Imagine you are taking part in your favourite pub quiz and are asked, ‘What do Aardman Animations (of Wallace and Grommit fame), Alistair Sawday’s (from the world of travel), LUSH (for those amazing smelling high street bath products), Riverford (organic vegetable boxes galore) and Tiptree (jams and spreads) all have in common?’ Do you know?

I’m pretty sure that not many people would know the answer, but they are of course all well-known brands, celebrities in their own fields – but that’s not all. They are in fact all Employee Owned (EO) businesses.

Maybe if I’d added The John Lewis Partnership into the mix, more people would have got the right answer as it’s still cited as the most ‘famous’ EO example. But increasingly there are more household names joining this club.

Fame isn’t everything for sure! But in today’s world it feels like the culture of ‘celebrity’ cuts through. So having known names in the world of EO is no different!

Today marks annual EO day – and we too are an EO business. It’s not something we make a big deal of, but increasingly I feel grateful that we are part of this large and growing movement of businesses. Latest numbers stand at close to 2000 EO businesses in the UK, across multiple sectors and of varying scale.

Why do I feel proud? For me it’s a movement which puts people first, which transcends pure focus on profit and efficiencies to create a more rounded and sustainable take on work and employment.

How does this manifest at Interaction? It’s actually business as normal! Putting people first is integral to our culture, values and shared sense of ownership that manifests attitudinally, not just because we now have the EO badge.

But don’t get me wrong, we all like a badge right? And like it or loathe it, a bit of celebrity association never goes amiss. Here’s to the next year of being EO, being part of the EO movement and being proactive in role-modelling an alternative way of being that puts people first.