Bisley’s CEO, Richard Costin, has announced that Anthony Brown, the owner of Newport-based office furniture designer and manufacturing firm, Bisley, has established an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT), gifting the employees with 51% of the shares in Bisley.
Since joining Bisley in February 2020, Richard has been working closely with Anthony, regarding the business succession plan and the long-term future of Bisley and its employees.
Moving forwards, 51% of Bisley will be indirectly owned by its circa-500 global employees, most of whom are based in the UK, but also in offices throughout the world, including Dubai, New York, Paris, Germany, the Netherlands and Ireland.
Anthony will continue as non-executive chairman.
The development of the Bisley EOT has been an integral part of Anthony’s ongoing succession planning since he began working for his father in 1960. This marks his 52nd year as the owner of Bisley, the company he bought from his father upon his retirement in 1970. At the time he became the owner of a business with a £370,000 turnover, employing 45 members of staff.
Since taking ownership of Bisley, Anthony has diversified the business, adapted to ongoing technological, economic and cultural change, opened offices across the world, and has been recognised for excellence in British design.
Today the company produces over 15,000 items per week, exporting to over 75 countries. Over recent years Bisley continued to diversify, designing new innovative products for both the home and the office, and significantly expanding its ecommerce offering, most recently establishing a new partnership with John Lewis.
Anthony says: “For some time now, along with the board of directors, I have been seeking ways in which to ensure the long-term success of Bisley, and at the heart of this for me has always been the most important element of Bisley – our people.”
The Bisley EOT will be managed by a group of trustees, including Richard Costin.
