EO Trustee

OUR EO TRUSTEE SERVICES

We act as an independent trustee on the board of your employee ownership trust company, sitting alongside employee representatives and other trustees to maintain effective governance and deliver purpose.


We are proud to be a member of the EO Association

The EOT board represents the interests of the employees as majority owners of the company, making all their decisions based on the best interests of those employee owners.

The EOT board is separate to the operational board, with no responsibility for day-to-day service delivery within the company. The trustee board derives its powers and functions from the trust deed specific to that company.

EO businesses are spread throughout the UK, across all sectors and sizes. They have been shown to have more engaged employees, improved productivity, greater resilience and provide a stable foundation for growth.

We provide a named independent trustee to support your EOT model, bringing a neutral voice to trustee meetings and decision making.

Our trustee services are sector agnostic and tailored to meet the needs of your EOT structure, and stage of employee ownership (see below).

There are no set membership numbers or defined criteria for the composition of your EOT board. Whatever your trust board composition, we believe that having an independent trustee brings an experienced neutral voice to the discussion who can sit alongside your employee, management or vendor trustees working with them to create a meaningful forum.
It's imperative for the trustee board to understand the interaction between their role and that of the board of directors, as well as any other groups within a company, such as an employee engagement forum. 
As an independent trustee we can ensure focus, support discussions, train, mentor and coach fellow trustees, chair meetings, provide sample board agendas and work with you to reach your goals for your trust board, all from a position of experience.
Without breaching confidentiality, we can share experience from across EOT companies, sharing best practice or alternative views from across our portfolio of appointments.
No matter what stage your EOT is at, whether planning, transitioning or mature, we can add additional knowledge and experience to your EOT and board of trustees.

01 Pre EO

Planning your transfer to being employee owned?


It feels overwhelming to consider what needs to be done from financial valuation to HMRC clearance, legal documentation to residual shareholder considerations and trust company incorporation ... and that's without adding in employee engagement, board composition, trustees, communications with employees, clients and suppliers.


What changes should your business adopt in the new model, importantly what shouldn't you implement, and what will your future business look like?


Engaged early as your independent trustee, we get to know you and help you navigate and prioritise multiple activities into clear deliverables over a period of time (before and after transition) that takes the pressure off vendor and founders from believing that it all has to be completed on day 1.

02 Early stage EO

Transition to EO has happened but there's still a lot to do to really get the benefit.


Creating a business model and framework that can support the real benefit that being employee owned can give you takes time.



As the independent trustee, we work with operating boards and fellow trustees to clarify each stakeholder group within the company (board, trustees, employees), what they're responsible for, critically what they're not responsible for, how they function, and how they interact with each other.


We use a tested framework to build on your existing model to minimise disruption to the day-to-day business and ensure that what has successfully worked in the past is used as a springboard to create success in the future.

03 Evolved EO

Ready for a refresh or seeking a successor trustee?


As business that moved into Employee ownership some time ago, you may have a requirement to appoint a new independent trustee, or may be looking to refresh your EO with an aim to generate even greater benefit from being employee owned.



Appointed as a successor trustee to your existing independent trustee, we bring knowledge of other EO businesses and can work with you to refresh your EO model, using our framework from the transition stage, we can validate your current model and suggest tweaks to make it even more effective.


Practically we can also support employee trustee appointment processes, review governance mechanics and refresh the trustee oversight of the board by bringing new insight and expertise.

Our Appointment Process 

We aim to keep our appointment process simple and timely to meet your needs. It is also free.
Our process follows 5 simple steps, whether you are appointing your first, or a successor, independent trustee:

1. Initial Discussion
We start with an initial no strings confidential conversation to understand your current stage of EO, what your needs are and to understand a bit more about your business. 

This is the initial stage for you to share any expectations or concerns you may have, or to ask any questions on the role of the trustees, governance or EO in general … contact us for an initial conversation.

 
2. Proposal
If our services could deliver against your requirements, we provide you with a proposal for the appointment of an individual to your trustee board. 
This proposal includes more information about how we work, our pricing and the resume of relevant EO individuals who could act as your independent trustee.

3. Knowledge Sharing
Once you have had an opportunity to read through our proposal, we arrange an e-meeting with the individuals who you believe would best suit your needs. True to our values of sharing our knowledge, this is an opportunity for you to ask any EO questions that you may have, trustee related or EO in general. Through these conversations you will get an understanding of the knowledge and character of each person.
 
4. Your Decision
Having met the IDT candidates, you decide which individual would best suit your current needs, safe in the knowledge that you have chosen the individual, but also have the IDT EO governance framework to work with, and the expertise of the whole IDT team sitting behind your appointed person.

5. Contract
IDT provides a standard form agreement to appoint IDT as the provider of your independent trustee, naming your chosen individual as the appointed person.
Once signed you take it from there, agreeing directly with your appointed independent trustee how often you will meet, any specific areas you would like them to look at, and how the relationship will work practically.
 As a client of IDT you not only get great people supporting your trustees, you also get the benefit of a company sitting behind them, providing tools, processes and procedures designed to suit the services that are provided. This includes the IDT governance framework, trustee toolkits, IDT insurance, standardised invoicing, and a single point of contact for non-trustee administrative queries.

How we work with you 

We contract with you to provide a named individual to act as the independent trustee on your EOT board.
Our fees are charged for formal trustee meetings, plus activity fees for any additional work undertaken outside these meetings. Additional work is agreed with you prior to being commenced so that you can keep close focus on costs and activity.  
 
Our independent trustees support their own continuing professional development and maintain their knowledge of governance and trustee responsibilities, bringing that knowledge and expertise to their role on your trust board.

Our independent trustees are located across England and Scotland and all have experience of working at senior levels with various sizes of employee owned businesses.
Contact us at:

info@directorsandtrustees.co.uk

or tel: 0203 926 6000

for a free copy of an EO trustee job description

or for a no obligation confidential chat about your EO structure, your trustee board or your EO queries and requirements. 
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