As part of the ongoing strengthening of corporate governance within a company, establishment of Board sub-committees can lead to improved company governance and enhanced formal Board oversight.
As company’s evolution through their life cycle from Start Up, through growth to various stages of maturity, and ultimately potentially transiting from Private to Public Company, their boardroom structure needs change, and early implementation of good governance is critical.
We recently worked with our fellow non-Executive Directors establishing three Board sub-committees to improve the company governance and implement enhanced formal Board oversight. The company in question was preparing for a likely sale in the coming year, and it was critical that the board provided the management team and SLTs with clear and timely guidance on numerous critical issues.
We established of course an Exit Committee, comprised of the four non-executive directors, but in addition felt it was critical to create a Governance Committee and Remuneration Committee. Mark Quinn-Newall chaired all three committees.
There is always a risk that a C-Suite team can become blinkered to issues, particular with the additional demands a sale process can create. So, in addition to the consultants and advisors brought in for the sale process, utilising the skills of the non-executive directors in oversight of critical company areas such as governance and remuneration via the committee process who met regularly both formally (and informally) provided additional support mechanisms for the CEO and senior leadership team.
[Cult Beauty Companies House Report Filing 31 May 2020: Item G – Page 5]
