Five years employee-owned: reflections on our most significant anniversary yet

As has become something of a tradition, I’ve been gathering my thoughts on the year that’s passed: what’s changed, what’s challenged us, and what’s filled me with pride. So, pull up a chair.

We’re 75% of the way to financial freedom

Let’s start with what might be the most tangible marker of progress: we are now 75% paid. For those unfamiliar with how EOT transactions often work, the purchase price is paid to the founding shareholders over time, from the business’s profits. Reaching three-quarters of the way through that commitment is a milestone I’m so proud of – for the business, for the team, and for what it means for our future.

Our goal is to reach financial freedom by April 2028. Whether we hit that date remains to be seen, but that’s what we’re working towards. It feels close enough to be real.

Our team: the strength of deep roots and fresh growth

Undoubtedly, the thing I feel most proud of as we reach this anniversary is our team. Of our ten-person team, seven of them were with us on the day we transitioned – or before. Five years or more. Many have been here for well over a decade.

There is an incredible strength in that kind of continuity. We know each other’s working styles, our strengths, and – perhaps more importantly – our weaknesses. We function like a well-oiled machine, and the trust and shorthand that comes from years of working together is something I don’t take for granted.

But one of the downsides to a very high staff retention, as wonderful as it is, is that it can mean less fresh perspective. Which is why I’m particularly delighted that last summer we welcomed two brilliant new members to the team: Lorna, who joined us as Senior Designer, and Charlotte, who joined as Website Developer. They’ve brought new ideas, new skills, new energy – and both are now fully embedded and thriving. It feels like the best of both worlds: a deeply established team with some wonderful new ingredients in the mix.

Embracing AI – with our eyes open

It would be impossible to write about this past year without talking about artificial intelligence. It has been one of the defining themes of the last twelve months, both for Salad and for our industry more broadly.

We’ve invested significantly in exploring how AI can be integrated into our processes – and in some areas, the efficiency gains have been real and meaningful. But we’ve also been careful to be clear-eyed about what AI can and can’t do. There can be a misconception that AI is capable of replacing the kind of strategic, creative and digital thinking that we do. It isn’t – and we think it’s important to say so. What it can do is support and enhance the right parts of our work, and we’re continuing to explore where that line sits.

One of the things that has worked really well is our adoption of a ‘hack day’ approach. As well as individuals and teams exploring AI applications within their own areas, we’ve come together as a whole business to work through specific projects and challenges – learning from each other and building shared understanding. It’s been a genuinely exciting way to approach something that can feel daunting, and I’m proud of how the team has embraced it.

People often talk about AI making us dumb, but I must be honest, the way it is stretching us to work and think in completely new ways feels pretty healthy when it comes to my own neuroplasticity!

A new home

After seventeen years, we left our Poole Quay office. A lot of people asked whether it was emotional – and honestly, it wasn’t. It had been a beautiful space and a wonderful home for a long time, but the way we work has evolved. As a hybrid team, we found ourselves in a space that was increasingly empty – and that didn’t feel right.

We’ve tried a few approaches over the past few months, including time in a coworking space, which worked well in some respects but didn’t tick all our boxes. Now, we’ve settled into a fantastic new office in Westbourne – and it already feels like exactly the right place for us. We’ve only been there a couple of months, but the space, the location, and the atmosphere have been warmly received by the team. We’re feeling very much at home.

Evolving our employee voice

Around a year ago, we made a significant change to how we represent the employee voice within Salad – and it’s worth reflecting on how that’s landed, because it’s been one of the most positive developments of the past year.

We originally set up an Employee Council when we transitioned, as we’d been advised to do. But in practice, it never quite worked. With Andy and me excluded as majority shareholders, it inadvertently created a sense of ‘us and them’ – the opposite of what employee ownership should feel like. So we evolved the model.

We moved to an Employee Voice Group (EVG): three representatives, each connected to a specific group of colleagues, who then bring the employee perspective together. Crucially, we also changed where that voice is heard. Previously, it was represented at Trust Board level – which is important for governance, but not always the quickest route to action. Now, the EVG meets monthly with the Operational Board, which means things can be raised, heard and acted on far more quickly.

We’ve also started to think more deliberately about which decisions we can devolve to the EVG – handing over areas that the Operational Board might previously have led on. Watching that happen, and hearing from team members (not just the reps themselves) how much more effective this model feels, has been one of the real highlights of the year.

Changes to our boards

The past year has also seen some significant changes at board level.

Nicole Cook has been our Employee Trustee since we transitioned – voted in twice by her colleagues, and an excellent ambassador for the employee voice over nearly five years. This year, we invited Nicole to join the Operational Board, which felt like the natural next step given her experience and contribution. With that move, she stepped down from the Trust Board, which opened the door to a nomination process. We’re delighted that Jon Lockhart, our Head of Design, has been nominated to join the Trust Board – it’s early days but I’m expecting him to be a brilliant addition.

We’ve also welcomed a new Independent Trustee: Christian Wilson, an exceptionally experienced employee ownership lawyer who has supported more than eighty EOT transitions and sits on a number of Trust boards. It’s already clear that his expertise is going to be enormously valuable as we navigate this next chapter of our journey.

When the chips are down

Back in year one of our EO journey, I wrote: “The real test will be when the chips are down – and we’ve not faced this as an employee-owned business yet.”

This year, we faced it.

Our financial year (which runs to the end of March) was very much a year of two halves. The first six months were record-breaking – genuinely our strongest financial performance. The second six months were harder. A combination of a challenging economic climate and broader market pressures meant that things got tough. We still ended the year in profit, and I’m hopeful about the year ahead – but it would be dishonest not to acknowledge that it’s been a more difficult period.

What’s stayed with me, though, is how the team has responded. It’s easy to feel connected to the employee ownership model when the numbers are looking good month after month. The real measure of an employee-owned culture is what happens when they’re not. And I’ve been buoyed by the resilience, the togetherness, and the determination I’ve seen from our team. 

Champions of our EO community

One of the things I didn’t anticipate when we became employee-owned was quite how much I’d come to love being part of the wider EO community. I’ve become, in the words of some who know me, something of an EO evangelist – and I make no apologies for that.

Over the past few years, we’ve hosted our own South Coast EO Networking events, bringing together businesses at all stages of their employee ownership journeys to share experiences, ask questions, and build connections. 

More recently we have been co-hosting these with other EO businesses. It’s been a real pleasure to bring in fresh ideas and share some of the organising responsibilities with others in our EO network. 

Our next one is on Thursday 21st May in Bournemouth, and it’s a special one. We’re thrilled to be bringing the standout session from last year’s EOA Conference – Behind the Boardroom Doors – to the South Coast, facilitated by the brilliant Jane Mitchell, alongside our friends at Coda Marketing.

It’s a live, interactive Trust Board session: a real board, working through real EO dilemmas, in front of a live audience – with your input shaping the decisions. If you’ve been to one of our events before, you’ll know what to expect. If you haven’t, this is the one not to miss. And it’s not just for leaders – bring your whole team.

My own personal EO development

In the last twelve months, I’ve become an Independent Trustee for two other employee-owned businesses. I won’t pretend it’s been without a learning curve. My only real point of reference going in was what I’d observed from our own independent trustees sitting on our Trust Board, and as it turns out, every experience is different.

I’m enjoying both roles enormously, and I feel I’m contributing in a meaningful way to each business. But more than anything, these roles have reinforced something I already suspected: as James de le Vigné from the EOA puts it, “If you’ve met one EO business, you’ve met one EO business.” No two journeys look the same. And that’s precisely what I love about this world – the diversity of approaches, the honest conversations, and the genuine desire people have to do it well, in their own way.

Looking ahead

Five years in, I know employee ownership was the right path for Salad. Not because it’s been easy – this year has reminded us it isn’t always – but because of what it has built: a team that genuinely cares, a culture of openness and shared purpose, a business I still love deeply, and a sector I’m proud to be part of.

Sleeves firmly rolled up. On to year six.

You can read our previous anniversary reflections here:
Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4