Post on 23-Sep-2020
EOA Regional Network Meeting
06 December 2017
Scottish Enterprise, East Kilbride
Agenda
• Introductions
• EOA Update
• Group discussion – positives & challenges of EO
• ‘Warts n All’ – Novograf & Clansman Dynamics
• Lunch
• Open Space - your EO questions
Group Discussions
The positives & challenges of employee ownership
Feedback your notes
Clansman Dynamics
Employee Ownership – ‘Warts n All’
The positives and challenges
of employee ownership
• Who we are
• What prompted us to explore EO
• What structure did we go for
• What do we make.
• Day one ! Status Quo
• Honeymoon period
• Lovers tiff
• Seven year itch.
• Keeping up the enthusiasm
– Pizza meetings
– News letters
– Team building
• But what really works ?
– Talking
• Where are we now.
Novograf
Employee Ownership – ‘Warts n All’
The positives and challenges
of employee ownership
Our Employee
Ownership Journey
Established in 1986, Novograf is a UK-wide Brand
Realization company based in East Kilbride in
Glasgow’s south west.
John Clark Novograf Chairman
(& former MD)
30+ Years of Progress
• 1986 – Novograf started wrapping lorries
for key retailers.
• 1987 We started developing revolutionary
PVC-free products.
• We progressed to supplying materials for
the insides of shops, which delivered steady
growth for 20 years.
• The last 10 years have seen Novograf become a
total service supplier delivering Brand Realization
to the retail, hospitality, commercial and transport
sectors.
Novograf
Brand Realization
is the high speed,
low cost way to
transform an
estate’s look &
feel.
Why we chose the EOT path
• Early 2015, the Directors started thinking
about exit strategies & succession planning
• We were faced with four options:
1. Trade Sale
2. Management Buyout
3. Family Succession
4. Something we heard about called
Employee Ownership
• Mid 2015 we spoke with Scottish Enterprise and
started quietly visiting companies who had taken
the employee ownership option
Employee Owned
Companies We Visited
We are grateful for the time shared with us
during our discovery phase….
• Clansman Dynamics
• Stewart-Buchanan Gauges
• Scott & Fyfe
• Galloway & MacLeod
• Page Park
• Sutcliffe Play
There is a growing network of companies willing
to share their experiences
What model did we choose?
• 100% of shares transferred to Employee
Trust on Day One.
• 20% of shares made available for Employees
to own. Free shares were awarded to employees
based upon Length of Service.
• Employee Director elected to Novograf
Company Board.
• Employee Directors appointed to Novograf
Trustees Board.
• Controls are in place for exiting shareholders.
• Management run the company – Capex decisions,
Remuneration levels, Redundancies etc.
The Transition to an EOT
Phase One
• All employee meeting held under the banner
‘A Time For Change’
• 22 December 2015 the employees were
informed that they will own the company
within 12 months and that a new MD
was being sought
• We wrote to the CEOs, MDs and main contacts
of all our customers and suppliers to make sure
they were ‘on board’ with the transition
The Transition to an EOT
Phase Two
• An employee election was held to form
a five person transition team
• The Transition Team held elections among
employees for an Employee Director and
two Employee Trustees
• We advertised for a new MD and involved
the Transition Team and Management Team
in the interviews.
• Valuation was agreed with HMRC
• Consents – we formulated “can & can’t do’s” for the
Company
going forward
What happened next?
• December 2016 we completed EOT
transition and transferred 100% of shares
to the Employee Ownership Trust
• January 2017 issued each employee with
a memento of their new ‘owner’ status.
• April 2017 Jennifer Riddell-Dillet came
on board as MD
• Established an Employee Engagement Team
• Increased our sales by around 20% and our staff
numbers by 10%
• 21 June 2017 held our first AGM where we issued
free shares allocated according to number of years
served
• Set up a SIP to enable employees to purchase a limited
number of shares in the future
One Year On - Observations
• Was the choice of E.O. right for us?
• In hindsight, would we change anything?
: Easier access to affordable finance
: Better training for Employee Directors
: Spend more time on the setting up of our
Employee Engagement Team.
• So far - a very positive experience overall
Thanks for the Support
• Glen Dott, Co-operative Development Scotland
• Ewan Hall, Baxendale
• Carole Leslie, Ownership Associates
www.novograf.co.uk
Lunch
Open Space
Thank you for attending
Our next meeting is tbc!!!