East Midlands family-owned business Gusto Group has issued Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI), otherwise known as ‘growth shares’, to its 150 employees as part of its transition to an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT).
The shares were issued during the week leading up to Gusto Fest – the company’s annual community celebration of its employees, which took place on Saturday 21st June – and are aimed at building a legacy for those who will be creating the company’s future successes and providing employees with a tangible recognition of their service.
Chairman Steff Wright says of the decision: “I wanted to find a way for the employees that have worked so hard to build Gusto Group into a £25 million business, to be the ones to benefit from its continued growth.
“Ultimately, we want employees to feel invested in and committed to our collective success and by granting workers the opportunity to become shareholders, we hope to build a stronger sense of unity, motivation and accountability throughout the organisation.
“As they arrived at Gusto Fest, every employee was given a ‘Gusto Employee Owner’ hat – a symbol of our shift towards employee ownership. From now on, we’ll all be wearing our ‘employee owner hats’ when it comes to making decisions about the future of the business.”
All employees, from new starters to those that have been with the company for many years, have now been allocated growth shares to encourage business growth before the Group transitions to an EOT on 31st March 2027. Over the next nine to 12 months, any new starters joining the company will also be entitled to shares.
Gusto Group is comprised of several B Corp accredited companies operating in the manufacturing, construction and architecture sectors, including: Gusto Construction, Rototek and Studio-G.
All employees will have the opportunity to sit on the trust board, ensuring that there is representation and perspectives from all arms of the business as to how the company is run.
