Employee-owned business census and survey 2024

The Employee Ownership Census was commissioned by Scottish Enterprise to measure progress towards the Scottish Government target of growing Scotland’s employee-owned business (EOB) community to 500 companies by 2030. The census reports on the number of employee-owned business and their contribution to the Scottish economy, including turnover and employment figures. The census was also accompanied by a survey which provides insight on Scottish employee-owned businesses, their governance, objectives and practices.

The detailed methodology can be found in the report.

Since 2022, the EOB community in Scotland has grown by 47% or 91 companies – an average of 45 new EOBs per year. With this trend continuing, Scottish Enterprise will meet the 2030 target, which the Scottish Government set out in its 2021 Programme for Government.

Latest figures show there are currently 286 EOBs operating in Scotland (up from 195 in 2022) – comprised of 177 Scottish-registered EOBs, 25 Scottish-registered workers’ co-operatives and 84 EOBs with trading/production operations in Scotland, but which are registered elsewhere.

It also revealed that Scottish-registered EOBs and worker cooperatives have a combined turnover of £1.47 billion and employ 7,593 people. This is a 113% (£780million) increase in turnover and a 42.5% (2,265) increase in employment since the 2022 census.

The census exercise has provided a robust estimate of the number of employee-owned businesses registered in Scotland, and it provides a useful further benchmark study to evaluate the success of policy initiatives to grow the employee-owned sector in Scotland.