The founder of The Entertainer – one of the UK’s largest toy chains – is handing over his shops to his 1,9000 staff.
Gary Grant, who opened his first shop with his wife Catherine in 1981, will transfer ownership of all Entertainer outlets to an ‘Employee Ownership Trust’ next month.
Early Learning Centre and Addo, which his firm TEAL Group Holdings owns as well, will also be transferred to staff.
Mr Grant’s multi-pound empire includes 160 stores across the country.
The firm said that as beneficiaries of the trust, employees will be rewarded through tax-free bonuses based on the amount of profit the business generates.
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They will also have influence over the future direction of the business, ‘sharing both the responsibility and the rewards of having a stake in the firm’s success’.
A newly created ‘Colleague Advisory Board’ will help shape policies, share colleague views and ideas and will have a representative that will sit on the three person Trust Board, the company said.
Mr Grant, who started the firm when he was just 23 with just one O-level under his belt, said: ‘Today marks a momentous day for the Grant family. It feels like only yesterday that my wife Catherine and I opened our first store in Amersham, and we could only have dreamed what heights the business would reach.
‘Over the last 44 years, we have invested our working lives into this business. All our children are shareholders, and our two oldest sons joined to work alongside us, 20 years ago – so it’s truly a family business.
‘This is a significant decision for the family, and one we haven’t taken lightly, but it feels like the right time to transfer our entire shareholding into an Employee Ownership Trust.’
The 66-year-old told the BBC that staff most of the Entertainer’s profits are made in the lead-up to Christmas but it was a bit too early to say whether staff would get a bonus for this finanancial year.
He added that that the ‘real rewards’ should come for the year ending in January 2027.
Mr Grant and his family will receive a payout for the transfer of their 100% shareholding, which will be taken out of the chain’s profits over time, the BBC reports.
In its most recent set of accounts for the year end of January 2024, the Entertainer posted pre-tax profits of £6.7m.
The Grant family have always run the chain with a Christian ethos, refusing to open the shops on Sunday and donates 10% of its annual profits to charity.
As well as in its own stores, its toys are stocked in branches of Tesco and Matalan.
James de la Vingne, chief executive officer of the Employee Ownership Association, said: ‘It’s always an exciting time when a major high street brand takes the bold move to become employee owned. That’s why I’m delighted to welcome The Entertainer not only to employee ownership, but as a Trustee member of the EOA.
‘We’re seeing a growing trend for retailers making the move to employee ownership alongside calls to help save the high street. To my mind, a key piece of the solution is employee ownership.’
The UK’s largest employee owned retailer is the John Lewis Partnership.
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