Founders of Aardman Animations are looking to the future and have made a decision they believe will ensure the company’s continued success.
Peter Lord and David Sproxton, who founded Aardman in 1972 have decided to transfer the company’s ownership to its employees. A majority of shares will be transferred to a trust, senior management will retain their positions and will form an executive board.
Lord and Sproxton of the multi-award-winning animation studio released a statement, which reads, “We’re not quitting yet, but we are preparing for our future. This approach, the creation of an employee trust, is the best solution we have found for keeping Aardman doing what it does best, keeping the teams in place and providing continuity for our highly creative culture. And of course, those that create value in the company will continue to benefit directly from the value they create.”
The two wish to ensure that the company retains its independence in an era of mergers and acquisitions.
“We’ve spent so much time building this company up and being so profoundly attached to it. It’s not a business to us, it’s everything, it’s our statement to the world,” said Lord. “Having done that for so many years, the last thing we wanted to do was to just flog it off to someone.”
Aardman is best known for Shaun the Sheep and Wallace and Gromit. The studio is currently shooting Farmageddon: A Shaun the Sheep Movie, which will be followed by Chicken Run 2.
