Peter Montagnon

Checking culture

‘Yet this is not just about strengthening compliance. Ideally a company should strive towards a strong culture in which compliance comes naturally. In a customer services business, for example, the ideal culture is one where people provide a great service because that is the culture of the organisation, not because they are complying with policies that tell them to do so. Looked at this way, a strong culture can help a company deliver success.’

Mark Cardale

The Strategic Report: its status and significance

‘The issues of linkage and placement are tied up with the place of the Strategic Report within the Annual Report, which will also include, for listed companies, the Directors’ Remuneration Report, the Directors’ Report ... and the Corporate Governance Statement ... in addition to the financial statements and now lengthy auditors’ report. This is frankly all rather messy, and inevitably makes for a long read – difficult in the short period immediately preceding a company’s AGM. It may also detract from the Strategic Report’s intended status as the “top layer” of information for shareholders’.