On June 8th 2018, Riverford moved into employee ownership. Founder-owner Guy Singh-Watson has long seen Riverford’s purpose as more than just growing and delivering the best organic veg; since converting his first field to organic in 1987, he has challenged business norms and pushed to use Riverford as a force for good. Employee ownership is the next chapter.
https://www.riverford.co.uk/ethics-and-ethos/employee-ownership
Since its foundation in 1987, Riverford has been family-owned. Over the years, Guy has been vociferous in challenging all sorts of business norms – from embracing organic farming when it was still seen as something for ‘freaks on the fringe’, to rejecting the numerous advances of external investors. Having always vowed that he would not let the business get into the hands of external shareholders, and with none of his four children interested in following in his footsteps, he has for 12 years been exploring options for ‘what next’.
“To sell Riverford as a tradable chattel, whose purpose would be to maximise short-term returns for external investors, feels to me a bit like selling one of my children into prostitution.” - Guy Singh-Watson
For a family-owned, values-driven business determined not to hand over to external investors, the options are not obvious. A recent article in the Evening Standard on the thorny issues of succession planning for family-owned businesses brought together some startling statistics. Apparently just 20% of family-owned businesses make it to the third generation, and only half of all small businesses in the UK have a succession plan at all.
As family-owned businesses make up more than 80% of SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises), employ over 12 million people and generate more than one-quarter of the UK’s GDP, this is an alarming state of affairs.
On June 8th 2018, Riverford moved into employee ownership. Founder-owner Guy Singh-Watson has long seen Riverford’s purpose as more than just growing and delivering the best organic veg; since converting his first field to organic in 1987, he has challenged business norms and pushed to use Riverford as a force for good. Employee ownership is the next chapter.
74% of the company is now owned by an Employee Trust, benefitting all Riverford employees equally. Guy has retained 26% and aims to have a very active involvement in the next phase of Riverford’s journey.
After research and reflection over more than a decade, Guy has chosen employee ownership to protect Riverford’s values, ensure its independence, and because he believes the employees are the best people for the job
The rejection of outside investors and choice of EO to secure its succession continues Riverford’s challenging stance on business norms. EO is a gathering movement, seeing growth of around 60% since 2010. Done well, it has demonstrable benefits for staff and business, including higher productivity, higher morale, and less debt
