Award-winning Scottish architecture firm becomes employee-owned after 15 years

AN award-winning Scottish architectural firm has moved to employee ownership as it marks 15 years in business.

Edinburgh-based 7N Architects will be owned and run by its 24 employees moving forward after owner and founding director Ewan Anderson transferred 100% of his total shareholding to a trust.

The Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) model has been growing in popularity in recent years, with accounting firm BDO Global reporting a 40% increase in the number of new EOTs in 2023 compared to 2022.

7N Architects said its move to an EOT structure comes as it celebrates 15 years since it began operation, on April 18.

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Moving forward, the firm will be led by a board of directors – composed of Anderson together with co-directors Ben Watson and Craig Tait.

They will work in collaboration with a board of trustees, with independent chair John Hume and 7N team members Lisa Blyth and Laura Adamson – who were both elected by fellow employees.

Blyth said: “The whole employee ownership process was a hugely insightful experience showing how all our employees could play a significant role in the future of the company.

“All team members took part in a variety of workshops ranging from defining our purpose statement to exploring what kind of work we wanted to focus on in the future.

“We now have a flexible and democratic management structure which reflects the representative and collegiate working environment that 7N has worked so hard to create over the years.”

Anderson said: "It’s an exciting time for the practice, with projects from London to Lerwick.

“We’ve created the City Centre Strategy for Glasgow, masterplans for University of Glasgow and Inverness Campus, a new station concept for Network Rail, built hundreds of new homes in some of the most deprived and affluent parts of Scotland, and have developed transformational proposals for new workspaces which put people’s wellbeing at the heart of the design.

“I look forward to being an integral part of a new era for 7N Architects – and seeing the company, our employees, and our clients continue over the longer-term to reap the benefits of our enlightened and progressive approach to making better places.”