CBRE NI announces adoption of Employee Ownership Trust

It says the move will allow its employees to benefit from the growth of the business

Belfast commercial property agency CBRE NI has established an Employee Ownership Trust which it says is designed to allow its workers to benefit from the growth of the company in the future.

Under the arrangement, the EOT acquires shares in the company on behalf of its 47 employees, who become beneficiaries of the trust. Alongside this, a new shareholding has been created for qualifying directors through an Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) scheme.

CBRE NI Managing Director Brian Lavery and fellow main board directors Gerard McCann and Robert Ditty have retained a significant shareholding, and remain in their current roles.

“CBRE NI is Northern Ireland’s largest commercial real estate services and investments company, and our priority is to future-proof the business to ensure we deliver on our long-term strategy,” Brian Lavery said. “Moving to an Employee Ownership Trust marks an exciting innovation for our business, enabling us to grow further while enhancing our reputation and rewarding the people who make our success possible. It moves away from the more traditional partnership ownership model which was previously prevalent in the professional sector.

“For our clients, it is very much business as usual, with the added assurance that those driving our achievements will now share directly in the company’s future growth.”

CBRE NI provides commercial property agency services to the sector in Northern Ireland and is an affiliate of the wider CBRE network, although operating indepentently.

“Establishing the EOT will be a game changer for CBRE NI, designed to reward our employees and recognise the essential role they play in our continued success,” Brian Lavery said. “Working in partnership with Mills Selig and Maneely McCann has enabled us to deliver a structure that meets all of our objectives, and we are confident it will bring long-term benefits for our people, our stakeholders, and most importantly our clients.”