The Colchester-based cruise specialist in November confirmed its staff now hold a 51% stake in the company, with former joint managing director Rosie Cairns assuming the role of chief executive role with managing director Sarah Wikevand working alongside her.

At the time, ROL Cruise released a statement, saying: “The move to an EOT is designed to safeguard the independence of ROL Cruise, ensuring the company’s legacy remains in the hands of loyal staff who have been pivotal to its success.”

The agency, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, said it hoped the ownership model would provide long-term stability and protect jobs, while “enhancing opportunities to share the future successes of the business with its team”.

The EOT model was introduced by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government in 2014, with the number of businesses selling a majority stake growing every year. The number of EOT businesses in the UK grew by 40% in 2023 to around 1,400, with EOTs now representing one in 20 of all private company sales.

Employees can receive annual tax-free cash bonuses of up to £3,600 per employee per year as well as share-based incentive rewards. 

Department store John Lewis is the biggest employee-owned UK company, but others include audio-visual company Richer Sounds, cash and carry business Parfett’s and design and engineering consultancy Arup. 

In an exclusive interview with TTG, Cairns and Wikevand revealed they had been “getting lots of questions” from other agencies since making the switch. 

“We’ve had five or six [agencies] get in touch and ask for advice about how EOTs work and what you need to do,” Cairns said. “We’ve got good contacts in travel. They all seemed very interested in the model and wanted to find out a bit more.”

Cairns explained that while there is a lot that businesses wanting to change to an EOT model need to do, the process is relatively seamless. Plus, any debt incurred during the transition can be paid back over a number of years, added Cairns. “It was a lot of hard work to put it all together but, overall, it’s been positive,” she continued.

‘Powerful message’

As part of the process, former ROL Cruise chair Jeremy Dickinson joined the board of corporate trustees allowing him to continue to shape the company’s direction. 

“Jez is still here to offer us support, guidance and be part of the trust,” said Cairns, who added this ensured a “softer transition”. “It’s quite normal with EOTs for the exiting shareholder to remain on the board of trustees,” she explained. 

Cairns said delivering the news to ROL Cruise’s 138 staff was “incredible” and “the most rewarding thing” she will ever do. “It was very emotional,” she said. “There were lots of tears from everybody. We’ve all been in this together – it’s been hard work. 

“It’s a really powerful message. We’ve probably talked about it for the past five to six months, but we had to get into a position where we had fully recovered from the pandemic. In the last six months it had become more of a discussion point.” 

According to Wikevand, recruitment was a key focus when becoming an EOT; she described ROL Cruise’s employees as the firm’s biggest asset. “Around 34% of our staff have been with us for more than a decade," she said.

"We’ve got a really strong length of service across our sales team. There’s been a lot of talk across the industry about the cost of recruitment, but we know that investing in staff is key. 

“We’re selling really high-value holidays here, and people have got to know what they’re talking about. Our staff are our biggest asset.” 

Wikevand highlighted how staff retention within ROL Cruise’s sales and commercial teams is high. “Sales teams normally have quite a high turnover of staff,” said Wikevand. “The staff with the longest length of service mainly sit within the commercial and sales departments. 

“For us, it’s important to have that because you’re selling cruise and you’re often talking to customers who know a huge amount about the cruise line they want to sail with.”