Meet the Employee Owned Trust

As an employee-owned organisation, KCA is a beacon to those who want to lead sustainable organisations rooted in their local communities, where employees are active decision makers shaping their future together.

Ten years after KCA was established, the company evolved in 2021 from a small family business, to an Employee-Owned Trust. This enabled the business to remain in the community in which it was founded and the team able to continue working from our base in Gloucestershire. It also meant that the business ethos and workplace culture established by the founders could be continued.

Employee owned businesses are totally or significantly owned by their employees, and employee ownership delivers 4% of UK GDP annually. Employee owned businesses are found to achieve higher productivity and greater levels of innovation and are more resilient to economic turbulence. They also have more engaged, more fulfilled and less stressed workforces.

The move to Employee ownership secured long-term employment and economic benefit for the local community and ensured the company was run for the benefit of the employees as owners. Ownership is through shares held by the Trust rather than individuals directly, however employees do benefit from the distribution of profits when the organisation performs well. The Trust's founding document makes certain that decisions taken by KCA will always benefit the whole staff group and not a sub-set of them.

Through changing the ownership of KCA, the team share a sense of control of the collective destiny of the business and have an equal voice to shape the organisation's future. Employees can influence strategy and direction through employee representation, and there are currently three trustees representing the Employee Owned Trust: