A business technology and communications specialist is the latest to go down the employee owned route.

Poole-based Grapevine has become an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT).

Ownership of the business has transferred from the founders to the broader team of 20 staff members, working across the South and South West.

The scheme rewards those who have dedicated a substantial amount of time to the company as well as more recent additions.

Each have contributed to Grapevine’s notable transformation over the last 32 years.

Now a full-service IT and communications support provider with a £3m annual turnover, the business has come a long way from its early days as a reseller of Vodafone mobile contracts.

Co-founded in 1991 by Brian and Hilary Vockins, Grapevine began life as a chain of mobile phone shops.

Its stores in Poole, Bournemouth, Dorchester and Weymouth were branded ‘Vodafone Centre’ in the 1990s.

They went on to become ‘The Word’ later that decade.

Grapevine exited the high street in favour of a business-to-business focus in the early 2000s, first relocating to Winfrith Technology Centre and then to its current home in Nuffield Road, Poole, in 2004.

Many of today’s team have been part of the company’s journey with 30 year and 25 year staff anniversaries taking place alongside the EOT announcement.

Donna Fletcher and Ed Shaw, celebrating 30 and 25 years respectively with Grapevine.

Donna Fletcher – Grapevine’s longest-serving employee with 30 years – joined via a college placement in April 1993 while she gained an NVQ.

Ed Shaw, celebrating 25 years with the company, visited Grapevine’s former retail store on Poole High Street to buy a car charger for his Nokia 1611, leading unexpectedly to a job in the same branch.

Both were presented with custom-made awards featuring a mobile phone from the years when they joined the business.

James Spinks, Managing Director, joined the company in November 1996 as a Sales Executive in Grapevine’s Poole High Street branch.

He was appointed MD in January 2021 after ten years as Sales Director.

James, pictured, said: “As a business we’re recognising our history to date of empowering staff, which can be seen in their longevity with the company, and looking to how we continue that.

“We have ambitious growth plans and that cannot be achieved without the right people onboard.

“Becoming an Employee Ownership Trust provides our team with additional job security and allows them to focus on what they do best, for us and our clients.”

Brian Vockins said it was important the legacy of Grapevine was protected.

He added: “The three major shareholders decided some three years ago that it was time to plan for retirement.

“We had, over 30 years, built a strong and resilient business and wanted to pass on this to our loyal staff and management teams.

“The government supported EOT scheme provided just the right mechanism.”

As reported on Dorset Biz News, other high-profile Dorset businesses becoming employee owned in recent years have included Rubicon People Partnership, Salad and Blue Sky Financial Planning.

According to the Employee Ownership Association, employee owned businesses achieve higher productivity, greater levels of innovation and more resilience to economic turbulence with workforces that are more engaged, more fulfilled and less stressed.

• grapevine.uk.com