First-rate care, First-rate people, First-rate value

First Community are extremely proud to be named as a UK Top 50 employee-owned company for the 3rd year running

EO top 50 company
Published on Monday 27 June 2022

Employee Ownership Day took place on 24 June 2022 and is an annual celebration to raise awareness of the benefits of employee ownership. 

Here at First Community, we believe that being employee owned helps us deliver first rate care at first rate value to our patients and service users across east Surrey and West Sussex. Our first rate staff are very proud of the influence they are able to have over decisions at First Community and feel trusted to do their job delivering excellent health care to local communities.                                               

Sarah Billiald, Chief Executive Officer shared her views on being an employee-owned health care provider:

“We firmly believe that being employee-owned means that our staff are empowered to deliver the best quality of care for our patients and service users. 

"Our staff have a voice to input into how our services are delivered and how the company runs which creates engagement into the overall company structure and management processes. Employees tell me they feel genuinely cared for, as individuals, and given flexibility in their roles which makes them enjoy working for First Community. 

"Being listed in the top 50 for the third year is a fantastic achievement and illustrates that our staff and service users really do benefit from our employee-owned structure.”

The theme for this year is #GrowEO. There are now more than 1,000 businesses that are employee owned in the UK - a sector that contributes over £30bn to UK Gross domestic product (GDP).

James de le Vingne, Chief Executive of the Employee Ownership Association, said:

“We consistently see the employee owned Top 50 outperform the rest of the UK economy when it comes to productivity.

“There is a lot that can be learned from these businesses when it comes to having better governance and oversight and better performance driven by engaged employees. Combined with the recent growth in the sector, employee ownership is proving its relevance as a model fit for unlocking the potential of people, businesses, and the economy.”

Click here to view the full Employee Ownership Top 50 list.