Who are the trustees of an EOT and what do they do?

An EOT will usually have between three and five trustees, depending on the size of the business. A typical three-person board might comprise a director, an employee and an independent person such as an accountant or trusted professional adviser.

Trustees hold the shares on behalf of the employees and must always act in the employees’ best interests. It is important that sellers do not make up a majority of the trustee board, and 5% participators must not form a majority either — at the time of the sale or afterwards — or the EOT may be disqualified.