Entertainer founders hand over control of UK toy retailer to workers

LONDON (Reuters) -The founders of Britain's biggest toy chain, The Entertainer, are handing over control of the business to its workers, they said on Monday.

Gary and Catherine Grant opened their first shop in 1981 in Amersham, southern England, and have grown it into a chain of over 160 shops and over 1,000 concessions in retailers including Tesco, Marks & Spencer and Matalan. It also trades internationally and online.

TEAL Group Holdings, which also owns the Early Learning Centre business and Addo Play Ltd, said the Grant family would next month transfer their 100% ownership to an Employee Ownership Trust.

TEAL, which has about 1,900 employees, had turnover of over 238 million pounds ($320 million) in its year to January, 2024.

Its CEO is Andrew Murphy, a veteran of the John Lewis Partnership, Britain's biggest employee-owned business.

"This is a significant decision for the family, and one we haven’t taken lightly, but it feels like the right time to transfer our entire shareholding into an Employee Ownership Trust," Gary Grant said.

The sale price of the business was not disclosed. However, the Grant family will receive payments based on the profit it generates in the future.

As beneficiaries of the Trust, employees will also be rewarded through tax-free bonuses based on profit.

TEAL said a Colleague Advisory Board will help shape policies and have a representative on a three-person trust board.

In 2019, Julian Richer, the founder of British hi-fi and TV retailer Richer Sounds, handed control of his business to workers through an EOT.

($1 = 0.7432 pounds)

(Reporting by James Davey, editing by Ed Osmond)