Toy specialist The Entertainer has formed a dedicated trust as ownership is transferred by the founding Grant family to employees, Retail Week can reveal.
Patrick Lewis, the great grandson of John Spedan Lewis whose creation of a partnership model at department store business John Lewis was a landmark moment in British business, will chair the newly created Ludus Trust.
It will formally own The Entertainer’s parent TEAL Group Holdings from this Friday, September 26, after co-founders Gary and Catherine Grant and their family decided to hand control to staff.
The Grants founded The Entertainer in the 1980s and built it from a single shop to a multichannel group with 160 locations in the UK and a presence in Tesco, Matalan and Marks & Spencer stores.
This creation of Ludus Trust is designed to “ensure the group remains independent, while preserving the family’s legacy and the family feel of the business”.
Lewis has chaired three businesses as they moved to employee ownership and spent 25 years at the John Lewis Partnership – where he worked with TEAL chief executive Andrew Murphy – and rose to become group chief financial officer.
The other founding directors of the Ludus Trust alongside Lewis are family member Duncan Grant, who has held a raft of roles at the retailer, and – representing staff – Callum Lafferty, who has been at The Entertainer for three years and is head of people development.
A colleague advisory board has also been set up to “help shape policies, advise management on topics around which employees have strong opinions, and ensure the leadership team are held accountable for the long-term health, general conduct and character of the business”. A representative from the colleague advisory board will also sit on the Ludus Trust board.
Murphy said: “I would like to welcome and congratulate Patrick, Duncan and Callum on their appointments to the Ludus Trust.
“We are proud and excited to transition to an employee-ownership trust, beginning a new era that reflects our collective commitment to shared purpose and long-term success.
“The Grant family have built a true British success story and their legacy will remain deeply woven into the fabric of our business.”
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