Leading Scottish healthcare manufacturer, E & O Laboratories Limited, is the latest business
to move to an Employee Ownership Trust. Founded in 1990 by Virginia Lucey, the company
has built a well-respected brand recognised throughout the UK diagnostic sector and across
36 countries worldwide.
Virginia Lucey says, “We have an experienced young diverse management team at the helm
and a loyal workforce who all enjoy operating in a modern team environment. I felt it was
time to hand over more leadership responsibility to the staff who will continue to build our
strong brand. After careful consideration, it was decided that the option of transferring
ownership to the employees using an Employee Ownership Trust would benefit each and
every employee. I believe this is a very positive decision that will enhance the business
longevity, secure jobs for the future and ensure our culture remains progressive, modern,
fair, and non-corporate.”
Virginia was introduced to the option of an EOT by her legal advisers Kerr Stirling. Partner,
Alastair Barclay says, “EOT was an obvious choice for Virginia. The company plays an
important role as a local employer. The sale to an EOT allows the company to continue its
success securing the future for many years to come. We at Kerr Stirling are proud to have
played a small part.”
The company is headquartered in a beautiful rural location west of Bonnybridge, where the
company first built its reputation for harvesting and selling donor animal blood to NHS
bacteriology laboratories throughout the UK. Back in 1995, E&O diversified its products to
include Ready-to-use Culture Media and built its first GMP cleanroom facility. Further
investment followed as the “Team” grew and skill set widened.
With 70 employees and a turnover of 5.5M, major investment followed in 2013, with a new
facility in Cumbernauld and farming activities extended its into West Lothian. This new space
allowed the team to plan and build/design a new state-of-the-art media manufacturing
operation including extensive temperature-controlled warehouse & logistics hub.
In 2020 the company was faced with a huge decision after 80% of the microbiology product
orders stopped overnight when the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Faced with furloughing staff and
dwindling production, the company took a brave move to reinvent itself and focused on
virology reagents. New formulations, tubes, swabs, labelling, packaging, quality control
testing and compliance criteria. Despite Covid restrictions, the company broke all previous
sales records and helped to contribute to the global response of the worldwide pandemic.
Running 3 shifts with 170 employees they achieved a record turnover.
Organic growth has always been E&O’s model, so post Covid expansion was back on track in
the South of England. 2022 E&O invested in a new industrial unit in Reading. Following the
installation of a cold room storage and warehousing equipment, this new “Southern
distribution Hub” went live in the summer of 2023.
E&O is in a very stable financial position, having built a very strong brand within the
Microbiology Diagnostic sector and is now looking forward to future UK and international
growth.
Virginia Lucey has no plans to leave the business and will remain as Managing Director. She
will take a position on the board of the Employee Ownership Trust alongside fellow Director
Judith Dawkins (Financial Director) plus three employee Trustees. These are Dr Douglas
Cameron (Technical Manager), Ann Turner (Administration Manager) and Alan Kelly
(Operations Manager). Judith says “We are a very diverse business, with a unique working
environment/culture which has driven our success. Virginia has demonstrated great vision in
taking this path. Employee ownership will allow us to continue to grow and innovate whilst
securing local jobs”.
Employee ownership is continuing to grow in Scotland with almost 200 businesses adopting
this ownership structure. The Scottish government is committed to there being 500
employee-owned firms in Scotland by 2030.