Consultancy becomes employee-owned

Built environment consultancy Curtins has become an employee-owned.

Curtins was established in Liverpool in 1960 in the back bedroom of founder and lecturer at the Liverpool College of Building, Bill Curtin.

Through the new structure, everyone employed by Curtins will have a share in the company’s financial performance and enjoy the benefits from their efforts.

Its former share ownership scheme, where staff owned approximately 25% of the business, was first introduced in 2002, shortly after CEO Rob Melling joined the board of directors.

That ownership scheme allowed people from outside the board to also own shares in the business based on certain eligibility criteria, or to be gifted them as a reward for long service.

This resulted in Curtins being listed in the Top 50 Employee-Owned Companies for a number of years prior to this transition.

“What we’re doing is so aligned with Bills’ philosophy and principal of making sure our people are at the heart of our company,” said Rob.

“By implementing the transition now, at a time of bright prospects for Curtins, we believe that the stars have aligned to achieve key benefits for our people.”

Curtins employs over 350 staff across their 14 offices in the UK and Ireland.

“Whilst our staff have always been focussed on delivering what our clients need from us, we believe that being part of the EOT will give our staff an even greater desire to achieve our company objectives, and serving clients is at the very heart of that,” added Rob.