La Fosse
Independent Chair of our Employee Ownership Trust
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About the Role
La Fosse is the UK’s largest employee-owned technology talent services partner. Our purpose is simple: building tomorrow, today.
We help organisations access, develop and deploy the technology talent they need to transform and remain competitive. Just as importantly, we create an environment where our people can build long-term careers, share in our success and have a genuine stake in the value they help create.
Our employees collectively own 75% of La Fosse. This means that when the business succeeds, the people who helped build it benefit directly.
We are now looking for an experienced and genuinely independent Chair to lead the Board of our Employee Ownership Trust and help protect the interests of our employee beneficiaries as La Fosse enters its next stage of growth.
The Opportunity
La Fosse is scaling across three core service offerings:
- Recruitment: Executive, Permanent and Contract
- Solutions: including La Fosse Academy
- Consulting: Inovus
These services operate across three specialist technology markets:
- Business Systems and Change
- Cyber Security and Cloud
- Data, AI and Software Engineering
As we continue to grow and prepare the business for a future liquidity event, strong and independent Trust governance has never been more important.
The Trust Board holds the employee shareholding on behalf of every eligible employee. Its role is to ensure that the decisions made as La Fosse develops continue to serve the long-term interests of the people who built the business, alongside its commercial ambitions.
The creation of this Independent Chair position follows a wider governance review and reflects our commitment to strengthening the Trust Board’s independence, effectiveness and accountability.
Your Role
As Independent Chair, you will lead the Trust Board in carrying out its fiduciary responsibilities to La Fosse’s employee beneficiaries.
You will provide experienced, objective leadership, ensuring the Trust remains independent from company management while maintaining a constructive relationship with the Executive Board.
The principle at the heart of the position is clear:
The Trust owns the business, but it does not run it.
You will sit alongside:
- Simon La Fosse, Founder Trustee Director
- Hannah Thompson, Trust Director and Chief People Officer
- Karina Oluwo, Trust Director and Lead Employee Panel Ambassador
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The Trust Board formally meets twice a year, with regular engagement between meetings on trading, governance and other significant matters.
What you will be responsible for
Leading an effective and independent Trust Board
- You will chair Trust Board meetings, set clear agendas and ensure discussions result in informed, timely and properly documented decisions.
- You will bring an independent external perspective to the Board and ensure it acts objectively and in the best interests of employee beneficiaries, rather than being influenced by the priorities of day-to-day management.
- Where a Trust Board vote is tied, you will hold the casting vote in accordance with the Articles of Association.
Protecting employee interests
- You will ensure the Trust fulfils its purpose of safeguarding the long-term interests of La Fosse’s employee owners.
- Working closely with employee-elected Trustee Directors, you will help ensure employee feedback and sentiment translate into meaningful influence at Trust Board level.
- You will also consider reports and requests from the Employee Panel or Council and ensure significant employee issues are properly represented in Trust Board discussions.
Providing oversight and constructive challenge
- You will provide credible, constructive challenge to the Executive Board where decisions may not be in the best interests of employee beneficiaries.
- This will include overseeing the Trust Board’s shareholder responsibilities, such as:
- Reviewing and approving reserved matters
- Considering director appointments
- Reviewing significant strategic decisions
- Assessing trading updates and strategic priorities
- Monitoring enterprise value and management accounts
- Considering the potential impact of decisions on employees
- You will maintain a clear distinction between effective shareholder oversight and involvement in the operational management of the business.
Maintaining strong governance and compliance
- You will ensure the Trust Board operates in accordance with the:
- Trust Deed
- Articles of Association
- Reserved Matters
- Relevant Employee Ownership Trust documentation
- Applicable legal and tax requirements
- You will ensure meetings are properly constituted and quorate, decisions are recorded accurately, and conflicts of interest are identified, declared and appropriately managed.
- You will also help protect the Trust from structural, regulatory or governance risks that could compromise its independent status.
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What we’re looking for
You are likely to have previously operated as a:
- Board Chair
- Senior Independent Director
- Experienced Non-Executive Director
- Trustee or adviser within an employee-owned organisation
You will have a strong understanding of fiduciary responsibilities, shareholder governance and the role of an independent board.
Experience of Employee Ownership Trust structures, Trust Deeds or Employee Ownership Association frameworks would be highly valuable.
You must also:
- Be genuinely independent from La Fosse, its founder and current Trust Directors
- Have no current or recent role as an owner, director or employee of La Fosse
- Be a UK tax resident, as required of all Trustees
How you operate
You will be a credible and thoughtful bridge-builder, able to work effectively across the founder, executive leadership, employee representatives and Trustee Directors.
You will bring:
- The confidence and gravitas to challenge senior executives
- The judgement to remain constructive and avoid operational overreach
- Strong personal integrity and independence of thought
- Sound financial literacy and the ability to interpret group financial information
- The ability to mentor and support employee-elected Trustee Directors
- A disciplined approach to governance and conflicts of interest
- A genuine belief in employee ownership and responsible long-term value creation
This is an opportunity to play a meaningful role in the future of an ambitious and established employee-owned business.
You will help ensure that La Fosse continues to grow responsibly, remains accountable to its employee owners and protects the interests of its people through the next important stage of its development.
For someone passionate about strong governance, employee ownership and sustainable business growth, this is a rare opportunity to create a lasting impact.
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