AttractionTickets.com and DoSomethingDifferent.com are transitioning to an Employee Ownership Trust.
The Attraction Tickets business becomes the largest UK travel company to do so.
The brands sell theme park tickets and theme park hotels for resorts including Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando Resort and Disneyland Paris.
CEO and Founder, Oliver Brendon and fellow shareholders have sold their shares, which the EOT will hold for the benefit of the employees.
Under the new structure, Attraction Tickets’ 128 full time employees will share in EOT bonuses worth over £1m.
Payouts are based on years of service, with the first £3,600 of these bonuses being tax free under the EOT rules.
The average length of service at Attraction Tickets is over six years.
The EO Trust board will be chaired by Juliet Thorburn, Global HR Director at Scott Bader (itself an employee-owned business).
Oliver Brendon and the management team will continue to manage the Attraction Tickets business.
It says an employee ownership will enable the business to grow and prosper organically.
Brendon said: “Today we have concluded a transaction that will reward the business’ most vital stakeholders – its employees.”
“Employee ownership is one of the most equitable forms of capitalism, whereby value is shared amongst those who work hard to create it. Employees and management will be more focused than ever on business performance because they will benefit from our ongoing success.”
Major businesses like The John Lewis Partnership Aardman, Richer Sounds and Go Ape have successfully adopted similar employee ownership structures.
Employee Ownership Trusts were established by the UK Government in 2014 and offer a way for employees to indirectly own a company.
Attraction Tickets Ltd was founded in 2002. The company serves the trade with its DoSomethingDifferent.com brand which sells a wide range of worldwide attraction tickets and experiences.
The consumer brand AttractionTickets.com focuses on theme park tickets and theme park hotel plus ticket packages.
