Product and technology innovation experts Cambridge Design Partnership (CDP) have made the switch to employee-ownership.
CDP’s new structure will see its 10 partners continue to manage the company, with staff electing a committee to represent them. A member of this committee will attend regular management meetings to maintain staff involvement.
The move gives all staff the opportunity to share in the profits of CDP, which was set up 22 years ago by three engineers in Toft, Cambridgeshire. Since then, it has grown to employ around 120 scientists, both in the UK and at the company’s office in Palo Alto, California.
CDP has switched to employee-ownership to give the company the flexibility to further expand without the involvement of external shareholders, and to reinforce its status as a key employer in Cambridge, fostering the skills of locally trained engineers, digital experts, designers and support staff.
The move comes as research from independent panel of 20 leading business organisations was published in the report, The Ownership Dividend. Over the past 12 months, the panel, comprising senior business leaders and industry experts, found that employee ownership delivers outcomes that are significantly beneficial at three levels: for individual workers, for businesses and the wider economy.
Mike Beadman, founding partner of CDP, said: “As a technology consultancy business, CDP recognised that people were the real value in the company and the key to future growth, so transferring ownership to the employees was the most logical progression.
“For the clients of CDP, employee ownership demonstrates the commitment of the company to independence and the long-term relationships that fuel their success. We are now looking forward to the next phase of growth where we can take on even more challenging developments for our clients.”
