March 1 2024

Keppie Design is looking to the future while maintaining continuity with the past by becoming the latest architecture studio to embrace employee ownership.

As of today, precisely 170 years since the practice's formation in 1854, over 100 staff have become part-owners in the business after its directors transferred their entire shareholding to an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT).

The shift follows a desire on the part of the current leadership team to guarantee continuity for the future beyond their tenure by democratising control. Managing director Peter Moran commented: “We believe the best people to own the future of Keppie are the people who know it best – our present and future employees.

"The EOT will provide a platform for our business to grow, with a commitment to continual professional and personal improvement and innovation to ensure Keppie maintains its position as a market leader."

Finance director Pamela Ross will serve as employee representative on the board of trustees, with Moran and fellow directors David Ross, Fraser Low and Richard MacDonald all remaining with the business to ensure stability.

A host of practices have embraced more egalitarian ownership models in recent years, most recently Hoskins Architects.

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