Greengauge is now owned by its employees!
Greengauge is a building and engineering consultancy specialising in sustainable, low energy design based in Bradford upon Avon in Wiltshire and Huddersfield in Yorkshire. Its founding directors, Hannah Jones and Toby Cambray, have recently taken the bold and innovative step of transferring ownership of the company to an Employee Ownership Trust for the benefit of its employees.
This means the employees have a greater say in the business, its strategy and direction as well as the opportunity of financial benefits. John Lewis is probably the best-known example of employee ownership in the UK. In making this move, Greengauge will enable its employees to have more involvement in how the company works, while also ensuring that the business retains its unique culture and ethos into the future
Established in 2010 from a houseboat on the River Avon in Wiltshire, Greengauge has grown into one of the UK’s leading building engineering consultancies working on award-winning sustainable projects and has 16 staff and two offices. Greengauge has a national reputation in supporting Passivhaus projects, from design to certification, including the Stirling Prize winning Goldsmith Street project in Norwich. The firm is currently working on Passivhaus projects for Oxford University, and York and Fife Councils, amongst many more.
Hannah Jones Managing Director said:
“This is an exciting next step in Greengauge’s journey, ensuring that staff will be integral to the company’s decision-making and benefit from any profits. Starting 14 years ago from a houseboat, we have grown exponentially, with our portfolio of services now ranging from MEP design, Passivhaus and AECB design through to certification along with more specialist hygrothermal risk analysis and complex 3D thermal bridge modelling.”
The transfer to an Employee-Owned Trust was supported by Jeremy Kirk of SouthWestFD, which provides financial management and strategic input to Greengauge, along with the legal team of South-West firm Stephens Scown, led by Gavin Poole, and the Cornwall-based firm Forth Accountancy, led by Claire Forth.
Jeremy Kirk of SouthWestFD, commented:
“In the 5 years that I’ve been working with Greengauge, I’ve been hugely impressed with the determination to deliver a first class service to its clients whilst ensuring that its staff team are central to the culture of the company and also returning year-on-year growth. I am therefore delighted that the transfer to an EOT now demonstrates the long term commitment to the whole staff team.”
Gavin Poole of Stephens Scown commented:
“We were thrilled to lean on our own experiences as an employee-owned law firm to deliver more than just the legal documentation. With good communication and teamwork with Greengauge, SouthWestFD, and Forth Accountancy, the Stephens Scown team was able to deliver an exceptionally smooth completion ahead of time.”