Sponsors and Associates

CHAPTER ZERO

Chapter Zero, the Director’s Climate Forum, is building a community of Non-Executive Directors and equipping them to lead crucial UK boardroom discussions on the impacts of climate change. Its 1,400+ members are helping ensure their companies are fit for the future and that global net zero ambitions are transformed into robust plans and measurable action.

Established by a group of Non-Executives in 2019, Chapter Zero offers its members tailored events, toolkits, relevant information and a peer network to draw on for experience, inspiration and ideas.

www.chapterzero.org.uk/

CHARTERED GOVERNANCE INSTITUTE UK AND IRELAND

The Chartered Governance Institute UK and Ireland (formerly ICSA) is the chartered membership and qualifying body for people working in governance, risk and compliance, including company secretaries. With over 120 years’ experience, it seeks to develop the skills, knowledge and experience of governance professionals through its qualifications, training, guidance and technical know-how. The Institute works with executive and non-executive directors to enhance the quality of governance in all types of organisations.

https://www.cgi.org.uk/

HENLEY BUSINESS SCHOOL

Henley Business School was founded in 1945, and was the first business school to be established in the UK and is one of the oldest and most respected schools in Europe. It is consistently ranked among the world’s top 50 business schools and is also among the top 1% in the world.

www.henley.ac.uk

QUOTED COMPANIES ALLIANCE (‘QCA’)

The Quoted Companies Alliance (‘QCA’) is the independent membership organisation that champions the interests of small to mid-size quoted companies. It identifies the issues that matter to its members and keeps them informed. The QCA campaigns, informs and interacts to build the understanding and connections that help members stay ahead.

www.theqca.com

ICAEW

The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (‘ICAEW’) is a world leading professional membership organisation that promotes, develops and supports over 147,000 chartered accountants worldwide. The Institute provides qualifications and professional development, shares knowledge, insight and technical expertise, and protects the quality and integrity of the accountancy and finance profession.

As leaders in accountancy, finance and business ICAEW members have the knowledge, skills and commitment to maintain the highest professional standards and integrity; with the support of the Institute members contribute to the success of individuals, organisations, communities and economies around the world and people can do business with confidence.

www.icaew.com

ETON BRIDGE PARTNERS

Eton Bridge Partners has built a reputation for being trusted experts and allies in the fields of Executive Search and Interim Management. The Firm has four specialist practices of Board, Business Transformation & Technology, Finance, and Human Resources and are recognised for their ability to offer an in-depth understanding of the skills, experience, and personal chemistry needed to source and secure first-class talent solutions.

A huge emphasis is placed on building relationships that will span an individual’s career, not simply the short-term. Through rigorous, long term analysis and sound, assessment based judgement, the Firm has a fantastic understanding of the Talent Pool within its niche markets. Eton Bridge Partners is immensely proud of the tangible results they achieve, with so many of their clients returning to deliver future succession, it demonstrates the value of their personal approach to both organisations and individuals.

www.etonbridgepartners.com

BoardEx

BoardEx is a relationship mapping and people intelligence organisation which contains a vast dataset of 1.5 million leaders and decision makers across 2 million public, private and not-for-profit organisations collected and curated over 20 years. Leading Financial Institutions, Corporations, Academic Institutions, Executive Search and Professional Services firms leverage the power of BoardEx people intelligence to gain leadership insight, deepen relationships and source new opportunities.

A team of over 350 skilled analysts manage a rapidly growing and accurate dataset on executives, board and non-board members, leaders, and influencers. Approximately 2,500 new profiles and 27,000 profile updates are made every week as part of a constantly growing database that is trusted to enhance business development initiatives; research and identify up and coming talent for leadership roles with diverse backgrounds and experiences; and help organisations with due diligence activities.

https://info.boardex.com/NEDA

PUNTER SOUTHALL GOVERNANCE SERVICES (‘PSGS’)

PSGS are the trusteeship and pension governance experts and are a long-established and award-winning business. Following a merger with HR Trustees in January 2018, they one of the UK’s largest professional trustee firms and have collectively been in business for over 40 years.

The firm works with defined benefit (‘DB’) - open, closed and in wind up - and defined contribution (‘DC’) schemes, helping trustees and sponsors manage risk, ensure effective governance and decision making and attain long-term goals for their schemes. Clients include companies listed on the FTSE100, not-for-profit organisations and small to medium sized businesses. PSGS is on the Pension Protection Fund Trustee and Support Services panel.

www.psgovernance.com

ACT LEADING TREASURY PROFESSIONALS

The Association of Corporate Treasurers (‘ACT’) sets the global benchmark for treasury excellence. As the chartered professional body for treasury, it leads the profession through an internationally-recognised suite of treasury qualifications, by defining standards and championing continuous professional development.

www.treasurers.org

THE SPORT AND RECREATION ALLIANCE

The Sport and Recreation Alliance is the umbrella organisation for the governing and representative bodies of sport and recreation in the UK and represents 320 members, including organisations like The FA, the Rugby Football Union, UK Athletics, the Ramblers, British Rowing and the Exercise, Movement and Dance Partnership.

To support these bodies, the Sport and Recreation Alliance established the Alliance Directors Club in early 2014. The Alliance Directors Club is a unique hub for existing and aspirant board directors in sport and recreation. It gives its members an opportunity to hone their skills, build up their professional networks and progress their careers as non-executive directors, as well as offering a gateway for anyone outside the sector looking to pick up a directorship in Sport and Recreation.

https://www.sportandrecreation.org.uk/pages/about-us

THE CQI (CHARTERED QUALITY INSTITUTE)

The CQI (Chartered Quality Institute) is the chartered body for quality professionals. We improve the performance of organisations by developing their capability in quality management.

Established in 1919 as the Institute of Quality Assurance, we gained a Royal Charter in 2006 and became the CQI shortly afterwards in January 2007. The CQI is the only organisation in the world that can award chartered status to quality professionals – an unrivalled mark of excellence.

With members all over the world, we are uniquely placed to define and lead the quality profession, setting the standards for its capability and scope through the CQI Competency Framework. We encompass the whole quality community, including quality management professionals (CQI members) and management systems auditors, through our specialist division IRCA (the International Register of Certificated Auditors).

https://www.quality.org/

THE RISK COALITION

The Risk Coalition is a network of not-for-profit professional bodies and membership organisations committed to raising the standards of risk management in the UK. The Risk Coalition launched the Risk Guidance Initiative in 2018 to meet the need for coherent, principles-based good practice guidance for board risk committees and risk functions within the UK financial services sector. The outcome of this work is ‘Raising The Bar’ published in December 2019, further work and guidance is planned for corporates and other non-financial businesses. 

In developing its guidance, the Risk Coalition draws on industry, academic and regulatory best practice and consults widely, especially with the key UK financial and other regulators who are supportive of all work that raises risk standards across the industry.

https://riskcoalition.org.uk 

WOMEN ON BOARDS (WOB)

Women on Boards (WOB) exists to help women make the right connections and career choices to get to the top within their own company or to take on a board or committee role as a non executive director (NED), trustee or governor. We are breaking down the barriers to entry to the boardroom and building the pipeline of board-ready women. WOB operates from the principle that as talent is equally divided between men and women in the world, organisations in all sectors need to work towards a gender balance of 40:40:20 at board and leadership level in order to reach their full potential. For its subscribers, WOB provides the information, connections and encouragement to ensure more women are appointed to boards across all sectors.

https://womenonboards.net/en-GB/Services/WOB-Network

BOARDROOM READY

Boardroom Ready matches senior executive employees from top-ranking organisations with boards of non-conflicting AIM listed, privately owned and SME companies, to give them real commercial boardroom experience.  The senior executive is meticulously matched with a board looking for their particular skillset, in the role of a ‘Board Observer’ for 12 months. The executive gains exposure to the realities of the boardroom, and the host board benefits from market and industry expertise, a specific skillset that may be missing from the board, and a fresh pair of eyes from a highly experienced executive, such as a functional head, from a different industry.

The programme provides a practical, hands-on boardroom experience to give candidates a head-start on the myriad of other aspiring NEDs. It is a personalised solution that helps to differentiate the CV, to raise internal profile, or to increase confidence and brand.  Boardroom Ready has created a unique opportunity to guarantee a real commercial board experience as a board observer, providing all the boardroom experience sought without the challenges of having to personally source that elusive first NED role. 

www.boardroomready.co

INSTITUTE OF BUSINESS ETHICS

The Institute of Business Ethics (‘IBE’) was established in 1986 to champion the highest standards of ethical behaviour in business. Since its formation the IBE has advised organisations on how to strengthen their ethical culture by sharing knowledge and good practice, resulting in relationships with employees and stakeholders that are based on trust.
The IBE advocates the importance of ethical behaviour in business; advises businesses and business leaders on how to achieve the highest standards of behaviour based on ethical values; undertakes research and thought leadership in support of the application of ethical values at all levels in organisations.

https://www.ibe.org.uk/

PILOTLIGHT

Pilotlight is a charitable body that amplifies the impact charities, business and individuals can bring to make a better world. Its programmes see business experts (‘Pilotlighters’), who are often experienced NEDs, share their expertise with charities, bringing new perspectives and learning for both sides, to help charities thrive. Since 1996, Pilotlight has helped over 1,000 charities tackling social disadvantage to ignite change that lasts. 

https://www.pilotlight.org.uk/

PURPOSECRAFT

Purposecraft is a pioneering consultancy dedicated to strategic company purpose development. Whilst purpose-driven companies have been shown to outperform their peers, evidence suggests that the purpose of many companies may be suboptimal, adversely affecting performance, agility, and future value creation. 

Purposecraft has unique practical experience in successful strategic purpose development in public and private companies, working with boards and senior leadership teams. The firm supports NEDs to assess the state of purpose development in their company, and to guide the board accordingly in this critical and often misunderstood area.

www.purposecraft.co.uk

The Engagement Appeal

The Engagement Appeal (‘TEA’) is a UK based social venture that looks to help both companies and individuals achieve more inclusive investor engagement through constructivism rather than activism.

TEA aims to address issues of diversity, equitability, inclusion, stakeholder capitalism, and sustainability, bridging the generational gaps, creating mutual understanding and promoting public good.

https://teaxall.org/

Kroll

Kroll is a leading global investigative consultancy, recognised for conducting complex cross-border and internal investigations internationally. For over 45 years, the firm has worked as a trusted partner to corporates and their external legal advisors, financial institutions, private equity firms, government agencies, non-profit institutions, board level directors and individuals.  Kroll assist them in addressing some of their most complex challenges, in the fields of:

Fraud, Corruption and Money Laundering; Intelligence, Transactions (M&A), Corporate Activism and Due Diligence; Litigation and Disputes (e.g. shareholder disputes); Reputational Risk – individual and corporate; Regulatory and Corporate Compliance Risk; and Information and Intellectual Property Risk.

The firm draws on experts from a diverse range of backgrounds to bring together multi-disciplinary teams that operate globally, and draw upon the full suite of investigative tools, including forensic accounting, data analytics, public data sources and investigative technology. The firm also has one of the most developed international ‘source’ networks that provides intelligence to inform investigations. Kroll is often hired as a result of its investigative specialism, independence and lack of conflicts.

www.kroll.com

NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS’ AWARDS

The Non-Executive Director Awards recognise the achievements of Non-Executive Directors within the Business and Not- For-Profit/Public Sector communities. The Awards focus on how the advice and experience of Non-Executive Directors can transform organisations and help deliver long-term success and growth. Every year we receive hundreds of nominations from those who feel a board member has performed exceptionally well. We are living in an era where the importance of Non-Executives is growing, where their influence resonates across media, politics, company boardrooms and all aspects of corporate governance.

www.nedawards.co.uk/