Corporate governance and the UK Corporate Governance Code

Corporate governance is at the core of what we do and our annual report details how the Board has applied the principles and provisions in the Financial Reporting Council’s UK Corporate Governance Code (the Code) during the year under review.

The Code sets out principles and specific provisions on how a company should be directed and controlled to achieve standards of good corporate governance and it provides a guide to a number of key components of effective board practice.

The Code applies to all companies with a Premium listing of equity shares, regardless of whether they are incorporated in the UK or elsewhere. The Company is therefore required to report against the Code for each of its financial years. A copy of the Code is available at www.frc.org.uk.

The Board is committed to the principles of corporate governance and corporate social responsibility, specifically including those contained in the Code. The Board also regularly takes account of the corporate governance guidelines of institutional shareholders and their representative bodies.

The Board recognises that good governance helps the business to deliver the strategy, generate shareholder value and safeguard shareholders' long-term interests, and is committed to high standards of corporate governance.

Composition of the Board

The Board is responsible for setting the Company's strategy and provides entrepreneurial leadership for our group of companies (the Group) within a framework of sound controls which enables risk to be managed. It sets the Company's objectives, values and standards and ensures that the financial and human resources are in place to meet them. The Board also regularly reviews management performance.

The Board normally meets 8 times a year, as well as spending one day at an offsite annual strategy conference. Further details of the Board responsibilities and processes are set out in the Corporate Governance report of our annual report.

The structure of the Board and the integrity of the individual directors ensures that no single individual or group dominates the decision making process. There is a common purpose of promoting the overall success of the Company with a unified vision of the definitions of success, the core strategic principles, and the understanding, alignment and mitigation of risk.

Full details of the directors and members of the "Board" are provided in the “Board” section of this website and in the Annual Report.