Dorset’s longest established privately owned recruitment consultancy has become employee-owned, making its employees custodians of the business for future generations. To reflect this significant development Rubicon Recruitment Group, based in Poole, has changed its name to Rubicon People Partnership. Its 30 employees now own 100 per cent of the business through an Employee Ownership Trust.
“Our business has always prioritised positivity, consistently doing the right thing, integrity, fairness and openness. Employee ownership is a natural progression for us,” said Lloyd Banks, Founder of Rubicon. “Many of my colleagues have worked with me for a long time, and the continuing success of the business, especially during such turbulent times, is a result of an extraordinary team effort. Employee ownership rewards that effort whilst ensuring that future successes are reimbursed, and it safeguards the extraordinary culture that drives our business.”
Whilst all of Rubicon’s employees have always helped power the business, employee ownership formalises the arrangement, providing every employee an equal voice at quarterly meetings. An employee representing the Employee Ownership Trust will sit on the Board. The employees, who are now known as Partners, will also enjoy an equal share of the business’s profits.
“I will stay on with the business for as long as I’m needed, wanted and able. I don’t expect to retire for at least five years,” says Banks who views employee ownership as an ideal succession plan.
“With a more traditional trade sale, it would be very likely that jobs would be lost and the incredible culture we’ve built up over the years put at risk,” her noted. “Employee ownership felt like a much better fit for me and Rubicon. Employee ownership protects jobs, retains our culture, provides clients with even more confidence in service delivery commitments and will be a catalyst for growth. It also gives us additional resilience to face the challenges and opportunities ahead.”
Dorset is already home to two high profile businesses that are partly owned by their employees, Lush and Farrow & Ball. Rubicon People Partnership becomes one of only four wholly employee-owned recruitment consultancies, and the only one on the south coast.
