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Chesterfield buys out
Page 28
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• Chesterfield Transport's employee buyout has been completed in a 23.3m deal which puts 100% ownership in the hands of its staff.
The company was valued at 22.6m, but the staff has also had to repay a 20.7m debenture to the borough council. Included in the sale are 130 buses and coaches plus the freehold of the extensive depot at Stonegravels.
Although management of the company rests with a four-man board of directors, ownership is vested with the entire workforce with no individual holding a larger stake, as in the earlier management-cum-employee buyouts at Yorkshire Rider, Grampian -Fransport and Busways Travel.
Some 51% of the shares are held in perpetuity by an Employee Share Ownership Trust. The remainder have either been sold or will be allocated to all employees irrespective of position or seniority.
All of Chesterfield's 350 employees are invited to subscribe 2800 to the initial share issue last September and 301 have done so.
The remainder of the 49,000 share issue will be allocated free to all employees on an equal basis from profits over the next ten years. The buyout has been financed by the Unity Trust Bank and Co-op Bank.
The ESOP trust has seven trustees; three are selected by the workforce, three have been invited from outside the company for their expertise, and company managing director Willie Coupar represents the Board. As majority shareholder, the trust lays down policy guidelines for the board.
Our ownership model shows the level of personal involvement and motivation of all the staff," says Coupar, who confirmed that financial institutions were prepared to support a buyout without a management team holding the majority stake.