Collins Construction Sold to Its 168 Staff via Employee Ownership Trust

Collins Construction is now owned by its 168 employees. The London and South East refurbishment and fit out specialist completed the sale of the business to an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) this week, in its 70th anniversary year.

Seven shareholders agreed the deal, making Collins the latest UK contractor to swap private shareholders for staff ownership. The transaction changes who pockets the upside. It does not change who runs the company.

What stays the same after the sale?

Existing management continues to lead the business. Managing Director Jason Warren said clients, consultants and supply-chain partners should expect continuity: "For our clients, consultants and supply-chain partners, it remains very much business as usual. The board will continue to lead the business working with its senior team to maintain the same commitment to our projects and relationships."

That is the standard EOT pitch, and in fairness it tends to hold. The structure removes the exit-hungry owner without installing an external one.

Warren framed the timing around the anniversary. "Celebrating 70 years in business is a remarkable milestone and it feels like the right moment to think about what we want Collins to look like for the next 70 years," he said.

He was blunt about the alternatives. "When considering the future ownership of Collins, we had a number of options available to us and we chose employee ownership because we believe it gives us the best opportunity to protect what has made Collins successful while creating a structure capable of taking the business forward for the next generation."

And the structural point, in his words: "The difference is that the future ownership of Collins is now aligned with the people who work within the business and contribute to its success every day."

How is the business performing?

The numbers explain why the shareholders had options at all. For the financial year to 30 June 2026, Collins expects turnover to jump 84% to £199m, generating pre-tax profits of £6.7m.

An 84% turnover leap is not the profile of a firm being offloaded. This is a business near the top of its cycle handing the keys to the people already driving it.

Why does employee ownership keep spreading?

Collins joins a growing list of contractors that have moved into EOT structures rather than sell to a trade buyer or private equity. The model trades a headline sale price for continuity: no new owner imposing a culture, no integration risk, no client Relationship resets.

For a fit out specialist whose product is largely its people and their client relationships, that logic is hard to argue with. Independence was clearly part of the appeal. "We have always been fiercely proud of our independence and of the culture we have created," Warren said.

With management intact, a forecast £199m turnover and 168 new owners with a direct stake in the outcome, Collins enters its eighth decade with an ownership structure designed to keep it roughly where it is — only growing faster.