Breakfast "The IRO is a Strategic Advisor to the Board" – True or False? 16 October 2015, London

Fidelio Partners and Citi Depositary Receipt Services hosted a Roundtable IR Breakfast to debate “The IRO is a strategic advisor to the Board – True or False?”. The strategic value of the IR function has attracted much attention. Based on our IR Executive Search expertise, Fidelio recently co-authored with CNC Communications, “A Plea for Strategic IR” (Plea-for-Strategic-IR) which examined:

• Why is strategic IR important in today’s marketplace?
• What are the obstacles to IR as a strategic function?
• What does a strategic IRO look like?

Drawing on these themes, the breakfast was attended by Senior Investor Relations Directors from FTSE and international companies. We were also  joined by a Chairman and two CFOs who shared their views on the value the IR functions brings and, indeed, what strategic IR looks like. The debate was moderated by Gillian Karran-Cumberlege, founder of Fidelio Partners and former Global Head of IR Volkswagen AG.

Participants included:

• Dennis Millard, Chairman of Halfords Group plc and Connect Group PLC, Deputy Chairman of Pets at Home Group plc, Senior Independent Director of Debenhams plc and non-executive director of Premier Farnell plc
• Stephen Jones, CFO of Santander UK, former Head of Investor Relations of Barclays
• Jean-Michel Richard, CFO of Dialog Semiconductor plc

The highlights of the discussion is now available on online at Fidelio Table Talk – THE IRO IS A STRATEGIC ADVISOR TO THE BOARD – TRUE OR FALSE?