After 34 years of successful trading, Standguide Limited, along with parent company Standguide Group Limited, has now become a 100% employee-owned organisation.

Established in 1990, Standguide has successfully delivered employment, education and health-related services in the UK, on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions, Department for Education, NHS, Ministry of Justice as well as mayoral combined and local authorities. Standguide currently supports over 16,000 people per year to move towards, gain, retain or progress in employment.

CEO Mark Owen-Long and CFO James Gambles took over majority ownership of Standguide Limited in 2018, establishing parent company Standguide Group Limited and leading expansion across England, Scotland and Wales.

In addition to this, Mark and James have consistently driven Standguide’s quality of service, in 2022 achieving Ofsted Grade 2: ‘Good’ for its devolved Adult Education Budget provisions and ‘Exemplary Fidelity’ for its NHS Individual Placement & Support delivery, as well as maintaining the Matrix accreditation and Investors in People status.

Today, after 6 years of successful expansion, Standguide are delighted to announce the formation of the Standguide Employee Ownership Trust, responsible for 100% share ownership. We are genuinely excited that Standguide’s staff will benefit in its future success.

CEO Mark Owen-Long said: “Our staff have long been at the core of our success. We are a Disability Confident Level 3 Leader and are accredited by Investors in People. As such, the voice of our staff is at the heart of what we do. This decision will allow Standguide to grow and prosper long into the future as an independent company, and we believe that employee ownership will herald the start of a new and vibrant chapter in the Standguide story.”