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Coastal Recycling is helping to #GrowEO for UK Employee Ownership Day – 24th June 2022

Staff of Coastal Recycling based in Kennford, Exeter are delighted to be celebrating UK Employee Ownership Day (EO Day), as a member of the Employee Ownership Association (EOA), on Friday 24th June 2022.

Coastal Recycling is taking part in this year’s EO Day which has the theme of #GrowEO, to celebrate and showcase how employee ownership has helped to grow its business, our employee owners and the economy.

EO Day marks a year since Coastal Recycling become employee-owned and we will celebrate the day with events and competitions at our three recycling sites in Kennford, and Hill Barton in Exeter and in Torrington in North Devon.

In business for 30 years and employing 140 staff, the sustainability focused recycling and waste management business is proud to celebrate employee ownership alongside others in the sector across the UK, as Emily Delve, Commercial Director for Coastal Recycling explains:

“We are so proud to be one of around 850 businesses in the UK to become employee-owned. The company is now operated for the benefit of everyone that works here and the team feel invested, focused and have a direct incentive to build a successful and thriving business.

Although we’ve only been employee-owned for a year, we’ve already seen the benefit of higher productivity and a more engaged workforce. EO Day is our chance to celebrate our combined achievements from the last year.”

James de le Vingne, CEO for the Employee Ownership Association, said:

“Companies such as Coastal Recycling are great examples of the economic and social benefits that can be achieved when employees have a stake and a say in the business in which they work.  

“Over the last ten years since we began celebrating EO Day, the UK employee-owned sector has grown significantly. This year we will be asking, how can we make it grow even more quickly in half the time?

“By making as much noise as possible we can to help raise awareness with business owners, professional advisers and stakeholders to help #GrowEO.” 

With numerous events running across the UK and the involvement of thousands of employee owners and other partners, EO Day is an integral part of the EOA’s events calendar and was introduced to raise awareness of employee ownership as an economically strong and balanced business model.

The benefits of employee ownership have been proven in EOA-led research, and include improving employee health and wellbeing, increasing productivity and fostering creativity and innovation across an array of industry sectors. In addition:

  • UK employee-owned companies contribute over £30 billion to the UK economy annually
  • Employee-owners have higher levels of job satisfaction, feel a greater sense of achievement and job security, and are more likely to recommend their workplace than employees in non-employee-owned businesses
  • Employee-owned businesses operate in a range of sectors including healthcare, social care, education, transport, manufacturing, retail and professional services