Staircase manufacturer is sold to employee ownership trust

The transition of TwoTwenty, along with its holding company Elephant Holdings, to a business that is 100 per cent employee-owned is believed to be the first such deal in the UK timber engineering sector and secures the jobs of 40 staff. 

TwoTwenty Ltd, incorporated in May 2005, has a purpose-built factory and HQ in Foston, Derbyshire and another manufacturing centre in Kirby Lonsdale, Cumbria. The company sells mostly through independent and national builders’ merchants, including all of the top 10 merchants in England. 

No funding or contributions have been required from any employee to fund the purchase of the business by the EOT, and under the terms of the deal, all staff are expected to benefit from significant tax-free bonuses in future years as well as deciding the company’s future strategy and growth plans.

All the existing senior leadership team will remain closely involved in the business as trustee directors, including TwoTwenty’s current managing director Scott Peden, commercial director Jason Stain, Jason Ward, and Lisa Richards of Dains accountants, which has advised on the sale of the business and creation of the EOT.

“As a small business, in reality we only have a few options for the next phase of growth,” said Ali Wright, founder of TwoTwenty, will also become chair of the EOT. We did not want to pursue a trade sale as that does not secure the long-term future for our staff. 

“We did not want to pursue an external investor or management buy-out because of the huge pressure and obligation it brings on future performance. We could not simply share the ongoing profits of TwoTwenty with our employees as that would make us unsaleable, and I certainly couldn’t imagine exiting by just closing down such a strong and vibrant company.”

“In effect, we are a family business whose employees are not related, so to create an EOT resonates with every value we have ever aspired to,” added Jason Stain, commercial director at TwoTwenty, commented:

“It creates a legacy for us, provides security for all the staff, and allows us to handsomely reward every employee for the hard work and effort they put in.”