Chair’s introduction to governance
A continued commitment to good governance and improving diversity
During the year, we have made strides to improve the diversity around our Board table, although we recognise that we still have some progress to make in terms of improving the diversity of the Board and our executive team (and indeed our workforce as a whole).
2021/22 highlights • Continued to hear from our designated NED for workforce engagement who reports to every Board meeting • Recruited a new CEO (Mike Maddison) • Recruited and onboarded a new independent Non-Executive Director (Julie Chakraverty) who has brought a new perspective and dynamic to our Board discussions • Continued to focus on ESG matters, TCFD and our carbon footprint • Continued to support management during the integration process of Iron Mountain’s Intellectual Property Management (IPM) business, which forms part of our Global Software Resilience division • Restarted our in-person Board meetings and had trips to the Netherlands and a UK meeting in our Cheltenham office, plus restarted our Board and colleague dinners, giving the Board the chance to meet with colleagues on the executive team and the next level down 2022/23 priorities • Onboarding our new CEO and supporting him to make a successful start • Continuing to focus on our stakeholders, particularly in‑person colleague engagement • Continuing to travel regularly as a Board with a visit to North America being a particular priority • Undertaking Board training on carbon reduction initiatives • A focus on diversity around the Board table with our commitment to further improve gender and ethnic diversity by 2024 • Undertaking our first externally facilitated Board and Committee evaluation process
Chris Stone Non-Executive Chair
Dear Shareholder On behalf of the Board, I am pleased to present the Corporate Governance Report for the year ended 31 May 2022. Throughout the year the Board has worked cohesively as a team to enable the Company to successfully navigate a turbulent and uncertain period. I would like to thank the Board for its wise counsel and continued efforts during this time. The Board is composed of highly skilled and experienced Directors from a diverse range of industries and backgrounds, all of whom contribute towards the long-term success of the Company and show commitment and enthusiasm in the performance of their roles and duties. The Board believes that good governance is key to the long-term success of the Group and is committed to achieving high standards of governance. This has been an important year for the Company and I am particularly proud of the way my colleagues came together to support each other, our customers and other stakeholders. The global pandemic continued to present major challenges for travel and physical meetings that the Board would have expected to conduct throughout the year, but I am pleased to report that we were able to continue to operate smoothly and effectively through the use of virtual means. However, we were delighted to return to physical meetings towards the end of the year (with a particular highlight being our trip to the Netherlands in April 2022) and we look forward to visiting more offices and meeting more colleagues in the coming year. The last year has continued to be one of unprecedented upheaval and disorder with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and then the war in Ukraine reaching all parts of the globe and significantly impacting economies everywhere. We as a Board had a very busy year dealing with the impact of the pandemic on the Group, and also considering its impact on all of our stakeholders. By way of a reminder, at no stage during the pandemic did we take any government subsidies or loans (other than deferring tax payments), nor have we made any colleagues redundant or furloughed them during the pandemic. We have continued to pay dividends, in line with our policy, throughout the year.
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