Denny Bros Group plans to become employee owned

A new company, Denny Bros Trustee, has been formed to administer the trust while Barry and Graham Denny retain a minority shareholding.

The previously family-owned group, which has its headquarters based in Bury St Edmunds, reached its 75^th anniversary of trading last year and has made this move to safeguard its independent future.  

Denny Bros managing director, Graham Denny, said: ‘In the last few years, we have come to the realization that we needed to develop a long-term plan and address what is possibility the toughest responsibility for all business owners to deal with – to plan for our own succession.’

He continued, ‘traditional options such as selling the business did not appeal as we would lose our all-important independence and we worried that new owners might make drastic changes. We pride ourselves on our reputation for innovation and when we discovered the Employee Ownership Trust, it immediately appealed as an innovative way to address the question of succession, giving our staff transparency and reassurance moving forward as well as placing them at the heart of the business. We also think staff will enjoy knowing that they indirectly own the company they are working for – collectively sharing in the success their hard work brings.’

An Employee Ownership Trust is currently used by more than 500 UK businesses, including John Lewis, and is an arrangement where employees indirectly become the owners.

Comprising of 11 companies, the Denny Bros Group is best known for its printed products and in particular the Fix-A-Form booklet labels. Its other activities cover everything from engineering, tool and die making, signs and nameplates, conference facilities, property management and machinery sales.

Barry Denny, chairman of the group, said: ‘Denny Bros has made its name as a world-leader on the quality of the company’s in-house expertise – an achievement that would have been impossible without the contribution of our employees. We believe employee ownership allows for the greatest degree of continuity, stability and resilience among all the possible options we considered. We have ambitious plans to deliver further growth and I look forward to this new model helping us achieve this.’