Geldards advise water specialists Celtic Vacuum Ltd on transition to Employee Ownership Trust

Geldards has advised confined space cleaning specialists Celvac on the formation of an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT).

A major employer in Tenby, Celvac works with clients across the UK Waste and Potable Water Industries and are experts in the field of recovering waste materials and media from confined spaces using hyper-vac technology and man entry.

Geldards, one of the leading advisors on Employee Ownership Trusts in Wales, advised Celvac on the formation of the EOT and the purchase by the EOT of the entire share capital of Celtic Vacuum Limited from the three founding shareholders, Kim, Joan and Nigel Beynon.

One of the fastest growing business models in the UK, an Employee Ownership Trust hands ownership of the company onto its workforce, safeguarding employee’s jobs and protecting the legacy of the business.

The popularity of Employee Ownerships Trusts has grown exponentially over the past few years and according to the Employee Ownership Association, over 1,300 businesses were recorded as EOTs in the UK by the end of 2022 – double since 2020.

The deal was led by Geldards’ Tax Partner Andrew Evans, who advised on all legal aspects of the transaction, supported by solicitor Jamie East, Alex Butler Partner in the Corporate team, and Henry Bright solicitor in the Commercial team, who provided Property advice on the transaction.

As well as advising on the structure and establishment of the EOT, Geldards helped guide the employees through the transition, advising on internal communications and ensuring the trustees of the EOT understood their role and responsibilities.

Commenting on the transaction, Andrew Evans, Partner at Geldards said:

“Geldards were delighted to work with the Celvac team to enable the successful transition of Celtic Vacuum Limited to employee ownership. The sale of Celvac to an employee ownership trust will enable the company to avoid the disruption of a trade sale and allow the existing management team and employees to grow the business. We look forward to working with Celvac to support the trustees and the employees in their continuing journey.”

Claire Gottwaltz, Managing Director, Celvac commented:

“The process of becoming Employee Owned seemed daunting at first.  However we appointed Geldards at an early stage and Andrew and his team gave us very practical advice and made the complexities of the transaction a lot easier to understand.

The team talked us through each step, demystified the jargon and was instrumental in us getting the deal completed within 9 months of us deciding that an EOT was the best way forward.  This year Celvac will be 30 years in business and what better way to celebrate this than by rewarding our hard working and loyal team of employees with this fantastic opportunity”.