Kent law firm Whitehead Monckton has announced its transition to become an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT), making it one of the few law firms in the country to embrace this ownership model.
Effective from 29 October, a majority of the firm’s shares have been transferred to the Whitehead Monckton Employee Ownership Trust Limited, which will hold the shares on behalf of the firm’s 121 employees across five offices.
The firm of Whitehead Monckton has offices in Maidstone, Canterbury, Tenterden, Ramsgate and Canary Wharf, and was created in 1968 by the amalgamation of two Kent law firms.
Whitehead, Thomas & Urmston was founded in approximately 1781, while John Monckton established his practice in Maidstone in 1839. Six generations of the family worked as solicitors until Timothy Monckton’s retirement in 2014.
As well as general corporate and personal legal services, Whitehead Monckton specialises in the healthcare, education, rural, property and leisure business sectors.
In recent years, the firm has grown significantly, opening in Canterbury in 2013 and merging with Dockland Solicitors in 2016 to have a presence in London. The firm moved to first-class modern office premises in Maidstone in 2018.
Managing director Christopher Longden said: “The directors have always regarded themselves as custodians of the business with each generation of business owners growing the business for the benefit of the next generation.
“The Employee Ownership Trust will keep our firm’s ownership, people and interests right here in the Kent community.”
The current leadership will remain in place but the new structure will give employees a stronger voice in the organisation through a new Employee Council, reporting to the firm’s new Trust’s Board.
Among other leading local Kent companies, Whitehead Monckton has advised Ashford-based Kentstone Properties Limited since it was incorporated in 1862, which makes it the second-oldest trading company in the county.
