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EFES NEWSLETTER - NOVEMBER 2021
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Go
Ape Adventure Forest
New employee-owned company in the UK
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Founders Rebecca and Tristram Mayhew announced on 23rd October
2021 that 90% of Go Ape shares will be transferred into
an Employee Ownership Trust, for the benefit of all
current and future employees. The remaining 10% of the
business will be retained by Rebecca and Tristram.
Since
founding Go Ape in 2002 the proudly independent company
has experienced ‘tree-mendous’ growth. Nearly 20 years
on they have built a multi-award winning forest adventure
business with 35 locations across Britain. It welcomes
over a million customers a year and employs a team of
a thousand in the UK. Go Ape has also branched out across
the pond, operating in 16 states in America.
Now
what is the Go Ape new governance structure?
Before
transferring the large majority of their shares into
an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) for the benefit of
all employees, Go Ape’s founders wrote down a statement
of ambition for the company going forward. This statement
is recorded as "‘The Founders’ Wishes".
It
is based upon the core values that shaped the direction
and decision making of Go Ape’s first 20 years.
More information with The Founders'
Wishes
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Press
review
We
have a selection of 29 remarkable articles in 8 countries
in October 2021: France, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway,
Slovenia, UK, USA.
France: NGE Group is majority owned by its founders,
managers and employees. New employee share plan for Dassault
Systèmes. In search of employee ownership in SMEs. Alkar is
a large workers' cooperative in the Basque country.
Hungary: New ESOP plan for OTP Bank.
Italy: The "miscusi stock" distributes 5%
of the company to employees. Campari: Turning point for employee
share ownership, with the green light from unions coordination.
Netherlands: The 1,000 employees of Alfa Accountants
own their company through a private foundation.
Norway: Kantega is 100% employee-owned.
Slovenia: Introducing ESOP-like plans in Slovenia.
UK: Every day a new SME is transferred to an Employee
Ownership Trust as for instance this month: Christie Gillespie,
DXW, The HR Dept, STB Graphic, Jee, Go Ape, Hollis, JF Plastics.
How does management continue to effectively run a company
when it is owned by the employees?
USA: What Is an ESOP? How employee owned businesses
flourished during the pandemic and continue to grow in popularity.
The full press review is available
on:
http://www.efesonline.org/PRESS
REVIEW/2021/October.htm
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A
political roadmap for employee ownership in Europe
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