham, has turned its business into an employee-owned trust to secure its future for its team.

It was back in 2001 when partners Nicki Matthews and Steve Pullen decided to leave their previous employer and start their own business in a very niche area of finance – providing finance solutions to companies moving premises or renovating or refurbishing their existing commercial buildings or offices. 

They went on to build a team of 16 and have a thriving business with many staff working flexibly as working parents. 

Nicki said: “We have the most amazing and loyal team, some of them have been with us for more than a decade. We would not have a business without them and Steve and I are so proud that now, they too will have a personal financial stake in the success of the company, even when we’ve left.”

Employee ownership was not a concept the husband and wife founders had ever considered or even understood prior to 2022.

“A bigger broker approached us with a view to acquiring the business and offered us a substantial sum. We took the offer seriously as I’m now in my 50s and Steve is older than me and we knew we would have to consider our exit at some point.

“As we went through the process I became increasingly unsure if this was right for us. I became more and more uneasy. I was worried about the security of our team. What would happen if, down the line, they lost their jobs? I knew I couldn’t sleep at night if that happened,” Nicki said.

Nicki began to research other options to exit online and came across Kent-based expert Chris Maslin who runs Go EO which provides an affordable process for moving a business into an employee ownership trust, often known as an EOT. In 2021, Chris moved his previous business, an accountancy firm, into such a trust after deciding it was time for him to move on to pastures new. 

“Like Nicki and Steve, I was invested in my team but felt that my time leading the business should come to an end and I wanted to move on. I sold to an EOT, which I’m happy was a great move for all concerned. The process did however leave me thinking it could be done in a more streamlined and affordable way which was accessible for smaller businesses,” Chris said. 

An employee owned business means that the founder or owners can exit the business by selling their shares to a trust run by employees. That founder can exit immediately or over a period of time, whatever suits both the company and their own plans. 

Nicki said: “The whole move to an employee-owned organisation has been so quick and painless. The team are fully on board and are very supportive and we’re thrilled that they will all have a stake in its future growth.”

Nicki and Steve will now gradually leave the business over the next few years. 

For more information about Plus Finance Ltd visit https://www.plusfinance.co.uk