Manchester-based Andrew Irving and Andy Rogers are among the nine partners to have sold their shares to the design studio’s staff.
Jmarchitects, which employs 100 people across offices in Manchester, Glasgow, and Edinburgh, is now owned by the staff through an employee ownership trust.
Employee-ownership is an increasingly popular model among the professional services sector that allows directors to exit a business while retaining a role in its day-to-day running.
In the case of Jmarchitects, Irving and Rogers have sold their shares along with Ian Alexander and Henry Mckeown, who are based in Edinburgh, and Glasgow-based Stewart Davie, Rod Duncan, and Ryan Fletcher. Managing director Brian Thomson and financial director David Ingham have also sold up.
All will remain with the practice, except for Ingham who has retired.
“We are very pleased to announce the next phase in the 60-year evolution of our practice, established originally as a partnership, then becoming a limited company and now an EOT,” Thomson said.
“We see this model as an ideal opportunity to develop our leadership team and reward all our extraordinary staff while continuing to deliver excellence in architectural services for our clients and produce the very best spaces and places which inspire and delight.”
Jmarchitects’ current high-profile projects in the North West include the £250m Fettlers town centre mixed-use regeneration scheme in Wigan, which is being delivered by Cityheart, and Watson Homes’ 418-residence Church Wharf masterplan in Bolton.
Manchester-based director Andrew Irving said: “We are in the fortunate position that we will be coming to the end of another very successful year and have a healthy pipeline of new projects already secured for next year.
“We continue to see growth in the residential sector, including all tenures along with purpose-built student accommodation, build-to-rent, and hotels.
“In the commercial sector, workplace refurbishment projects are now a significant part of our turnover, integrating both our architectural and interior design skills. As ever, our clients demand creative, innovative and cost-effective solutions that provide value for money alongside significant uplift in the sustainable credentials of their assets.”
Lindsays advised the firm on the move to employee ownership. Ownership Associates and Reference Point Advisory also advised Jmarchitects.
The transition to an EOT comes with tax reliefs, including a capital gains tax exemption for shareholders who sell their shares to an EOT and the ability to reward employees annually with qualifying bonuses of up to £3,600 a year per employee, which can be paid free of income tax.