Sawday’s has been a family-owned business since Alastair Sawday established it in 1993. Canopy & Stars was established in 2010 as part of the Sawday’s group. When he began contemplating stepping down from the company, he felt that selling, in the traditional sense, was not an option. He was intent on preserving the ethos and ideas that had been at the heart of the Sawday’s and Canopy & Stars for so long.

After reading a book by David Erdal (Beyond the Corporation: Humanity Working) about employee ownership, he set about researching the concept of Employee Ownership. Under the guidance of the Employee Ownership Association, he has now transitioned the business to an innovative hybrid model, thought to be the first of its kind. The majority share, 52%, now belongs to employees, 24% to a newly established Sawday Charitable Trust and 24% remains with the Sawday’s family

You can also add your support for other initiatives, including FAIR4HOSPITALITY, being run by UK Hospitality, which represents the tourism industry as a whole.

If your business in Wales, a group of owners have started a Wales specific campaign called Micro Tourism Wales to request an open dialogue with the Welsh government on plans to safely re-open the sector, you can read more and offer your support here.

Speaking about his decision, Alastair said:

“I started Sawday’s over 25 years ago and have always wanted the company to promote what is good and decent and to do so in perpetuity, if possible. So, in my early 70s and contemplating my ‘exit’, what was I to do? It was not attractive to sell to the highest bidder and ignore the employees. Employee ownership, I believe, provides a lot of answers to the questions I have pondered."

"Why not recreate Sawday’s to give it a deeper purpose, to embed further the values and ethics I have long campaigned for, and to engage and empower the employees who share this vision. Through the charitable influence of the new Sawday Trust, the values of the company and the continuing drive and enterprise of the family, we will continue to fly the flag for independence.”

As well as being a move that will help the company make a positive impact on both the industry and the environment through the Trust, it also has sound financial grounds, as Alastair explains:

“The general trend of EO companies is to do better, so I could not be happier with the direction we are taking. Our purpose and values have always been clear and now that the company is primarily owned by its employees we will go from strength to strength.”

It’s an exciting move for us at Canopy & Stars, bringing our close-knit team even closer together and showing, from the very top down, how we should all think about the way we work.