It's almost been a whole year since Aguaconsult became Employee-Owned and with today being Employee Ownership day, we would like to share what it means to be Employee-Owned.
From the Founder
Aguaconsult was started by Harold Lockwood in 2003 and has steadily grown joined by colleagues who share his passion for supporting sustainable Water and Sanitation (WASH) in the global south. When Harold Lockwood started to look to the long-term future of the company beyond his working life, Employee Ownership made sense as the best way to continue this work while recognising that Aguaconsult employees are at the centre of how this develops.
“We are delighted to be celebrating EO day and our one-year anniversary of becoming employee owned. As the founder of the company, selling Aguaconsult to a larger company would have meant losing its identity. Becoming Employee-Owned offered an exciting way to preserve our ethos and values and ensure the collective future of Aguaconsult”
Harold Lockwood, Founder & director at Aguaconsult Ltd
From the Employees
5.6 Million registered businesses in the UK
5.5 Million SMEs in the UK
2.7 VAT registered businesses in the UK
1,650 Employee-Owned businesses in the UK
It is an exiting opportunity being part of the minority of UK businesses that have chosen to transition to a Employee-Ownership.
Transitioning to Employee-Ownership has given all staff the opportunity to reflect and define what success for Aguaconsult looks like. The Employee-Ownership process has fostered a culture of empowerment and shared purpose.
In our day-to-day work at Aguaconsult, we are privileged to work with ministries, regulators, INGOs and foundations at the forefront of ensuring universal access to safe and reliable services. This is a considerable undertaking, requiring them to answer complex questions such as how to regulate rural water supply services or mitigate the impacts of climate change.
Ultimately, the shift to employee-ownership ensures that we, as employees, have a greater stake in the services we provide and that we can collectively shape Aguaconsult’ s vision, values and skills to help the organisations we work with to answer questions such as these and, in turn, improve the provision of Global WASH services.
A year on from becoming Employee-Owned, we are still learning how to operationalise the vision; continuing to make small changes in how we communicate and embracing the challenges that come with a different way of working.
Acknowledgements.
We extend our thanks to Baxendale Employee Ownership for the legal support throughout the process and for the ongoing support and training for our staff.
If you wish to learn more about Employee-Ownership visit the Employee Ownership Association Website
