UK-based recruitment firm Ellwood Atfield has become fully employee owned.

In a strategic decision to support future sustainable growth plans, the company said it finalised the deal which will see its staff have a greater stake in the firm.

In a move that has been in the pipeline for the last three years, the news is underpinned by leadership changes, with Jules Shelley being promoted from deputy managing director to chief executive and founder and director Gavin Ellwood moving into a new role as executive chair, following managing director Ben Atfield’s retirement from the business.

Shelley said, “As we came out of the Covid pandemic we began to explore new ways to build a more sustainable business and becoming an employee-owned business stood out as a prime opportunity for us. Our people are our competitive advantage and we are very much focused on supporting their professional development. By becoming employee-owned, we are putting greater power into their hands, which in turns creates more opportunities for colleagues to influence corporate success and reap the rewards. We chose to be 100% employee owned which bucks the trend of others who have taken this approach, but if we were going to take this leap, we knew it would require our full commitment.”

Ellwood added, “Having founded the business almost 22 years ago, I’ve watched the company grow and thrive – even in difficult times. As we’ve expanded our remit and increased our headcount, our vision, values and culture has changed. We reassessed our positioning over the last few years, and this move made complete sense. We have some fantastic growth opportunities ahead of us and by empowering our current team and those who will join us on this journey, we are fully confident that we’ll see Ellwood Atfield thrive through 2024 and beyond.”