Riverford will be 100% employee-owned as the founder sells shares

Organic food box businessman Guy Singh-Watson is selling his remaining stake in the company he founded for millions of pounds.

Devon-based Riverford supplies around 80,000 boxes of vegetables a week.

Singh-Watson, 63, said he would sell his 23% stake to an employee trust for almost £10m this year, after selling almost three-quarters of the company in 2018.

After the sale, 100% of the company’s shares will be owned by the trust.

Mr Singh-Watson, who started the firm near Totnes in 1987 delivering organic vegetables to friends, is handing over a company which forecasts sales of around £98m this year.

An employee council of the co-owners meets once a month to manage the business.

Mr Singh-Watson said he did not “plan to be a stranger” and would be a trustee and non-executive director of the firm.

“The business is running and successful as a result of the work of its 1,000 owners and it just seems wrong for me to be the sole beneficiary of that,” he told BBC News.

“I think we’re doing pretty well and I feel pretty confident about the future.

“But there is a lot of evidence that employee-owned businesses are more resilient to challenges than conventionally owned businesses.

“And at the age of 63, I’m starting to find it a bit draining and it’s probably time to step aside.”

He said his first move after selling the shares would be to “pay all my tax.”

He also has a number of projects and charities he wants to invest in.

“I plan to use most of this wealth to try to shape the world to be like the world I want to live in,” he said.

“I will spend a small portion to indulge myself.

“But I’m not interested in cars, I drive a 20-year-old beat-up pickup truck.”

“I have a very small boat that I really like and I like to surf, so I might buy a new board.”

Riverford tweeted: “Not being beholden to shareholders who want quick returns allows us to think long term.

“Employee ownership is the way to go with ethical business.”