The firm said the decision to switch to trust ownership “addresses foreseen succession issues” providing a platform for employee engagement through an advisory panel and a growth share scheme to incentivise 41 key employees.

Briggs & Forrester was bought by a management buyout team around five years ago and now all shareholders have sold their stakes to the EOT.

The change in ownership earlier this month was revealed as the firm delivered a rise in pretax profit in the year to October 2020, despite the impact of Covid.

Pre-tax profit rose to £4.1m, compared to £3.2m last year which had been impacted by settlement of a legacy project dating back to 2014.

Group revenue fell 14% to £223m with operating margins for the year up to 1.8% from 1.2%.

In a statement with the accounts directors said: “The group expects to see forward volume to be higher than in 2020, as we enter a period of steady growth after the disruption experienced in 2020.

“The group has forward visibility of many exciting schemes that give us clear optimism for further growth opportunity during 2022 and beyond.”

Over the year, average staff headcount rose to 935, including 215 operatives.

Staff numbers are now expected to be static for the year as remaining staff are brought back off furlough.