Having joined Fort last year, in the midst of the business celebrating five decades of business, Lisa Le Ray – Head of People, reflects on what makes Fort stand out as an employer of choice in the Bailiwick’s crowded marketplace.

As one of the few remaining local independently owned trust and corporate services providers, I was initially drawn to Fort’s approach to business, as well as the desire to remain independent. Our model is simple - strive for client service excellence in all that we do, and offer a market-leading employee experience, enabling our people to be their best.

In this increasingly aggressive market, which continues to see so much consolidation, and where some businesses are heavily focused on shareholder results, employee culture can take a back seat, ultimately leading to low staff morale and, in turn, unhappy clients, Fort continues to be consciously different.  As a true people-first business, we acknowledge that employee engagement is critical to the success of our strategy, and by doing so, presents us with significant opportunity to grow and thrive.

We are in year two of our three-year strategy which focuses on commercial growth and operational transformation – we are dedicated to empowering our clients with excellence and enabling our people to be their best and, following our successful brand refresh, we’ve started shouting about what we do - I think it’s safe to say, we are no longer the local TCSP best kept secret!  

With almost 50 employees across our offices in Guernsey and Alderney, and an average length of service of over ten years, Fort is proof that the stability and continuity of our team allows us to build strong client relationships and consistently deliver exceptional service.  We continually encourage employee feedback and acknowledge that ‘one size doesn’t fit all’.

Rewarding employees is not just the monthly financial transaction, when salaries hit bank accounts - it’s about being flexible and offering solutions which support our colleagues to achieve the life/work balance they desire; it’s providing development opportunities, whether it be professional qualification support or developing wellbeing strategies to aid colleagues in our continually busy lives; it’s listening and taking action; it’s ensuring the best tools are available to our colleagues enabling them to engage in, and deliver rewarding work; it’s acknowledging and celebrating successes (however big or small); it’s about timely, and accurate communication ensuring that colleagues are updated and engaged in relevant information and that everyone understands the business strategy, and of course it's about having fun – we spend a long time working, let’s have a good time whilst we are here!  

Fort has a true people-first approach, is continually evolving, adapting and thriving in a rapidly changing business landscape and I am thrilled to lead the people strategy within this incredible business.  We do things right, we do things properly and throughout, we ensure we look after our clients, employees and communities.  This is what has given our business 50 years of success and make us poised to be successful for the next 50 years.