Edinburgh IT firm Quorum bought by staff

An Edinburgh-based IT business with some 100 employees has become employee owned.

Quorum Network Resources, which offers consultancy work and managed services, will see an employee trust own the majority of shares in the business on behalf of the staff.

The company currently provides a variety of IT services to firms UK-wide, in various industries including banking, the legal sector and the oil industry.

Co-founders Andrew Watson and Charles Scott will retain a small number of share options and continue in the roles of chief executive and chief operating officer respectively.

The shift to employee ownership has been described as a “graceful way of keeping the company running in its current form” while guaranteeing that employees have “input into and can benefit from future changes”.

Scott said: “If a company is acquired there is normally either a rationalisation of roles or a clash of cultures that directly impacts the employees and customers of that company which is something we never want to happen.”