Hard work opens the door for unexpected bonus boost for employee-owners at Union Industries

Staff at Union Industries have received an unexpected financial boost after it was revealed their Employee Ownership Bonus contained an additional £1,000.

The Leeds-based company, which is the UK’s premier designer and manufacturer of high-speed industrial rollers doors, made the announcement at its Annual General Meeting held at its Angel’s Wing factory.

An envelope containing the increased amount was hidden under a chair in the meeting. When prompted staff checked their seats, with Steve Long from the Service Sales Department finding the envelope and revealing the number to his colleagues.

Following an earlier meeting in April where directors revealed provisional financial results for 2017/18 to its employee-owners, the AGM presented updated figures for that year, which confirmed the company made a profit of £826,000.

As a result, the company was able to increase its shareholder bonus from £2,000 to £3,000, for each full time employee whatever their status in the business.

Union Industries became an employee-owned organisation in 2014. Under the ownership scheme every qualifying employee at Union Industries was awarded an equal share of the business.

Although the company has always boasted a committed workforce, becoming Employee Owned has further empowered its team as well as offering the added financial incentive of the tax-free bonus.

Since becoming employee-owned the company has enjoyed consistent growth and has seen demand increase for its range of products and services.

Union’s doors are installed in distribution centres, warehouses, factories and storage facilities to improve logistics and help maintain environmental conditions for companies across the UK and Europe.

The company also produces Industrial Curtains for locations including aircraft hangars and large warehouses, as well as a General Trading division offering an eclectic range of products such as bespoke PVC Covers and various other Fabric Engineered products.

Andrew Lane, Managing Director of Union Industries, said: “Employee-ownership has played a significant part in the continued success of Union Industries and the increased bonus is just reward for our people. Union has always had a committed and talented workforce, which are now excelling with the knowledge that the decisions they make and the effort they put in contribute to their own and their colleagues’ future success.”

“It was also very satisfying to announce the bonus because it has been a challenging year as the economy changes ahead of Brexit, but we have defended and grown our market share, winning repeat business and securing projects in a cross-section of sectors from automotive through to food production.”