The UK’s biggest toy retailer, The Entertainer, will hand over control of its business to its 1,900 employees.
The company was founded in 1981 by Gary and Catherine Grant with a vision of “one child, one community at a time” and has become a multi-channel toy business.
TEAL Group Holdings, which owns The Entertainer, Early Learning Centre and Addo Play, said that the Grant family would transfer 100% ownership to an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT). The transfer will be completed in September 2025.
Employee ownership
As beneficiaries of the EOT, employees will receive tax-free bonuses based on revenue generated by the business.
They will also have influence over the business direction of the group, and a newly created Colleague Advisory Board will help to shape policies and amplify employees’ views.
A representative of the Colleague Advisory Board will sit on the EOT board.
The Grants will also be rewarded from the sale, receiving a payout from the transfer that will be taken out of profits over time.
The Entertainer is run on a Christian ethos, in that it doesn’t open on a Sunday and it donates 10% of its annual profits to charity.
Gary Grant said the transfer to employee ownership marked a “momentous day” for the family.
“It feels like only yesterday that my wife Catherine and I opened our first store in Amersham, and we could only have dreamed what heights the business would reach,” he said.
“Over the last 44 years, we have invested our working lives into this business. All our children are shareholders, and our two oldest sons joined to work alongside us, 20 years ago – so it’s truly a family business.”
He added that the decision had not been taken lightly, and that the business was in “strong hands” under chief executive Andrew Murphy, who joined from the John Lewis Partnership, another employee-owned business, two years ago.
Murphy called The Entertainer a “true British success story” that had “consistently championed the belief that business can be a force for good across the communities they serve”.
“I know that our new structure will bring us even closer as a business and will provide our hard-working employees with a sense of opportunity, accountability and belonging as we work to create more memories, inspire wonder and deliver outstanding customer service. I am hugely excited for what lies ahead,” he said.
Figures from the Employee Ownership Association found that around 2,470 businesses are now signed up to EOTs, a 1,600% increase in the past decade.
The structure offers tax benefits, while placing ownership in the hands of staff can lead to higher engagement because staff feel more involved in the success of the business.
The Entertainer will become a Trustee member of the EOA alongside other retail members such as John Lewis Partnership and Richer Sounds.
James de la Vingne, chief executive of the EOA, said: “It’s always an exciting time when a major high street brand takes the bold move to become employee-owned.
“We’re seeing a growing trend for retailers making the move to employee ownership alongside calls to help save the high street. To my mind, a key piece of the solution is employee ownership.
“This is a bold and brilliant commitment to shared success and a stake in the future for the people who make the business what it is, arriving at a time when many retailers are rethinking what long-term success looks like.
“I have no doubt that other familiar brands will follow The Entertainer’s example of what’s possible. The future of the high street is employee ownership, and the future is already happening.”
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