INFORMATION technology firm Network ROI has been acquired by employees of the firm supported by £1m million funding from ThinCats, which provides loans for small and medium sized enterprises.

Thirty two employees of Midlothian-based Network ROI have completed a buy out of the business from Sean Elliot, who founded the firm in 2003.

Mr Elliot thinks the buyout will allow the company to maintain strong growth and help preserve its culture while giving employees a stake in the business. The firm provides IT support for clients.

“I was coming up to 50, and we began to look at an exit strategy and a business plan to support that. I considered the usual options such as a trade sale, but came across the concept of employee ownership,” he said.

The partipants in the deal chose the package offered by ThinCats after considering a range of sources of capital.

Mr Elliot said ThinCats offered funding on more attractive terms than the high street bank which was short-listed along with it.

Leicestershire-based ThinCats provides loans ranging from £100,000 to £5m for SMEs. The firm says it has more than £200m of committed capital to lend against assets and cashflows.

Mr Elliot decided to go down the employee buyout route in 2013 with guidance from Cooperative Development Scotland.

Arran’s Auchrannie resort and Glasgow-based audio-visual company Mediascape have also become employee-owned this month. The total of such firms in Scotland is expected to exceed 100 by the year end.