Pertemps To Offer Nearly Half Of Its Recruitment Business To Staff Through Share Scheme

Tim Watts, chairman of West Midlands-based recruitment agency, The Pertemps Group, announced that he is giving more than 1,000 staff the chance to buy nearly half of his core recruitment business in an innovative Share Incentive Plan (SIP).

The announcement, made to the workforce at the International Conference Centre in Birmingham on Saturday 21st December, will see 49 per cent of the Meriden-based Pertemps Recruitment Partnership, which specialises in recruiting permanent and temporary staff for administrative, industrial and driving posts, offered to the group's employees and also some employed flexible workers.

The partnership, which was set up by Tim's mother, Constance, in 1961, has 64 branches and 92 associate companies across the UK. It has grown in the leading independent recruitment company in the country. The share incentive plan is believed to be the first of this scale in the West Midlands.

The scheme will run for five years from 2004, during which time staff can buy shares on an annual basis. At the end of this period it will be reassessed. The remaining 51 per cent of the company will stay in the ownership of Tim Watts and his board of directors.

Tim Watts, chairman of Pertemps, said: "My mother set up the first branch of Pertemps more than 40 years ago and the business has been in our family ever since. We owe our success to the loyalty and commitment of our staff."

"My staff are an extension of my family and I have always rewarded them for their hard work. I want to give them a greater sense of ownership and influence over the way the company is run and that is why I am offering them the chance to buy into it via the Government's tax efficient incentive scheme. I hope that all of them will take advantage of this chance to participate in the future of the business as owners as well as employees."

All permanent staff, who have been working for Pertemps' recruitment businesses for more than six months, and employed flexible workers will be eligible to buy shares in Pertemps agency activities operated by Pertemps Jobshop Limited.

From January 2004, they will be able to save up to 10 per cent of their gross monthly salary, or £125 per month, whichever is lower, to buy shares. The shares will be purchased in January 2005, at which point other eligible staff can opt into the scheme and start saving for the following year.

The value of the shares will be agreed by the Inland Revenue and valued by an independent auditor. Anyone who leaves the firm must sell their shares at the current estimated value, which will be regularly reviewed. New recruits to Pertemps Jobshop Limited will be able to buy shares at the beginning of each new year, provided they fit the eligibility criteria.

Staff who keep their shares for the full five years will not have to pay tax when they sell them. The shares are being administered via a Share Incentive Plan, which will also award up to £3,000 worth of free shares per year to individual staff members, depending on the performance of their business unit and hours worked.

Pertemps Jobshop already has an Employee Benefit Trust (EBT), which currently owns nearly 18 per cent of the business for the benefit of employees. The SIP and EBT, when combined, will ultimately hold 49 per cent of the shares.