Wetherby IT firm hands ownership of the business to the people who help run it
After 27 years of building Italik, founders Robert Field, Max Carr and Stephen Pilkington are handing ownership of the business over to the people who have helped make it what it is today.
The Wetherby-based IT support and consultancy firm is transferring its shares into an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT), meaning Italik will be owned for the benefit of its employees.
For the three founders, the decision is about giving the business a future that reaches beyond the three of them. They want to see Italik continue to grow, with the people who know the business, work with its customers and make it tick having a bigger part to play in where it goes next. It’s also a deliberate move with their own long-term plans in mind: none of them expects to run Italik forever, and they wanted to put a structure in place now that keeps the business, and the people in it, thriving long after they’ve stepped back.
“We’ve spent 27 years building Italik, and we’ve been lucky to have some great people alongside us over that time,” said Robert Field, Managing Director. “We wanted to find a way of making sure the business could carry on growing with those people at the centre of it. Employee ownership felt like the right way to do that.”
The move doesn’t mean the founders are disappearing: Robert, Max and Stephen will continue to run the business alongside the existing management team, with the same people, services and client relationships in place.
For Italik’s customers, it is very much business as usual. The company remains the same legal entity, existing contracts and agreements continue as normal, and customers will keep working with their usual contacts. The only thing that changes is who ultimately owns the business.
The EOT gives Italik’s employees a greater role in the company’s future and means that, as the business continues to grow, its success is shared by the people helping make that happen.
Italik is also recruiting as it continues to grow its team, and for people looking to join a business where employees have a genuine voice and a share in what they’re building, it’s an exciting time to join.
After 27 years, the founders are still very much part of Italik, ensuring there’s a business for the next generation of the team to carry forward.
About Italik
Italik is an IT support and consultancy firm based in Wetherby, Yorkshire, providing managed IT services, cyber security, cloud infrastructure and networking. Founded in 1999, the company became employee-owned in October 2026 by transferring its shares into an Employee Ownership Trust.