Civil engineering specialist becomes employee owned

Civil and structural engineering specialist BSP Consulting has revealed it is now officially owned by its employees.

The firm, which employs 50 people across its East Midlands offices, including Derby, has completed the transfer of ownership of the business to become an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT).

According to BSP Consulting, the move provides “a strong foundation” for the future of the business and secures its position as an independent business.

Managing director Carl Hilton said: “This is an important milestone in the history of BSP Consulting and one that we believe provides an exciting opportunity for everyone within the business.

“We have an incredibly talented group of people working at BSP, graduates and apprentices at the beginning of their careers to people who have developed their engineering careers through the business over many years.

“We have people with enormous technical experience alongside people who bring fresh ideas and different perspectives. This combination is what gives us our strength”

The EOT structure enables a company to be collectively owned by its employees.

The shares in the business are held by the trust on behalf of all current and future employees.

The day-to-day management and strategic direction of BSP Consulting will continue to be led by the existing board of directors and the existing management leadership team.

A board of trustee directors consisting of members of BSP’s current staff team is in place to ensure that the business continues to be run in accordance with its core values and with the long-term interests of its employees at its heart.

Carl added: “Employee ownership gives our staff a greater stake in the future success of BSP and reinforces the values, independence and long-term approach that have helped shape the company.

“We can all legitimately describe ourselves as owners of the business and that means we all have a genuine stake in the future success of BSP.

“BSP has been around for a long time, and we’ve built a very good business with excellent clients, a strong reputation, talented people and we have a really exciting future ahead of us.

“Employee ownership gives us the opportunity to build on all of that.”