All On The Board: The Official Sunday Times Bestseller

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The chairman may not always be a part-time non-executive: many are full time and describe themselves as executive chairman, but the roles of chairman and CEO are at least distinct. In addition to the responsibilities described above, the chairman ensures there is a good working relationship between the executive and non-executive directors and sufficient time to discuss strategic issues. Tesse Akpeki, Fellow of the Chartered Governance Institute, Organisational Health and Person-centred Consultant and Founder of the Wellbeing, Leadership and Resilience Leadership initiative [from the foreword]

Marks & Spencer is a rare case of a major company where the roles of chairman and chief executive have been combined.You will be asked to provide, in 500 words or less, details of why you think you are well suited to this programme and what you hope to achieve from it, including outlining the type(s) of boards you are interested in joining. The non-executive directors should convene regularly, as a body, with the chairman, but without their executive colleagues; and at least once a year they should meet on their own under the leadership of the senior independent director to appraise the chairman’s performance. (See: Composition and structure of the board, an OUT-LAW guide.) In 2008, the chief executive, Sir Stuart Rose, was handed the chairman’s job as well – in contravention of principle A.2. Shareholders muttered that this was contrary to the Code, but the company stressed that the roles would be split again when Sir Stuart retired in 2011. In the meantime, the new chairman’s dominance would be counterbalanced by the senior independent director, who was given special responsibility for governance issues. The application form will ask you for your name, institution, role, and the name of the individual whose application you are supporting. You will be asked to write a short statement to confirm your commitment to supporting the applicant on the programme and to describe how you will make an active commitment to improve board diversity and inclusion at your institution. Please see question 12 for more information on the role of an institutional champion.

However, Standards for the Board does attempt to highlight the broad tasks that are pertinent to every board and also the indicators of good practice that can help them reflect on how they are fulfilling those tasks. Hence, it is argued, boards can be helped greatly by focusing on four key areas: must be sensitive to the pressures of short-term issues and yet take account of broader, long-term trends must be knowledgeable about ‘local’ issues and yet be aware of potential or actual wider competitive influencesDeveloping diverse talent is important, and it is recognised that sustainable change in behaviour and practice requires increased inclusion at a structural level, particularly in governance structures. For individuals to be successful we need to remove barriers previously hindering progress which cannot be done by a development programme in isolation. Advance HE and Wellcome are therefore requiring each participant is supported by an institutional champion. She holds an MBA (distinction) from Bath University, was awarded the MBE for Services to Business and the Public Sector in 2011, is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (FCIPD) and was made a Chartered Companion (Chartered CCIPD) in September 2021, recognising outstanding and distinguished service to the people profession. Regardless of which stations you commute between, if you use the London Underground (or did in ‘old normal’ times), chances are you will have come across an information board brandishing a playful, punchy or poignant quote by the All On The Board duo. The pair of TfL employees have been penning poems and creative messages – covering topics from one-off music events to love and mental health – on information boards at Tube stations since 2017.

To be eligible, each applicant must belong to one or more of the protected groups which are targeted by this programme: they have a ‘material business relationship’ with the company or have had one within the previous three years, including an indirect relationship as a partner, director, senior employee or shareholder of an adviser or major customer or supplier (this would catch a partner from, for example, the company’s audit firm moving on to the board after retirement);Ensure that the company’s organisational structure and capability are appropriate for implementing the chosen strategies. Ultimately, however, it is up to the board to decide who ‘qualifies’. The board is expected to consider the above – and, indeed, any other factors that may impair independent judgment – but none of them is to be thought of as grounds for automatic ‘exclusion’. It may be that an individual is judged to have the strength of character and integrity to remain unaffected by circumstances that, in theory, compromise their independence. Although charities and boards vary in size and structure, all trustees and all boards share some key roles and responsibilities to govern effectively and remain compliant. These include: satisfying themselves on the integrity of financial information and that controls and risk management systems are robust and defensible;

Note: All proceeds from the book are for the good of the sector and Debra receives no income from it. Debbie was appointed FA Chair and Leader of Council in January 2022. She also chairs the FA Nominations Committee and sits on the FA Remuneration Committee. She is also non-executive chair of Visa Europe Limited, comparethemarket.com, and White Stuff Limited. Dr Andrew Purkis, trustee, Directory of Social Change, former Charity Commission and board member and former chair or vice-chair of seven UK charities is expected to be focused on the commercial needs of its business while acting responsibly towards its employees, business partners and society as a whole

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Being clear about the people who carry out work for the charity – trustees, staff, volunteers – setting up and respecting boundaries between the governance role of the board and operational or day to day matters. Applicants and their institutional champions must both complete a form using the same link. Forms can be completed separately and do not need to be submitted at the same time. scrutiny of management’s performance in meeting agreed goals and objectives and the monitoring of performance reports; The UK Corporate Governance Code sets out its own view of the role of the board. This can be summarised as: must simultaneously be entrepreneurial and drive the business forward while keeping it under prudent control