Martin Lambie has been made a director along with company director Oliver Chapman, and Cat Liggat and Anna McLuckie are now associates acknowledging the wider team’s breadth of experience and vision for the practice’s bright future.

After working with Co-operative Development Scotland (CDS), all six employees now have a stake in the business.

Oliver Chapman said: “We were looking at how we can make the business more resilient and employee ownership just made sense. I was aware of other architectural and engineering practices making the same decision in recent years, and CDS case studies showed that it was a good option in terms of employee engagement and a stable transition of ownership.”

He added: “With a wide-ranging set of projects in our portfolio and on the drawing board, we’re looking forward with enthusiam to continuing our work with our clients, consultants, colleagues and friends.

“Thanks for advice from Ralph Leishman, Blackadders, DBFM, Scottish Enterprise and David Narro.”

Clare Alexander, head of CDS, said: “The consistent issues that arise in our discussions with growing companies are their desires to retain their unique identity and purpose, secure a future in the local community and reward their loyal teams – at the same time as increasing their profits.

“Welcoming companies to the employee ownership fold at the beginning of 2023 really demonstrates that employee ownership can work for businesses of all shapes and sizes. It’s an increasingly popular choice among socially conscious firms who recognise the need to do things differently in the current challenging environment.”