At a recent event, a distinguished panel discussed the importance of the relationship between the chairman and the head of IR. Gillian Karran-Cumberlege of Fidelio Partners reports.
Fidelio has long taken the view that IR has a strategic contribution to make in ensuring access to capital and fair valuation. As such, on 11 July 2013, we were pleased to co-host, with Citi Depositary Receipt Services and the IR Society, a panel discussion focusing on the relationship between IR and the chairman. This discussion clearly demonstrated the significance of the IR role.
Our panel consisted of three leading professionals, all advocates of what good IR can deliver. John Allan CBE is currently chairman of Dixons Retail plc and as chairman has overseen a remarkable turnaround in the fortunes of this wellknown retailer.
John sits on a number of other boards, including the Royal Mail Group, and has also had experience of sitting on the DAX 30 supervisory board of Lufthansa AG. As an executive director John Allan successfully built up Exel and then served as CFO of Deutsche Post.
Our panel also included Mark Lidiard, director of investor relations and communications of Essar Energy plc; previously Mark also headed IR and communications for BHP Billiton and Lloyds TSB. Our third panellist was Jessica Mitchell, head of global investor relations of BP plc.
Jessica has been with the BP IR team since 2002 and played a critical role during the BP Crisis in 2010, which she recently presented in a case study at the IR Society Conference in June 2013.
All our panellists were passionate advocates of IR and recognised what worldclass IR looks like. All three panellists also had personal experience of the value that IR can add, in particular in challenging situations.
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