The founders of the behavioural science firm Mind Gym, including a school friend of David Cameron, are poised for a windfall of nearly £50m when the company joins the stock market this week.
Octavius Black, who went to Eton with the former prime minister, founded the company in 2000 with the psychologist Sebastian Bailey, and its flotation on Aim at 146p a share on 28 June will value the business at £145m.
Black and the company’s chair, Joanne Black, who are married, will make £24m between them, while Bailey will cash in £22m. The three will retain a 64.6% stake.
Black said: “When we started out 18 years ago at my kitchen table, [behavioural science] was readily dismissed; now, the way businesses use behavioural science determines their success.
“Mind Gym’s IPO [initial public offering] will raise our profile and help us lead the development of psychological tools to make companies more diverse, ethical, agile, productive, innovative, healthy and profitable.”
The company, whose profits rose from £4.8m to £7.8m over the past 12 months, has worked with 62% of FTSE 100 and 59% of S&P 100 companies, including groups such as Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline and Microsoft. It specialises in business transformation, managing employees, and learning and development.
Recently, the growth of the #MeToo movement prompted about half of its existing clients to approach Mind Gym to help them improve their company culture, the company said, leading to the launch last week of a product called Respect, which focuses on dealing with harassment.
The company has 293 self-employed coaches who present its products to clients’ staff in 90-minute training sessions. These coaches have to pass an assessment test to become certificated after a five-day training programme. They have to show relevant experience to enter the assessment programme, although the company does not reveal the exact qualifications needed.
Mind Gym’s growth over the past five years has been driven by a strong performance in the UK and a successful launch in the US. Its next big move is to raise its profile in northern Europe.
In the run-up to the flotation, the company beefed up its board with the appointment of a former TalkTalk chief executive, Dido Harding, as a non-executive director.