What is the newly formed Equal Experts Trustee group, and how does it work now that Equal Experts is network owned? 

At this year’s Equal Experts Annual conference, EE associate Neha Datt sat down with the group for a panel discussion to find out more about the newly created Equal Experts Trust, and what happens next. Watch the video below or read on to find out more: 

Sreekandh Balakrishnan (Sree), CTO at Travelopia and Trustee, opened the session by explaining the benefit of a trustee group compared to being funded and run by private equity or venture capital. “When companies are funded that way they operate on short [term] models that don’t allow for long-term thinking,” he said. “This model is radical because it takes a long-term balanced view that focuses on generating value for the network, customers and employees first – with profit coming along naturally.”

Neha asked the panel whether they will operate according to the principles of transparency that are a hallmark of EE’s culture. Although it’s still early days, the hope is to be extremely transparent, said Sofie Jenson, an associate at EE and Trustee. “We should share and document our journey, meetings, agendas and learnings, potentially through a Slack channel. It’s important we document those learnings and leave them for whoever comes after us.” 

Next, the discussion moved on to the trust’s guiding principles and guardrails that the team will be following. Sree explained that members of the group have a tenure of two years, with the possibility to renew or appoint new trustees thereafter. 

While guiding principles are still being developed and will be shared in future, he said that the trust has a very different role to the executives. “Trustees won’t replace the execs, we’re more like the conscience keepers of the company’s growth,” said Sree. “The execs continue their roles and we guide them, and nurture the journey.” 

Trustees are appointed to the board for two years, although this can be renewed. “We don’t know how much progress we’ll make in two years but it will depend on how quickly trustees get to grips with what the business really is,” said Thomas de Cad’oro Granier, EE’s founder. 

The trustees all felt that they were excited to be invited to join the group, and agreed that they bring very different skills and experiences to their roles. “Reflecting on the conversations I’ve had with Thomas and Ryan over the years, I think I tend to ask probing and difficult questions. There would be easier people to invite, but I think that’s part of why I was chosen,” said Alun Coppack, EE employee and Trustee. 

“I think there’s a leadership lesson here about building a team based on energy and connection, rather than just ticking off a list of skills. I believe there was a connection and vision alignment felt by both Thomas and me,” Sree added. 

Alun was then asked what the group’s response was to potential unionisation among EE employees. Alun started by saying that while he was an associate and is now an EE employee, he does not represent employees as a whole – he represents the entire network. “The trust is here to provide governance to the execs rather than make decisions about how the company runs. If a decision like that needed to be made, it would come to us for approval, but we don’t drive that decision.” 

In a related question, Neha asked the panel how decision-making will change in EE because of the trust. Thomas explained that major decisions for the execs, like where to invest money, where to open new offices, will still be driven by the exec team, but will come to the Trust for approval. “Most day to day decisions won’t change, but significant investments and strategic decisions will involve the trust,” Sree added. 

Finally, Neha pointed out that the company now owes a debt to Thomas and Ryan that will be repaid over the next 6-8 years. She asked whether this would mean different pressures on the business around cash flow, compensation or associate day rates? 

Thomas replied by saying it was a deliberate decision not to use bank lending to finance the employee buyout, and this made the deal achievable. “We pay everyone’s salaries, then other costs, then profit share for employees, then taxes, then future investments,” he said. “Whatever is left goes towards repayment. We are very happy to be last, whereas the bank would always be first.” 

The panel discussion concluded with Ryan Sikorsky, EE’s Co-Founder, reiterating Sree’s point earlier in the conversation about the fact that the Trust is in the early days of forming, so the plan is to follow an iterative approach, figuring things out as they go along, and communicating openly with the network every step of the way.