Fidelio Board Breakfast – “Employee Representation – What Government & Shareholders Expect”, 6 December 2016

At the recent Conservative Party Conference, UK Prime Minister Theresa May once again commended worker representation on company Boards and linked this to better governance.  What does this mean for UK companies?  Does the German two-tier Board system represent the answer to corporate excess?

As a Board Development and Search firm that is active in both the UK and Germany, Fidelio has a keen focus on Board effectiveness.  We were therefore delighted to welcome Hans-Christoph Hirt, Executive Director and Co-Head, Hermes EOS, with his distinctive investment and governance expertise, to shed light on the merits but also the weaknesses of German corporate governance.  Hans has been the scourge of many a DAX 30 Board and is a familiar figure at German AGMs.  Moreover, as an international expert on investor stewardship and corporate governance, Hans was well placed to debate the relative merits of employee representation on Supervisory Boards.

Specifically, over breakfast we asked Hans to address:

• The investor view on employee representation
• Board composition and the two-tier Board system
• Board trends: the Supervisory Board and increased engagement with investors

Discussion also explored BEIS’s recent Corporate Governance Reform Green Paper and the implications for business.

This breakfast was by invitation only and attended by a select group of Chairmen, Non-Executive and Executive Directors many of whom combine UK and German Board experience.

The breakfast took place on Tuesday 6th December 2016 at Villandry St James’s, 12 Waterloo Place, SW1Y 4AU.