Opinion: designers need to stop thinking about business as a dirty word and consider the legacy of their company, says Paul Priestman, chairman of transport design firm PriestmanGoode. Here, he explains why he has effectively sold his company to his employees.

Designers are trained to think about the future, so why do so few consider the legacy of their business as an intrinsic element of their growth strategy"
In March 2016, PriestmanGoode became an employee-owned company and is now majority owned by an Employee Ownership Trust. This means that every employee now has a stake in the company, by way of a trust (ie they do not have to personally invest any capital).
For most design companies, the idea of succession is tantamount to a merger or acquisition While directors Nigel Goode, Luke Hawes and myself are not intending on retiring or removing ourselves from the business, we felt it important to start planning now for the future of the company we have built and steadily grown from a small product design consultancy into one of the leading transport and aviation design studios in the world.
The idea of succession is not something that is discussed enough in our industry, nor are the various options widely understood. For most companies, the idea of succession is tantamount to a traditional merger or acquisition.
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