The Financial Times Non-Executive Directors' Club
2010 Networking Seminars
London, 11 March 2010
These events bring together current and prospective Non-Executives,
our Recommended Recruitment Associates and others interested in the
selection and training of Non-Executives,
providing a unique opportunity to hear and meet key players
in the Non-Executive area.
This high profile networking event is aimed specifically at Chairs and CEOs of FTSE 350 companies, institutional and other investors and their advisers. It starts with a short presentation by Simon Lowe, managing partner of Grant Thornton's Business Risk Service practice, on the findings of their eighth annual review of the UK’s FTSE 350 corporate governance disclosures. This is probably one of the leading reports on governance each year. Last year's review was used by The Walker Review secretariat and the FRC in their reports released at the end of 2009. Simon's presentation is followed by a panel discussion on the findings of the Review, it's implications for good governance and the role of non-executive directors in the light of the revised UK Corporate Governance Code, due to be published in March and which will come into force for year ends from June 2010. The panellists represent both the investment and the corporate communities as well as the regulators. We are delighted to welcome as our panellists: Sir Christopher Hogg, Chairman of the Financial Reporting Council; Luke Johnson, of Risk Capital Partners and formerly Chairman of Channel 4; Peter Butler, CEO and founder of Governance for Owners; and Seamus Gillen, Director of Policy at the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, . Seamus is taking a leading role in the work the ICSA is doing on behalf of the FRC updating the recommendations of the Higgs Review of the role and effectiveness of non-executive directors. The discussion will then be opened out to all the delegates, giving them a chance to ask their own questions and make their own comments in what promises to be a lively and interesting debate. The evening rounds off with a networking drinks reception.
The Future of Non-Executives in the FTSE
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16:00
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Register
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16:30
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Welcome
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16:40
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FTSE 350 Corporate Governance Review 2009
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Speaker
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Simon Lowe
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Managing Partner, Grant Thonrton’s Business Risk Service practice
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Simon is the managing partner of Grant Thornton’s Business Risk Service practice. His focus is in working with large organisations to achieve an appropriate balance between value retention and value creation as they continue to develop and strengthen their governance practices. He is lead partner on a number of FTSE 350 or equivalent internal audit contracts and is the author of the FTSE 350 Corporate Governance Review and the Football Association Corporate Governance Guide as well as contributing a chapter “Is the Model Working?” to The Business Case for Corporate Governance published by Cambridge University Press.
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17:00
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Panel Discussion
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moderated by
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Simon Lowe
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Managing Partner, Grant Thonrton’s Business Risk Service practice
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Simon is the managing partner of Grant Thornton’s Business Risk Service practice. His focus is in working with large organisations to achieve an appropriate balance between value retention and value creation as they continue to develop and strengthen their governance practices. He is lead partner on a number of FTSE 350 or equivalent internal audit contracts and is the author of the FTSE 350 Corporate Governance Review and the Football Association Corporate Governance Guide as well as contributing a chapter “Is the Model Working?” to The Business Case for Corporate Governance published by Cambridge University Press.
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Panellist 1
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Sir Christopher Hogg
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Chairman, FRC
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Sir Christopher Hogg became Chairman of the Financial Reporting Council on 1st January 2006. He began his career in industry with Courtaulds in 1968, going on to become Chief Executive in 1979, executive Chairman from 1980, and non-executive Chairman from 1991 to 1996. He was a non-executive director and subsequently Chairman of Reuters Group (1984-2004), SmithKline Beecham and then GlaxoSmithKline (1993-2004), and Allied Domecq (1995-2002). He was a non-executive director of Air Liquide SA from 2000 to 2005.
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Panellist 2
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Luke Johnson
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Risk Capital Partners
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Luke Johnson runs Risk Capital Partners and served as Chairman of Channel 4 Television for six years until early 2010. Luke also writes a weekly column for the Financial Times and wrote for the Sunday Telegraph for eight years.He was Chairman of PizzaExpress during the 1990s and is currently an owner and Chairman of Giraffe restaurants and Patisserie Valerie. He has also owned companies in recruitment, dentistry and retailing. He graduated from Oxford and worked as a stockbroking analyst covering the media sector in the 1980s.
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Panellist 3
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Peter Butler
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Governance for Owners
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Peter became a founder partner of Governance for Owners in November 2004 and is the current CEO. Governance for Owners is dedicated to adding long term shareholder value for investor and service clients by exercising owners' rights. Previously he was responsible for building the highly respected Corporate Focus , Focus Fund and EOS teams at Hermes Pensions Management Limited. During this period he established the largest corporate governance team in the world and developed the concept of the Hermes Focus Funds which employed relational shareholder engagement techniques to add value to the fund. Peter is at the forefront of the global debate on the development of corporate governance and is a past board member of the International Corporate Governance Network.
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Panellist 4
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Seamus Gillen
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Director of Policay, ICSA
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Seamus Gillen worked for the UK Government as a senior policy adviser, becoming Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for the Environment, and then the Deputy Prime Minister. He moved into industry as the Company Secretary and Director of Regulation at AWG plc, and was subsequently Head of Public Policy and Regulation at O2 plc. As Director of Policy at the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA), Seamus was the architect of the Institute’s Transparency in Governance Awards which acknowledges UK quoted companies’ disclosure relating to their governance performance. Seamus also leads ICSA’s work on boardroom behaviours, and its review of the Higgs Guidance in relation to the new Corporate Governance Code.
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17:30
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Questions from the floor
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18:00
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Networking drinks reception
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19:30
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Close
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