Scott Bader is an employee-owned global manufacturer of advanced composites, structural adhesives and functional polymers. Established in 1921, it has over a century of expertise in manufacturing high-quality, innovative products for a variety of markets around the world. Scott Bader now employs over 800 colleagues across seven manufacturing and 18 offices worldwide.

Scott Bader is different from most other companies. Its business is based on the simple principle of maintaining a balance between its social purpose and business needs. It became the first UK company to hold a Common Ownership Certificate when the Bader family gifted their shares to the Scott Bader Commonwealth Ltd – in simple terms, this means that Scott Bader colleagues own and are responsible for the success and overall well-being of the company.

This rare ownership structure brings great benefits:

• The business is totally independent and cannot be taken over or sold, creating more sustainable business relationships
• Colleagues have an instrumental role in running the business, a role which is much greater than their everyday tasks and empowers them to learn and grow
• Its charitable status brings a responsibility to the wider community, to make a positive difference in everything it does. Every year colleagues are invited to vote on how much of the company profit should be donated to the Commonwealth to support its charitable activities.

Please click here to learn more about its social impact.

Scott Bader Commonwealth Ltd (SBCW) has nine Directors who are its Trustees. Three of these are internal appointments, five are external appointments and one is the Chair of Scott Bader Company Ltd, which is the operating company of the Scott Bader Group (the “Company Member”).

Scott Bader Commonwealth Ltd is seeking to appoint a Chair of Trustees who will be an External Guardian Trustee to serve for a term of 3 years from December 2023. The Chair will have a strategic role in representing the vision and purpose of the organisation and will ensure that the organisation complies with its constitution document, charity law, company law and any other relevant legislation or regulations.

The Chair will ensure that the Board functions properly, that everyone has a voice, and that effective decisions are made and carried out. They will also be an ambassador for the organisation.

The role of the Chair will be to ensure that:

• SBCW's strategic business and organisational development is aligned with the founding purpose and charitable objects of the Commonwealth, which can be found here
• The Commonwealth and Guiding Principles are lived out in the working community that is the Scott Bader Group. This duty includes ensuring that company practice progressively moves closer to its stated Guiding Principles
• The Commonwealth’s founding intention of being an example to the world of a different way of doing business is acted upon, evaluated, researched and promoted

Key areas of involvement:

• Strategic Leadership; Governance; External Relationships; Board and Trustee Efficiency and Effectiveness; Chairing and leading the Board Relationship; Ambassador for Scott Bader Commonwealth Ltd.

The Chair will have strong business acumen and alignment to the company values, which can be found here. They will have prior board experience, either as Chair / Deputy Chair / Committee Chair or Senior Independent Director. They will have excellent communication and leadership skills along with the ability to foster and promote a collaborative team. 

Applicants will be able to deliver the vision of the charity, bring colleagues together and act as an ambassador attending functions and meetings and acting as a spokesperson, when required.

Regardless of functional or sector expertise, the Chair should possess strong personal ethics and integrity which match Scott Bader's Guiding Principles. The successful candidate will be collaborative in approach and not afraid to promote or champion alternative and innovative ideas. Applicants should have an interest, if not experience, in industrial democracy and employee ownership.

This role has a high time commitment because of the nature of the responsibilities associated with it. This is a hugely exciting role because of the complex structure of Scott Bader and is the perfect opportunity for candidates who are looking for a challenging role with an interesting and unique blend of commercial and not-for-profit activities.

Andy Bell, Chair (term ending November 2023)
Paul Smith
Hansi Manning
Richard Tapp (Senior External Guardian Trustee)
David Harris
David Black
Agne Bengtsson
Ben Penney
Gillian Shapiro

More information can be found here

This role is unremunerated, but reasonable, pre-agreed travel expenses will be reimbursed. There are four / five Commonwealth Board meetings and three G4 meetings (this is a meeting between the Chair of Commonwealth Board, Chair of the Board of Scott Bader Company Ltd (which is known as the Group Board), Chair of Global Members' Board and the CEO of Scott Bader Company Ltd). The Chair will also be required to attend a Global Members' Board and Group Board as an observer. The appointment is for a three-year term but shall be eligible for re-nomination.

The time commitment of this role would be c. 3 days per month. If you have any questions about the breakdown of the time commitment, please discuss further with Nurole. 

The head office is based in Wollaston, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire England. It is expected that the Chair will be present, in person, for the four / five Commonwealth Board meetings and G4 meetings.