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Chairman’s statement

The board is committed to maintaining high standards of corporate governance. As chairman, it is my role to ensure that these standards are promoted by the board and to ensure that the group is managed in the best interests of shareholders and our broader stakeholder group.

We recognise that a positive culture, together with a robust approach to governance, is key to the success of the organisation. As a professional services consultancy the group’s services are regulated by externally governed codes of practice and ethical behaviour. These regulatory professional standards are reinforced by the board which sets the culture of the group in promoting entrepreneurial growth against the background of sound regulatory compliance and ethical standards and a measured approach to risk taking.

We seek to be a trusted advisor to all of our clients, to act with integrity at all times and to take pride in the advice and solutions we provide.

We have a clear approach to governance and risk management with a highly experienced leadership team in executive and senior management positions together with robust compliance and governance procedures. In December 2019, Peter Wallqvist joined the board as a non-executive director.  Peter brings significant experience of the use of information technology in professional services firms, in the context of improving working practices and strategic business development.

We are committed to a culture which ensures that our people enjoy working for the group, can develop their talents and fulfil their potential with us.

The 2020 annual report provides details on our approach to governance and application of the QCA Code, including reports from the audit and remuneration committees. I believe that the framework provided by the QCA Code contributes to our ability to deliver long-term shareholder value and assists the board in managing the business for all of its stakeholders, whilst maintaining a flexible, efficient and effective management framework within an entrepreneurial environment.

Further detail on our compliance with the ten principles of the QCA Code can be accessed by the download below.

Ric Traynor
Executive chairman
20 July 2020

Corporate governance files

Download your files below:

Compliance with QCA Principles
104.66 KB
Remuneration Committee - Terms of reference
211.29 KB
Audit Committee - Terms of reference
231.62 KB

Board of directors

Ric Traynor
Executive Chairman
Appointment date: May 2004
Experience
Ric has been an insolvency practitioner since qualifying as a chartered accountant with Arthur Andersen in 1984. He established Traynor & Co. in 1989 which, following the acquisition of Begbies London in 1997, became Begbies Traynor.

Ric has focused on the development of the business, including the Group’s successful introduction to the AIM in 2004, and on practice management. He continues to lead the business and remains a major shareholder.
Nick Taylor
Group Finance Director
Appointment date: December 2010
Experience
Nick was appointed as group finance director in 2010, having joined the group as financial controller in 2007.  He is a chartered accountant who qualified with KPMG and has previously held senior finance roles in United Utilities PLC and Vertex Data Science Limited, the business process outsourcer.
Mark Fry
Head of Business Recovery and Advisory
Appointment date: July 2011
Experience
Mark was appointed to the board in 2011 as head of insolvency and restructuring, having joined the group in 2005 following an acquisition. He led our London and South East region prior to his board appointment and played a key role in developing the group’s advisory practice.

Mark acts as an insolvency practitioner, has been appointed in numerous complex and high-profile assignments and is a former president of the Insolvency Practitioners Association.
Graham McInnes
Non-Executive Director
Appointment date: September 2004
Experience
Graham was appointed to the board in 2004, initially as group finance director and subsequently as corporate development director. In 2012, Graham became a non-executive director. He has held a number of senior finance positions including corporate finance partner at Spicer and Oppenheim (now part of Deloitte) and finance director of Enterprise plc, in addition to developing his own corporate finance boutique in the 1990s. Graham is also a director of Newton Technology Group plc, a group specialising in the engineering technology sector.
John May
Non-Executive Director
Appointment date: October 2007
Experience
John was appointed to the board in 2007 as a non-executive director. He was previously an executive director of Caledonia Investments plc and previously worked for the Hambros Group for over 20 years, where he was an executive director of Hambros Bank and joint managing director of Hambro Countrywide. John has extensive non-executive experience having been a director of more than 40 listed and private companies operating both in the UK and globally.
Mark Stupples
Non-Executive Director
Appointment date: July 2017
Experience
Mark was appointed to the board in 2017 as a non-executive director. He has significant property services experience as a result of his senior roles in major firms, including King Sturge as UK managing partner, when he negotiated the sale of the business to JLL. Following the acquisition, Mark was appointed as JLL’s UK chief operating officer until leaving the business in December 2016. During this time, he completed a number of UK acquisitions. Mark now runs his own consultancy business focussing on strategy and change in professional services
businesses, and is the chairman of Jones Lang LaSalle Pension Trustees Limited.
Peter Wallqvist
Non-Executive Director
Appointment date: December 2019
Experience
Peter was appointed to the board in December 2019 as a non-executive director. Peter has spent his career in information technology. In 2010, he co-founded and became chief executive officer at the AI company RAVN Systems which delivered digital transformation initiatives in the professional services industry. RAVN Systems was acquired by iManage, a leading vendor of document and email management systems for the legal and professional services industries in 2017. Following the acquisition, Peter served as VP of strategy and global practice director for iManage, until he left the business in October 2019.

Modern slavery and human trafficking statement

Begbies Traynor Group plc (“Group”) is a leading business recovery, financial advisory and property services consultancy. This statement is published by the Group pursuant to Section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 for the financial year ending 30 April 2020

Slavery and human trafficking remains a menace to society. Everyone has a responsibility to be alert to the risks of this, particularly in a business and its supply chain. Staff are expected to report concerns and management are expected to act on such concerns as well as taking steps to minimise the risks of slavery and human trafficking when engaging with suppliers.

We are committed to ensuring that there is no modern slavery or human trafficking in our supply chains or in any part of our business. Our anti-slavery policy reflects our commitment to acting ethically and with integrity in all our business relationships and to implementing and enforcing effective systems and controls to ensure slavery and human trafficking is not taking place anywhere in our supply chain.

Due Diligence Processes for Slavery and Human Trafficking

  • As part of our initiative to identify and mitigate risk we contract with UK companies or UK branches companies/businesses and we expect these entities to have suitable anti-slavery and human trafficking policies and processes in place and to, at least, adopt one up due diligence of the next link in the chain. It is not practical for us (and every other participant in the chain) to have a direct relationship with all links in the supply chain.
  • We identify and assess potential risk areas in our supply chain.
  • We mitigate the risk of slavery in human trafficking occurring in our supply chain.
  • We monitor potential risk areas in our supply chain.
  • We have a system in place to protect whistle-blowers who report any concerns regarding anti-slavery and human trafficking through our whistle-blowing policy.

Supplier Adherence To Our Values

We have a zero tolerance to slavery and human trafficking. To ensure all those in our supply chain and contractors comply with our values. Compliance with such values is enforced through our contract management processes and relationships which relevant commercial departments have with suppliers.

Training

To ensure a high level of understanding of the risks of modern slavery and human trafficking in our supply chains in our business we provide training to relevant members of staff and all directors of the Group have been briefed on the subject.

Our Effectiveness In Combating Slavery In Human Trafficking

We have risk assessed our relevant supply chains to identify the risk of any slavery and human trafficking occurred and have taken steps where a tangible risk is perceived to understand steps taken by the supplier to ensure that no slavery or human trafficking is taking place in its supply chain. This is something which is kept under review on an annual basis.

The Begbies Traynor Group plc board of directors approved this statement on Thursday 2 July 2020.

© 2020 Begbies Traynor Group plc - Incorporated and registered in England and Wales - VAT Number: 880996072 - Company Registration Number: 05120043