The division of responsibility between the non-executive Chair, the Chief Executive Officer and the Senior Independent Director is key to our governance structures.
The primary role of the Chair is to oversee the operation of the Board and the Company’s governance structures. He is also responsible for ensuring that the Company maintains an appropriate level of dialogue with its shareholders. The role of the Group CEO is to oversee the operational management of the Group’s businesses, and the role of the Senior Independent Director is to act as a sounding board for the Chair and other members of the Board and to be an alternative point of access for shareholders for matters that they do not wish to raise through other channels.
You can find out more about each of these roles below.
The Chair is responsible for the leadership of the Board, and his primary role is to ensure that the Board is effective in setting and implementing the Group’s direction and strategy.
In doing so the Chair should:
The Group CEO is responsible for the day-to-day management of the business, in line with the strategy and long-term objectives set out by the Board. The Group CEO may make decisions in all matters affecting the operations, performance and strategy of the Group's businesses, with the exception of those matters reserved to the Board or its Committees.
In doing so the Group CEO should:
The Board will appoint one of the independent non-executive directors to be the Senior Independent Director (SID), to provide a sounding board for the non-executive Chair and to serve as an intermediary for the other directors where necessary.
The SID, in common with all non-executive directors, has the same general legal responsibilities to the Company as any other director. The Board as a whole is collectively responsible for promoting the success of the company. In addition, the SID will:
1. Shareholders
2. Chair