Finding the right EO Independent Trustee
Meriel Winwood, co-founder and Managing Director of technology company HUE, describes how JGA ended her company’s struggle to find a truly independent trustee for its Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) Board.
Finding what your business wants in an independent trustee
‘We had been looking for an independent trustee for our EOT Board for a while and it was starting to get frustrating. The Trust Board was set up in March 2021, when we became employee-owned, but we’d struggled to find an independent trustee who was truly independent and could bring the external perspective that we needed.
‘Then we came across J Gadd Associates (JGA). It was our accountant who first recommended them. I had a meeting with (JGA’s founder and MD) Jeremy Gadd early in 2024 and told him a lot about our business and what we were trying to do. He gave me some good advice and guidance – and said that they were able to help.
‘The first step was to put me in touch with his Associate Kathie Robb. She completed a deeper, fact-finding exercise for the non-executive role we wanted to fill and then, together, we built a job description encompassing all the attributes we needed.’
Kathie Robb, JGA’s lead for Independent Trustee appointments
Clarifying your EO independent trustee needs
‘We wanted someone who had already sat on an EOT Board and knew what was required, someone who could make sure that we were being compliant and doing the job properly. They had to have a bit of gravitas… and be a grown up!
‘We wanted someone who could bring advice and guidance on all areas of employee ownership, who understood the opportunities and complexities of the business model, plus ideally have a background in education so they could better understand our business.
‘But it was also vitally important for us to have a personality and culture fit.
‘We took our standard job description, and Kathie and I worked together to adapt it. Kathie then liaised with Cathy Kay at Russam – JGA’s executive search partner - to begin the search. It’s a bit of a niche market.’
Cathy also took the time to contact Meriel to ensure she fully understood all the nuances of the role and what Meriel was looking for and then used her extensive and comprehensive knowledge of the trustee database and personal experience to source the ideal applicants for the job. This is where JGA and Russam’s Employee Ownership Trustee Appointment Service truly comes into its own.
Appointing the best independent trustees for your business
‘From those applications, eight strong candidates were put forward to us and we decided we wanted to interview four of them. We then narrowed it down to two – and we liked those two so much that we appointed one to our Trust Board and one to our trading company board!
‘They are both excellent candidates, who quickly grasped the main issues for our business and understood what we were about.
‘We were absolutely delighted with the outcome and would not have found them if it weren’t for working with JGA. It was so easy to work with Kathie on this project. She is delightful and efficient: it was painless.
‘Kathie picked up our needs immediately and followed it through, always professional and charming. She’s got a bubbliness about her that’s just lovely.’
“Immediately I felt I was in the hands of people who knew what they were doing. It was very efficient and it all just happened. I’ve had a long business career and rarely do things happen this easily. Kathie is delightful and efficient to work with. It was painless.”
Meriel Winwood, co-founder and Managing Director, HUE
Easing the search for the right independent trustees
‘Immediately we started working with JGA, I felt I was in the hands of people who knew what they were doing. It was very efficient and it all just happened. I’ve had a long business career and rarely do things happen this easily.
‘We did very well because we ended up with the two appointments, which was more than we could have hoped for.
‘I’d like to work with JGA again in the future. Jeremy has a wealth of experience with EOTs and we could use his expertise in developing our employee ownership structure. They delivered maximum results with minimum disruption.’
Summary
J Gadd Associates (JGA) worked with HUE for several months in 2024 to help the technology company to recruit its first independent trustee. Our Associates and Russam supported HUE with understanding the requirements of a trustee, devising a job description and fulfilling the brief by identifying suitable candidates.
About HUE
HUE manufactures and sells award-winning colourful, intuitive, affordable and fun USB document cameras and stop-motion animation kits to a worldwide audience across education, business and individual consumers. It was established as a brand in 2010 and became employee-owned in March 2021. Its employees are based in the UK, the United State of America and Europe.
