Governance and Board Advisory

Governance tends to be treated as paperwork until the moment it matters — an investor asking who approved something, a dispute between shareholders, a director exposed by a decision they did not know had been taken.

We build the structures that prevent those moments: a board pack that reports what the board actually needs, a delegation of authority that people follow, charters that define who decides what, and a risk framework proportionate to the size of the business.

When governance starts to matter

• An external investor or lender has joined, and now asks how decisions are made.
• A board is being formed, or non-executive directors are being appointed for the first time.
• Family members and professional managers are both involved and the boundary is unclear.
• A decision was taken that nobody can now trace to an approval.
• The business has grown past the point where the founder sees everything.
• A transaction or funding round is coming, and governance will be examined.

What we put in place

A delegation of authority that reflects how the business actually operates, with limits people can work within rather than route around. Board and committee charters setting out what each body decides and what it merely notes. Internal controls and approval frameworks proportionate to the size and risk of the business — enough to be effective, not so much that they are ignored.

A risk register that is a working document rather than an annual exercise: the risks that would actually change the business's trajectory, with owners, and reviewed at a stated frequency.

The board pack

Most boards receive a profit and loss account, a short narrative, and little that supports a decision. A board pack should let a director form a view without a briefing call: performance against plan with the variances explained, the cash position and forecast, the two or three decisions requiring approval with the analysis behind them, and the risks that have moved since the last meeting.

We build the pack, and where it is useful we attend the meeting and present it.

What you receive

• A governance framework document appropriate to the size and ownership of the business.
• A delegation-of-authority matrix.
• Board and committee charters.
• A board reporting pack, established as a monthly or quarterly routine.
• A risk register with owners and a review cycle.
• Shareholder reporting where ownership sits outside the management team.