A North West tech firm has become employee owned after securing funding from Santander.
GTMaritime provides a range of software solutions and services to the maritime industry, and the transaction has allowed owners Robert Kenworthy and Chris Morgan to sell their majority stake to an employee ownership trust (EOT) which will hold the shares for the benefit of employees.
The Warrington-based firm, which employs 28 members of staff, was established in 1998, and helps the maritime industry enable effective communications and data transfer over satellite.
As part of the deal, RSM’s Ashley Suter, Kevin Le and Alyssia Kaczmarczyk advised GTMaritime on the funding deal, and share scheme specialist Martin Cooper supported the management team to create the EOT structure.
Ashley Suter, who leads RSM’s debt advisory service in the North West, said: "GTMaritime now embarks on its next step of growth, with the right funding package and the employees playing a greater role in its success. The deal secures the future of the business – building on the success of the company and its culture; and empowering the employees to shape the future firm."
Robert Kenworthy, CEO at GTMaritime, said: "I am delighted to announce that we have successfully completed the transition to an Employee Owned Trust. Chris Morgan and I remain fully committed to GTMaritime and we look forward to working with the team and helping to steer the company for many years to come.
"From the start we have tried to instil a company culture that ensures people are happy in their work environment and I strongly believe that if we look after our team, then they will look after our customers.
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"The EOT aligns exactly with the inclusive and innovative culture that is the foundation on which we have built the business.
"It is the team providing reliable, round-the-clock support for customers who have worked so hard to achieve the GTMaritime success story; going forward, it will be the team who benefit as they take the business from strength to strength."
The funding was provided by Santander's corporate and commercial banking in Manchester.
Chris Judge, managing director at GT Maritime, added: "This is a really exciting time for everyone at GTMaritime.
"Our people are our greatest asset and without them GTMaritime would not be where it is today. As a company we have always worked as one and we strongly believe that this will ensure our team remain at the heart of our business."