Today, the Sladen community has something very special to celebrate - we’re delighted to share that Sladen Consulting is now employee-owned.
For us, this is about much more than a change in ownership structure.
It’s about protecting what matters, creating the conditions for Sladen to continue evolving, and ensuring that the business we’ve built together has strong foundations for the future.
A NATURAL NEXT CHAPTER
More than 20 years ago, Richard and Julie Colley founded Sladen with a belief that has remained at the heart of our work ever since: that high performance starts with people.
Becoming employee-owned feels like a natural continuation of that belief. Richard and Julie have sold Sladen to an Employee Ownership Trust, which holds the shares in the business on behalf of its employees.
This new ownership structure allows Sladen to remain independent, protects the culture and relationships that make the business distinctive, and creates the foundations for future generations to continue shaping what Sladen becomes.
PRIDE, TRUST AND THE FUTURE
For Richard and Julie, the decision represents the culmination of more than two decades spent building Sladen.
When Richard sat down with our Client Partner, Sue Firth, to talk about the move to employee ownership, one emotion came through more strongly than any other: immense pride.
In their conversation, Richard shares why he and Julie chose employee ownership over other routes they could have taken, the trust they are placing in the people who will take the business forward, and why preserving the culture and relationships built over the past 21 years matters so much.
He also looks five years into the future – hoping to find a Sladen he still recognises, but one that can also surprise him with things he couldn’t have imagined today.
And, of course, there are red trousers.
It’s a characteristically Richard reflection on legacy, trust and knowing when it’s time to hand something you love to the people who will shape what comes next.
The legacy Richard and Julie leave isn’t simply the business they founded. It’s the culture, relationships and trust that have grown around it – and the opportunity for the people who are part of Sladen today to take greater ownership of what comes next.
Employee ownership gives us the opportunity to protect that legacy without standing still.
SO, WHAT CHANGES?
In many ways, very little.
Our clients will continue working with the same people. Our brilliant associates remain at the heart of how Sladen works – bringing their expertise, experience and energy directly to our clients and delivering our work every day. They are, and will continue to be, fundamental to our success.
Our commitment to the healthcare sector and to long-term client partnerships remains as strong as ever.
Our leadership team – Sonja Skopp, Iris Birnkammer and Benj Johns– is firmly established, our direction remains unchanged, and Richard will remain closely connected to Sladen as a trustee, board adviser and coach.
What changes is the way Sladen is owned – and, with it, the opportunity to think even more deliberately about long-term stewardship.
Employee ownership strengthens the foundations beneath the business, helping us protect what makes Sladen special while continuing to challenge ourselves, innovate and evolve.
It gives us the freedom to keep investing in our people, our thinking, our relationships and the things we believe matter – with the long-term future of Sladen firmly in mind.
LOOKING AHEAD
While this moment gives us a very good reason to look back and celebrate, we’re perhaps even more excited about what comes next.
So, what does employee ownership mean for the future of Sladen?
Richard sat down with our CEO, Sonja, to talk about what changes – and, just as importantly, what doesn’t.
They explore the balance between preserving what has been built over more than 20 years and continuing to evolve for a changing world; what it really means for our people to feel like owners; and why Sonja sees her role not simply as leading Sladen, but as stewarding it for the generations to come.
There’s also a glimpse of what lies ahead, as Richard asks Sonja to imagine the ‘Sladen of the Future’ – and what would tell her that employee ownership had truly worked.
It’s a conversation about protecting what matters, embracing what might change, and the Sladen they hope to build for the future.
And for a slightly different perspective…
Like any organisation navigating change, Sladen has had to work through changing roles, different leadership styles and the inevitable challenges that come with transition.
In an additional, completely off-the-cuff conversation, Richard and Sonja lift the lid on the relationship behind the transition.
Over the past decade, their partnership has evolved through changing roles, difficult conversations, plenty of challenge and, ultimately, a huge amount of trust and respect.
They talk openly about what it has taken for Richard to let go, for Sonja to step forward, and what they’ve learned about navigating change together.
The result is a very human reflection on change, trust and the relationship behind Sladen’s transition.
That willingness to evolve – while holding onto the relationships, trust and values that have shaped Sladen – is very much part of how we’re approaching this next chapter.
And our ambitions haven’t become smaller because we’re protecting our independence. Quite the opposite.
We want to continue developing new thinking, exploring better ways to help organisations achieve sustainable performance, investing in our people and community, and building on the work that has brought us this far.
That includes continuing to take seriously our responsibility beyond our own business. Our commitment to sustainability, reflected in our B Corp status, remains an important part of how we think about Sladen’s future – from the choices we make as an organisation to the impact we have on the communities and world around us. As we grow and evolve, that commitment will continue to grow with us.
Employee ownership gives us a strong foundation from which to do all of that – allowing us to think long term about the business we want to build and the impact we want it to have.
BUILT BY PEOPLE
While Sladen was founded by Richard and Julie, its story has always been shaped by a much wider community – and that will continue to be true as we enter this next chapter.
Alongside Richard and Julie from the very beginning has been Anna Copeland, who remains an integral part of Sladen today. Across our 21-year journey, Anna has contributed enormously to the business, our culture and the community that has grown around it.
Over the years, an extraordinary network of colleagues, associates, clients and friends of the business have brought their own experience, ideas, challenge and energy to what we do.
Our global associate community in particular has always been fundamental to Sladen. It brings together people with different perspectives but a shared curiosity about people, organisations and what helps them perform at their best.
Gatherings, conversations, shared experiences and time spent together on the road have all been part of what makes Sladen, Sladen. So too has the extraordinary commitment people have shown to the business and to one another – often over many years.
That combination of connection, ideas and shared purpose has shaped Sladen every bit as much as any strategy or structure.
And while the business has evolved enormously over two decades – with new people, ideas and capabilities becoming part of our story – the principles on which it was built have remained remarkably consistent. We will continue investing in the people, relationships and community that make Sladen what it is, while creating space for new people, new ideas and new possibilities to shape what comes next.
THE STORY CONTINUES
We’ve always believed that humanity is fundamental to sustainable performance – that when people have the conditions to thrive, organisations are better able to perform, adapt and grow.
That belief shapes not only the work we do with our clients, but the organisation we want Sladen itself to be.
Employee ownership is another expression of that – a choice rooted in long-term thinking, shared stewardship and our belief in people. It’s our way of protecting what matters, while giving the next generation the freedom to keep evolving it.
This is an important moment in Sladen’s story. And we’re very excited about the next chapter.
[Explore the wider Sladen story → Our Story]