A South West financial planning firm has celebrated becoming an employee ownership trust.
Plymouth-based Goodmans Financial Planning said this was a "key step" in securing the independence, client-focused culture and sustainable growth of the firm.
The trust now owns 60% of the company's shareholding on behalf of the 18 staff members as beneficiaries. Goodmans' managing directory, Andrew Moore, has retained 35%, with the senior management team holding the remaining 5%.
Founded by David Goodman in 1996, Mr Moore acquired the business in 2010 and hired Finbarr O'Reilly as a director in 2014. Three homegrown directors have seen been welcomed to the board.
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To restructure Goodmans as an employee-owned business, Mr Moore has reduced his shareholding and Mr O'Reilly has sold all his shares to the trust. Mr O'Reilly will remain on the team as a chartered financial planner until his retirement, at which point he’ll become chair of the Goodmans Investment Committee.
Mr Moore said: “Finbarr and I intend to remain very much involved and see this as an exciting development in Goodmans' history and our legacy. We’ve built a special business here, and we really value the close, long-term relationships we have with our clients. We didn’t want to lose that or risk watering it down by selling to a third party. That would have been the ‘easy’ thing to do but not the right one for us. We want those who help build the business to benefit from it too, so an EOT was by far the best option.”
Mr O'Reilly added: “Good firms plan for succession, and the EOT serves that purpose well, ensuring that I can structure my retirement as I wish, along with the reassurance that the team and our clients will stay aligned in the future.”
Directors will continue to run the business as before alongside the wider management team. Moving to an employee-owned model means Goodmans can remain independent and protects the business for the "benefit of clients and staff alike". The firm said with the management and future strategic plans for the company remaining in employee hands, staff have a "greater opportunity" for participation and sharing in its success.
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