IT is fast becoming a popular choice for company owners when weighing up succession plans.

There are now more than 160 employee-owned firms in Scotland, with digital marketing company Clean Digital becoming the latest to make the switch today.

The equity of the Leith-based agency has been sold to an employee ownership trust, with trustees appointed to safeguard the business on behalf of the firm’s 17 staff. The shares will be paid for by profits made by the company over a number of years.

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For business owners such as Rory Young, who took over as the sole shareholder of Clean Digital in 2020, the transfer of the equity to staff has allowed him to reward employees who have contributed to the success enjoyed by the company over the years.

The deal also provides a degree of continuity for staff, with Mr Young continuing to lead the company further to the ownership change.

“In recent years we have been focused on developing a long-term plan and importantly thinking about a fairer structure,” he explained. “Our business has performed incredibly well and continues to grow in the market, and we wanted to reward the hard work and commitment of our people. Giving our staff transparency and reassurance moving forward, as well as placing them at the heart of the business was of utmost importance.”

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But placing a firm into employee ownership is not just about rewarding existing staff. It can also help companies attract the best people and lead to better results for customers.

Speaking to The Herald in February, after transferring the equity of his Glasgow-based recruitment firm, Livingston James, into staff hands, Jamie Livingston said statistics suggest employee ownership leads to “low staff turnover, greater buy-in, greater customer satisfaction [and a] more egalitarian share of profit, because the employee ownership trust exists to make sure the business is run for and behalf of the benefit of all current and future employees.

“They are the majority shareholders.”

At a time when firms in many industries are struggling to find quality staff, employee ownership may well be considered by more and more owners in the months and years ahead as they strive to safeguard the future of businesses they have built.