Becoming an employee-owned business | Guy Singh-Watson

Guy started out in management consulting and despite his rapid success, became drawn to other sectors and ways of working. Having grown up on a farm, he turned to organic farming and ‘grew’ a business from a sole-trader in 1987 to the Riverford company we know today, with 1000 employees (as of 2021). Riverford is a household name as the biggest fruit and veg box provider in the UK.

Two and a half years ago, Riverford became employee owned and Guy effectively gave away £15 million worth of equity to his employees, now called ‘co-owners’. 

They have achieved great heights–recently becoming a ‘B corporation’ (demonstrating their ethical standards) as well as entering the Sunday Times top 100 companies for employees.

Guy has seen remarkable behaviour change, not least with himself, but with the senior management team as well. They started a journey of self-awareness, which had a transformational effect on everyone involved.  He has also seen how the employee co-owners often put the interest of the group over their own self-interest. He finds this quite incredible compared to the kind of behaviour he sometimes saw in the City.

Riverford have achieved huge success during the COVID-19 pandemic and are now looking at how to invest their money in more progressive outlets, such as climate-friendly methods.

Guy and Riverford are clear leaders in ethical business.