The Entertainer, the UK’s largest toy shop chain, is set to become employee-owned after founder Gary Grant announced plans to transfer 100% of the family business to its 1,900 staff by the end of September.
The retailer – which also owns the Early Learning Centre and Addo toy brands – will be placed into an employee ownership trust (EOT), with the Grant family to be paid over time from future profits. The valuation of the business has not been disclosed.
Employees will benefit from tax-free bonuses linked to company performance, while a newly created employee advisory board will help shape the group’s future direction.
The move comes despite a challenging year for the business. Pre-tax profits fell 18% to £6.7 million in the year to 27 January 2024, with sales down 3.7% to £238.3 million. However, the family still took its first dividend since 2019 – a payout of £15.6 million.
Founded in 1981 by Gary and Catherine Grant in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, The Entertainer has grown from a single store to 160 branches and more than 1,000 concessions in major retailers such as Tesco and Marks & Spencer. The business also trades online and overseas.
Grant, who stepped back from day-to-day operations in 2023 when former John Lewis executive Andrew Murphy became CEO, will stand down as chair in September when the deal completes. His two sons, who both work in the business, will also leave. Murphy’s experience with the UK’s largest employee-owned retailer is expected to help guide The Entertainer’s transition.
Grant said the decision was “significant” and “not taken lightly”: “It feels like only yesterday that my wife Catherine and I opened our first store. Over the last 44 years, we’ve invested our working lives into this business… It feels like the right time to transfer our entire shareholding into an employee ownership trust.”
He thanked staff for making The Entertainer “what it is today” and reaffirmed the brand’s focus on “children and community… creating memories, inspiring wonder and delivering outstanding service.”
The Entertainer will join other well-known UK businesses – including Richer Sounds and Riverford Organic Farmers – that have switched to employee ownership.
James de la Vingne, chief executive of the Employee Ownership Association, called the move “a bold and brilliant commitment to shared success” that could “futureproof beloved brands, root jobs in local communities and inject wealth into regional economies”.
“The future of the high street is employee ownership, and the future is already happening,” he added.