Lavery Rowe Holdings, parent company to Lavery Rowe Advertising, UKAMS and LR Digital, is now 100 per cent owned by its staff via an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT).
Lavery Rowe Advertising first opened its doors 40 years ago in 1980. The agency quickly established a reputation for creating highly effective direct response press campaigns. Its ‘full-service’ model encompassed expert in-house creative and media planning and buying services.
40 years on, press still lies at the core of the business and ROI is in its DNA. Lavery Rowe, together with sister agency, UKAMS, places approximately 10,000 press ads every year across 350 different titles. It has grown to include a successful TV division and a new digital business both of which focus on D2C sales.
Most recently the business has been developing a strategy of ‘Performance Brand Marketing’ to fulfil the needs of brand owners looking to benefit from the huge growth in D2C sales at the expense of high street retail.
Prior to establishing the EOT, the business was owned by Wayne Lewis and Paul Payne.
Asked why ownership was transferred to the staff of Lavery Rowe, Wayne commented: “Anyone who has worked with us knows we have an almost unique business culture. Lavery Rowe is very much a family. The last year, in particular, has highlighted the co-operative nature of the business when our teams had to meet all the challenges that lockdowns and working from home have created.
“Having had a number of approaches, Paul and I considered various options for ownership succession but settled on EOT because it enables the staff who have helped build Lavery Rowe to share in its success. It follows that staff who work in an EOT are generally more motivated, more loyal and more productive leading to better business outcomes for us and the clients we work with.”
Both Wayne Lewis and Paul Payne will continue in their roles as directors of Lavery Rowe for at least the next five years.
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