Employees take control at Portadown’s Boyce Precision Engineering

L-R: Outgoing managing director Brian Boyce with Grant Thornton's Paul Prenter and Boyce Precision Engineering's new managing director, Brian Perry.

A Co Armagh engineering firm has handed over the ownership of the company to its employees.

Boyce Precision Engineering (BPE) has become one of the first businesses in the north to establish an employee ownership trust.

The Portadown company specialises in the manufacture of high-specification CNC components for aerospace, defence, pharmaceutical, textile, motorsport and food industries.

It operates from an 18,000 sq ft manufacturing facility at Charlestown Road Industrial Estate, which opened following a £6.9 million investment in 2019.

The engineering firm’s customers include Thompson Aero Seating, Thales, Collins Aerospace and Randox.

Still a relatively unusual model in Northern Ireland, an employee ownership trust (EOT) involves a fund acquiring shares in a company on behalf of the employees, who become the owners of the shares and the beneficiaries of the trust.

S&W Wholesale in Newry became one of the largest known businesses in the north to adopt an EOT last year.

George and Brian Boyce, the outgoing joint managing directors of BPE, confirmed they have now completed the sale of their shares in the Portadown-based company to the 27-strong workforce

“Having co-founded Boyce Precision Engineering in 2006, it was important to my brother Brian and I that any sale was structured in a way that ensured continuity of service and rewarded the dedicated workforce that has helped make the company the success it is today,” said George Boyce.

“The employee ownership trust, structured for us by Grant Thornton, met all of our aims and we are delighted to have completed the deal.

“We look forward to seeing the business continuing to prosper in the future.”

New managing director Brian Perry said the new ownership model provides an ideal platform for the business to build on.

“The new ownership model will further incentivise our staff, see them become more vested in strategic decision-making and, ultimately, help boost productivity for a client base that includes a range of major firms with a global presence,” he saud,

Paul Prenter, director at Grant Thornton said the EOT model have been gaining significant traction across Britain in the last three years, but is still a relatively new concept in the Northern Ireland market.

“At Grant Thornton, we are continually looking at innovative ways in which we can structure deals that generate maximum benefit for clients,” he said.

“Boyce Precision Engineering is an excellent example of a company that is willing to look beyond the normal when it comes to taking strategic decisions that help future-proof its business.”