100 employees buy into Spoon owner People People People Group

The People People People agency network, of which Spoon Finland is a member, has expanded employee ownership of the group through a special share issue. More than 100 employees of the People People People agency network have taken the option to invest in the companies for which they worked.
Altogether 111 staffers bought shares in the company by choosing part ownership at three different levels of participation. According to PPP CEO Anders Ribba, the aim behind the multi-level share issue was to allow as many employees as possible to participate at a level that they found appropriate.
“This means that almost half of people who work in the network are involved and own it. There is so much that is good about this. All our agencies have co-owners and we are - as a result - the most entrepreneurial network. The people who work here obviously believe very much in what we create together and want to be part of the journey,” Ribba says.
Ribba notes that when the network’s founders bought the People People Group from Bonnier, the aim was to be the Nordic region's largest employee-owned agency network.
“Now we have really taken another big step on that journey. Everyone who works here and wants to become a partner - should get to be one. We see a huge commitment throughout all the companies and this consolidates that perception,” Ribba adds.
Commenting on recent discussions in the industry that agency employees are not interested in owning, the PPP CEO said that could depend on where people work and the level of commitment they feel to their employers.
“In any case, it is evidently not a truth everywhere. I think it ultimately boils down to what kind of organisation you want. A corporate-driven or entrepreneur-driven. For us, the answer is easy,” he says.
Spoon Finland is a member of the 10-agency People People People Group. The Spoon group is an award-winning global agency founded in 1998 and it has offices in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö, Oslo, Helsinki and London.