Lucy & Yak, the British fashion and lifestyle brand, has announced it’s transitioning to an employee ownership model (EOT), giving its team a controlling stake in the business making them indirect owners and key beneficiaries.

Separately, the founder of the UK’s biggest toy chain, the Entertainer, has also announced he is handing over control of the business to his 1,900 workers.

Gary Grant, who opened his first shop with his wife Catherine in 1981, has built the toy retailer into a multi-million pound brand with 160 shops across the UK. Last year it expanded its partnership with Tesco to stock toys in more than 850 of the supermarket’s stores alongside concessions in 140 Matalan shops.

“If the business had been sold just for money that would not have been passing on the baton in the way in which the family would have wanted,” Mr Grant told the BBC.

He is transferring 100% ownership of the family-owned business to an employee trust which means staff will get a share of the profits and a say in how the firm is run.

Commenting on the change of ownership model, Christian Wilson, Employee Ownership & Business Succession Partner at law firm, Spencer West LLP, notes that when employees are beneficiaries, not just wage-earners, engagement rises, turnover drops and the business becomes more resilient to external shocks.

“In a retail landscape searching for ways to reconnect with both staff and customers, the Entertainer’s move is a reminder that ownership matters – and that the High Street may be saved not just by sales, but by shared stewardship,” Wilson commented.

According to reports in The Industry Fashion, Lucy & Yak say the move “marks a natural next step in the brand’s journey” – while staying true to its core values of championing an ethical, inclusive way of doing business.

“We’ve always been led by our gut feeling and believe that if you share the workload, you should share the benefits. After eight years of building Lucy & Yak, we have decided now is the time to hand things over to our employees, converting the company into an Employee Ownership Trust.”

Lucy Greenwood, Co-Founder, Lucy & Yak

“This means Lucy & Yak will soon be owned by the employees. We’ll be working behind the scenes with our teams to ensure a smooth transition which we expect to take around six months,” Greenwood added.

The John Lewis Partnership is arguably the UK’s best known employee owned business although it has faced controversy for not paying its long-standing partner bonus for several years.