‘True British Success Story’ The Entertainer Becomes Employee Owned

The future of the high street is employee owned as The Entertainer joins John Lewis, Lush, and Richer Sounds to become the latest major retailer to make the move to EO.

Image: Preserving the family-feel of the business through employee ownership

The Entertainer has become the latest major retail brand to become employee owned, helping preserve the high street and providing a clarion call for others to follow.

The move sees TEAL Group Holdings – owner of The Entertainer, Early Learning Centre, and Addo Play Ltd – transfer to a 100% employee owned trust (EOT). The deal is due to complete in September. 

Employee ownership is the result of a long-term succession plan, one that ensures the Group remains independent, preserves the family’s legacy, and the family feel of the business.

The Group has also joined fellow employee owned high street retailers John Lewis Partnership and Richer Sounds in becoming a Trustee member of the eoa. 

“This a bold and brilliant commitment to shared success and a stake in the future for the people who make the business what it is, arriving at a time when many retailers are rethinking what long-term success looks like,” said James de le Vingne, Chief Executive of the eoa.

“I have no doubt that other familiar brands will follow The Entertainer’s example of what’s possible. 

“The future of the high street is employee ownership, and the future is already happening.”

From One Shop to International EO Business

Founded in 1981 by Gary and Catherine Grant, The Entertainer has grown from a single shop with a vision of “one child, one community at a time” to a multichannel international toy business. 

As a high-street favourite, the key to its success lies in the commitment, driving force, and hard work of its employees who create affordable joy and unforgettable moments for customers. The family have cited this as the reason they’ve chosen an EOT structure.

“Today marks a momentous day for the Grant family. It feels like only yesterday that my wife Catherine and I opened our first store in Amersham, and we could only have dreamed what heights the business would reach,” said Gary Grant, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman, TEAL Group Holdings.

“Over the last 44 years, we have invested our working lives into this business. All our children are shareholders, and our two oldest sons joined to work alongside us, 20 years ago - so it’s truly a family business.

“This is a significant decision for the family, and one we haven’t taken lightly, but it feels like the right time to transfer our entire shareholding into an Employee Ownership Trust.”

Building a Great EO Business

As well as the tax-free bonus inherent to the EOT model, employees will also have influence of the Group’s future direction, truly having a say in its success.

To that end, a newly created Colleague Advisory Board will help shape policies, share colleague sentiment and ideas. One of Trust Board Directors, meanwhile, will be representing the employees’ viewpoint on the three-person Trust Board.

The Entertainer is in a prime position for the next phase of its growth, at home and abroad, following the Group’s significant investment in store openings, strategic partnerships, brand innovation, and new B2B2C offering.

“What the Grant family have built is a true British success story – all the more impressive for having consistently championed the belief that business can be a force for good across the communities they serve,” said Andrew Murphy OBE, Group Chief Executive Officer, TEAL Group Holdings.

“I know that our new structure will bring us even closer as a business and will provide our hard-working employees with a sense of opportunity, accountability and belonging as we work to create more memories, inspire wonder and deliver outstanding customer service. I am hugely excited for what lies ahead.”

The Future of the High Street

With 11% of the total UK EO sector (currently 2,470 businesses), wholesale and retail is one of the top five industrial sectors for employee ownership. A constant since 2015.

There has been a rapid increase in the speed and number of transitions within the sector. After hitting triple figures in 2022, wholesale and retail experienced a 20% increase in transitions from 2023 to 2024.

As of July, data from the eoa and the White Rose Centre for Employee Ownership showed there were three hundred EO businesses in the wholesale and retail sector. Combined, these businesses boast 100,000+ total employee owners.

As Britain’s oldest EO business (EOB), John Lewis Partnership occupied the title of the nation’s only high street EOB for decades, and currently accounts for 70% of the above employee figure. 

In 2019, Richer Sounds became the most prominent transition on the high street. Elsewhere, Lush is 10% employee owned with a direction of travel to increase that percentage.

The most recent transition on the high street until now occurred in 2022 with Menkind – also part of Prezzy Box and Gift Universe - which stocks Fudge Kitchen, (another EO brand with a national retail presence. 

There are also plenty of online retailers in the same sector, including jewellery retailer Gemporia as well as wholesale and distributors such as Parfetts.  

“We’re seeing a growing trend for retailers making the move to employee ownership alongside calls to help save the high street. To my mind, a key piece of the solution is employee ownership,” said James.

“Businesses like The Entertainer and fellow eoa Trustee members John Lewis, Richer Sounds, and Go Ape are helping to futureproof beloved brands, root jobs in local communities, and inject wealth into regional economies.”