Meeting ProTech's Employee Trustee - Jacob Trigg

As part of ProTech's transition to employee ownership, the ProTech team have elected their employee trustee to serve on the employee ownership trust board (EOT). 

Winning out against another team member in a secret, Jacob Trigg was duly elected by all the employees at ProTech to be the first to serve on the board and to represent the interests of the employees. Jacob will serve a two-year term.

We decided to catch up with Jacob Trigg to see just what he's made of it all.

What was your reaction to the news that ProTech was to transition to becoming employee owned?

It was great news and it felt really positive when the news was announced to us all as a team. You hear of companies such as John Lewis and how ultimately the employees all reap all in the rewards of their efforts together and you can't help but be excited by that sort of thing. Being a recruitment business, I'm sure it's particularly beneficial to the consultants because while we already had a solid culture amongst the team here at ProTech, it's the sort of thing that can only increase that and foster it more strongly, especially when it comes to working together to reach targets for the business. Clearly the better the company does moving forwards, the better everyone does, which will be a critical dynamic.

And I guess it's nice to know that there is a tangible and confirmed future now beyond the timescales of the original directors?

Yes, exactly that. While no-one was sure when Antony and Roman would decide upon any exit from the business, we could have been in a scenario where all of our futures felt very uncertain, whereas with the way in which the business is moving now towards employee ownership, we can feel confident that as long as we keep our efforts up, ProTech will continue into the future.

Based upon the confirmation to the employees that this was the direction the business was taking, you put yourself forward to be the employee representative on the initial EOT board. What was it that inspired you to throw your hat into the ring?

Firstly, I felt it would be interesting to be involved in the business more myself and gain an insight into more of what the business is doing- especially because I work in the finance department. I figured I would quite like the responsibility of representing the best interests of my peers and being a conduit to everyone that works here to make ProTech successful. And I felt like it would be great to have the trust of my team members that in any relevant discussions on the board, I would be putting forward suggestions and ideas that are relevant and appreciated by them.

Of course, and to that end you know you already have a mandate of sorts from the team as you won out in a ballot against another team member in order to be elected to the role. How did it feel once the votes were in and you had come out on top?

It was a nice feeling to know that people trust you really. They trust you to act in their best interests and in the companies.

What's the progress been like so far? 

So far, we've just signed the documents and I've met the independent trustee. There haven't been any meetings yet and it's early days. 

How did you find meeting the independent trustee?

He seems like a really nice guy. Ultimately we won't make decisions that will impact upon the day to day running of the business but we'll be able to look at, feedback on and regulate the decisions that are made by the management team. 

What does the immediate future hold then do you feel?

Well as of right now, not too much has changed. The transition itself takes four years or thereabouts and Antony and Roman are still here. The day to day operations of the business are as consistent as they were before it was announced, although as Samantha Morgan and Ismail Mansoor have joined the board of directors and they'll have more responsibility moving forwards, but for the majority of us our job roles are just the same.

When is the first Trustee meeting likely to be held?

I'll go through the meetings of the EOT board bi-annually. So about once every six months. But the first one is expected to be in about three month's time.

So to wrap up then. Is there anything in particular you hope to achieve during your tenure on the EOT board?

To make sure that the morale amongst the employees remains high, that they know they have a link into the board of Trustee Directors representing their interests and to help smooth the transition over to employee ownership so that ProTech can make the absolute best of it.