Wakefield recruitment firm becomes employee owned

The ownership of Wakefield recruitment firm Pratap Partnership has been transferred to an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT).

Nik Pratap said: “Establishing Pratap Partnership with the other shareholders has been the proudest achievement of my career so far. The process of nurturing and expanding our current team has deepened that sense of accomplishment.

“Completing this transaction to place the ownership of the company in the hands of our employees is an achievement that is hard to put into words. It has been the most rewarding and exciting experience that I can imagine.

“We have had a lot of fun building our brand, developing our strategy and working with our clients & candidates. This change will allow us to continue with our forward momentum.

“The experience of going through the EOT transaction has allowed me to think a lot more about our future legacy, our purpose and to develop a business that continues to create value for our team, our clients and candidates for many years to come.”

The business was established in 2019 and has grown through investing in its team and expanding to its current size of 20.

‍Karen Caswell, one of the firm’s longest serving employees, will step up to be a director of the EOT.

Karen said: “I have worked with Nik for 10 years. He was/is well-liked and respected across our network and for good reason.

“He is very knowledgeable, honest and transparent, and it is easy to see why people have worked for/with him for so long. I was keen to continue working with Nik as I felt it would benefit me longer term in many ways: flexibility, autonomy, new opportunities etc.

“We have a brilliant team at Pratap Partnership, everyone works together and supports each other, both professionally and personally, and the EOT pays a testament to the hard work, determination and drive of all the employees who all have the same goal: to provide a top tier service to all clients and candidates.”‍

Advisers included Adam Ames and Andy Irvine at Shorts and Russell Bainbridge and Paul Trudgill at Knights.

Andy Irvine, audit partner, said: “We are delighted to have helped advise Nik and the rest of the shareholders with the transfer of the company into employee ownership. This is an important milestone in the ongoing development of the business and we look forward to helping the company in the next stage of its journey.”