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Staff get their hands on Abingdon employment law firm

3 February 2021
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Abingdon employment law firm, Crossland Employment Solicitors has become employee-owned after all the firm’s shares were placed into an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT).

The move will ensure that all employees will fully benefit from the firm’s success, including individual tax-free bonuses of up to £3,600 a year and each employee is now a beneficiary of the Crossland Employee Ownership Trust.

There will be no changes in daily operation of the Milton Park-based business, or to clients’ key point of contact in the firm, and Managing Director Beverley Sunderland and Director Barry Ross will continue as Directors and partners.

Crossland Employment Solicitors is ‘Top Ranked’ by industry title, Chambers UK 2020 as well as a ‘Leading Firm’ in the renowned Legal 500 2020. Clients include national and local firms across a wide range of sectors from the automotive industry, logistics, manufacturing, insurance, charities, education and Formula 1 racing.

Beverley said: “The whole team is delighted, it’s fantastic to have some great news to share during current times. Now all of our employees can fully benefit from the continuing success of the firm.

“I no longer own the business as I sold 100% of the shares and while I’m not going anywhere anytime soon, I do now have a structure so everything is in place as and when I do take a step back.

“It means that the firm is now owned by all employees in the same type of model as John Lewis. Clients will not notice any changes at all, but the move recognises that the success of Crossland Employment Solicitors is due to a concerted team effort by each and everyone involved - our barrister, solicitors and our admin whizzes.”

While retailer John Lewis is best known as an early pioneer of the EOT model, well known brands who have also moved to this business model include Riverford Organic Farmers, Richer Sounds and Aardman, the animation studio.


Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe.

After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts.

She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.

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