West Highland Publishing Company - keeping news local

The campaigning Isle of Skye weekly, founded in 1972, became the first employee-owned newspaper in the UK in 2009 after its five founding shareholders decided to sell.

Employee buyout

Their preferred exit was through a community or employee buyout that would keep the business in the local area.

“We knew that if this company was sold and subsumed into a bigger group, it would mean job losses,” explained Managing Director Paul Wood.

One of the newspaper’s owners referred Wood and his team to CDS to explore employee buyout options. CDS arranged a meeting with Baxi, the employee buyout specialist, to discuss funding and contributed to the cost of a feasibility study.

Community benefits

An Employee Benefit Trust was set up to buy the business on behalf of the employees, using company profits to repay loans. Staff attend a monthly meeting and are represented on the board by five employee-elected directors.

As well as retaining the brand and employment in the local community, employees are more engaged and their confidence and skills are growing. Following staff feedback, the company is developing a news agency business and using new media to sell content to other providers.