Grape Tree has gifted its staff a combined bonus of £100,000 after its sales rose 10%.
The payment is the first handed out by founder Nick Shutts after he sold the business to an Employee Ownership Trust in December last year.
Around 900 Grape Tree staff across England, Wales and Scotland would now share the bonus, which comes ahead of the opening of the health & wellness retailer’s 200th store in July.
The payment highlighted the success of Grape Tree’s new employee-owned model, and reinforced the “people centric” direction in which the business was travelling, Shutts said.
“We’ve had a very strong start to life as an Employee Ownership Trust and wanted to give something back to our people, who have really embraced the transition,” Shutts said.
“It’s a little ‘thank you’ to show them that if the business does well, so do they and we’re hoping that this can become an annual occurrence as we continue to grow and expand to new locations across the UK.”
Having founded Grape Tree in 2013, Shutts made the decision to sell a majority stake in Grape Tree to its employees last year as a way of providing a clear succession plan for management. It would also reward existing staff and support retention and future recruitment, the business said at the time.
The business is now run by Shutts alongside a 20-strong employee council made up of staff from different areas of the business. Since becoming employee-owned, Grape Tree had improved efficiency at its assembly and packaging plant in Kingswinford, Shutts said. It had also opened 10 new stores, creating more than 50 jobs.
“It is having a real impact on the bottom line. Our market share in the healthy foods market is growing, sales are increasing across multiple ranges and we’ve got several exciting new store openings set to take place.”
Grape Tree targets further UK growth
Grape Tree is in the midst of an ambitious UK expansion plan to take its budget health & wellness offer across the UK. It set the aim of reaching 200 stores by 2026, and is set to hit that target with the yet to be confirmed opening next month.
The rollout – which was fuelled by a massive investment into doubling capacity at Kingswinford – saw turnover rise by 32% to £69.3m in 2024, in its latest accounts. The business has not disclosed its current turnover, but said sales had risen 10%.
Shutts is best known as the founder of high street health & wellness chain Julian Graves, which he eventually sold to Holland & Barrett in 2008. He founded Grape Tree along with a handful of ex-Julian Graves employees following the retailer’s collapse into administration.
“It’s really important that we make healthy food and wellness products accessible to everyone and that is what we do every day, across nearly 200 stores,” Shutts said.
“Being an EOT has given us the platform to bring all of our staff on this exciting journey and secure their buy-in for continuing to deliver our promise of excellent value and the very best customer service.”
No comments yet