Bakery chain turns its 400 workers into owners

A bakery chain has become one of the largest employee-owned companies in the south west.

Parsons Bakery has created an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT), giving its 400 plus staff a controlling interest in the company.

Founded in 1926 in North Somerset, the family-run business now operates more than 50 shops in 10 different counties across the south west.

Lee Insull-Griffith, Parsons retail director, said: "Now, everyone will get a slice of the pie, pardon the pun."

Employee Ownership Trusts (EOTs) are a Government initiative aimed to promote employee ownership by giving business owners the opportunity to sell their shares to an employee owned trust free from capital gains tax.

According to global accounting firm Price Waterhouse Cooper EOTs do not involve direct share ownership by employees, rather a controlling interest in company is transferred to an all-employee trust which is then held for the benefit of employees.

The first Parsons Bakery was opened in Clevedon nearly a century ago, followed by a second in Nailsea.

Now the third-generation, family-run business, has shops in Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Somerset, Oxfordshire, Worcestershire, Berkshire, Bath, Bristol and in Wales.

But in the last few years, majority share holders Nick and Nicola Parsons have stepped back from the business.

Now it is hoped a John Lewis-style trust will ensure the bakery will remain independent and "rooted in the communities it has served" for 99 years.

"For generations, our family has been at the heart of this business, but we've always known that our employees are what truly make it thrive," said Mr Parsons.

"Now, as we take a step back, we do so knowing Parsons is in the best possible hands - those of the people who bake, serve and keep it running every day."

Retail director Lee Insull-Griffith, said the Parsons family have "put their trust into the employees" and staff are feeling "more united then ever" by the move.

"There's a new energy because for hundreds of years [employees] have represented the Parsons brand but today we are the Parsons brand," he said.

"The trust will make sure that everything we do is in the interest of the employees and ultimately the results we achieve as a business are shared amongst those employees."

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