The SEO Works Is Now Employee Owned!

We are pleased to announce that we, The SEO Works, are now an employee-owned business!

Through an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) structure, we transitioned ownership from our two founders to the staff, a step aimed at enhancing our brand and future.

Founded in 2009 by Neil Palmer and Simon Margetts, we have since expanded to a team of more than 80 employees offering SEO, PPC, Digital PR, Social Media and Web services.

Alongside impressive growth and a variety of prestigious award wins, we have always prioritised our people and our roots, remaining firmly headquartered in Sheffield, focusing on ‘responsible growth’, and investing in our culture.

Moving to being ‘owned by its people’ is the latest evolution of our mission – as it allows the business to retain complete independence, reward our employees for the business’s success, and create an ownership culture that properly reflects the ethos of our agency. Ben Foster, CEO, said,

“I’m incredibly excited by this development. Our transition to being employee-owned is the perfect evolution, reflecting who we’ve always been – a business driven by its people. Across the last 16 years, we’ve grown from an exciting local start-up to one of the leading digital growth agencies in the North – all thanks to our team of experts. Our future as an agency has always been in their hands, but now it’s official.”

Operationally, it’s ‘business as usual’. We will continue with the existing management structure – with three active directors, an experienced senior leadership team, and ‘pod leaders’ guiding the SEO, PPC, DPR and Web teams. The change of ownership, however, will allow them to further increase levels of transparency and team involvement at all levels. James Corry, Managing Director, said,

“For us, an Employee Ownership Trust was the obvious choice. We’re incredibly proud of what we’ve built here as a team, and of the brilliant service we deliver to our clients. This transition allows us to retain that, whilst bolstering the very thing that makes us so great – our culture. This is a very exciting step and gives a genuine stake in the business to all of our brilliant team members!”

The move has been supported by Shawbrook Bank and Brabners LLP, who have both been instrumental in turning our vision into a reality. Anthony Dean, Senior Director at Shawbrook Corporate Leverage said,

 “We are delighted to support The SEO Works Ltd in their transition to an Employee Ownership Trust. The business has a strong management team with a clear vision for the future, and we admire their ambition to give employees a greater share in the strategic direction of the company. The SEO Works Ltd is a well-established leader in its market, and we are excited to see how they continue to evolve under this new structure.”

Want to learn more about what this means for our culture and staff? Check out more information here, or watch our video.

Interested in working for us? Check our current vacancies here.