Edinburgh-based i4 Product Design Ltd has become the latest employee-owned company in Scotland.

All 14 members of staff are now majority owners after an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) was formed, holding 75% of the shares on behalf of the employees. While the EOT holds the majority of company shares, the co-founders have an equal share of the remaining 25% but it is envisaged the EOT will eventually hold 100%.

Brian Combe, i4's Managing Director, said: "The main objective of establishing an employee ownership structure was to provide a stable platform for growth by allowing our employees to feel more engaged, informed and integrated into the company.

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"Many exit options had been considered over the years, even employee ownership which at the time we wrongly assumed would be too complicated for us. However it soon became clear that employee ownership was an ideal fit for the aspirations of the directors, for leaving a legacy of a sustainable and profitable company.

"Since the company's inception we have always strived to do the right thing by our employees, and so once we understood the principles of employee ownership, we knew it was the perfect vehicle for us to begin the process of engaging our team for the next chapter of our company's development."

Based on the south side of Edinburgh, i4 Product Design was formed in 2003 by four founding directors, Brian Combe, Ewan Maxwell, Gordon Miller and Jim Ward.

The company provides a number of specific services including project management, industrial design, mechanical engineering, electronics and systems engineering, prototyping and manufacturing support.

(LM/MH)