Directors' Briefing

In this episode, Sasha Trapani (IoD Press and Policy Officer) is joined by Heather Buchanan (Co-Founder and CEO of Bankers for NetZero), Sarah Kemmitt (Secretariat Lead, Net-Zero Banking Alliance, United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative) and Matt Bullivant (Director of Sustainability and ESG Strategy at OakNorth) to discuss the role of banks in the transition to net zero.

In this episode, Dr Roger Barker, IoD Director of Policy and Corporate Governance, Richard Moorhead, Professor of Law and Professional Ethics at the University of Exeter, Nick Gould, Partner at Aria Grace Law, and Mary Campbell OBE, Founder and CEO of Blas and Resilient Corporates, discuss the shocking governance issues arising from the Post Office Horizon Scandal.  

Taking a deep dive into this failure of governance, they explore the role of the board and consider if any lessons have been learned. What can directors do now to avoid making the same mistakes?

In the last Directors’ Briefing episode of the year, we have brought together leading experts from the Institute of Directors (IoD), Federation of Small Business (FSB), the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) and Make UK to discuss the most notable business policy developments of 2023.

Dr Roger Barker (Director of Policy and Governance at the IoD), Craig Beaumont (Chief of External Affairs at FSB), Alex Veitch (Director of Policy and Insights at the BCC) and Fhaheen Khan (Senior Economist at Make UK) also look forward to 2024 and consider the policy options ahead of the next General Election.

We’re back for part two of our review of books from the Financial Times and Schroders Business Book of the Year 2023 longlist.

In this Business Book Club episode, IoD Press & Policy Officer Sasha Trapani hosts a review of 3 books, and is joined by IoD Council Member Dr Eelco Fiole, IoD Chair Central Scotland Neil Bradbrook, and IoD Sponsorship Manager Jamie Watt.

The books up for review are: ‘Easy Money’ by Ben McKenzie and Jacob Silverman, ‘The Coming Wave’ by Mustafa Suleyman and Michael Bhaskar and ‘Blood in the Machine’ by Brain Merchant

You can find the full longlist here: https://www.ft.com/content/f095af0c-9259-44c6-ad91-bafb411522ba

Our AI podcast series continues, led by the IoD Science Innovation and Technology Expert Advisory Group In the second episode, ‘AI: the hype and reality’, the EAG’s Chair, Faisal Khan and EAG members, Pauline Norstrom and Rob Noble cover the myths of AI, and the truth behind them.

In this episode of the Business Book Club, the IoD's Press & Policy Officer, Sasha Trapani, hosts a review of three books from the FT and Schroders 'Business Book of the Year 2023' longlist, with IoD Council Members, Andrew Griffiths and Anneliese Reinhold, and IoD Head of Marketing & Communications Hugo Legh.

The books on this list chosen for review this episode are: 'Five Times Faster' by Simon Sharpe, 'Material World' by Ed Conway, and 'Right Kind of Wrong' by Amy Edmondson.

You can find the full longlist here: https://www.ft.com/content/f095af0c-9259-44c6-ad91-bafb411522ba

The IoD is delighted to launch a new series of podcasts, covering all things artificial intelligence, led by the IoD Science Innovation and Technology Expert Advisory Group.

In the first episode, ‘What is AI?’, the EAG’s Chair, Faisal Khan and EAG members, Pauline Norstrom and Paul Corcoran cover the technology of AI and the impact on business.

In this episode, Dr Roger Barker, IoD Director of Policy and Corporate Governance, Dr Sophie Dale-Black, British Business Bank Director (UK Network - Midlands and North of England) and Scott O'Brien, Innovate UK Chief Investment Officer and Director (Innovation Finance), discuss ‘Fast growth companies: where to find support, partners and finance’.

In this episode of the Business Book Club, the IoD’s Events & Sponsorship Lead Sophie Breeden hosts a review of three books from the FT’s ‘best summer business books 2023’ list with IoD Chief Economist Kitty Ussher, IoD Press and Policy Officer Sasha Trapani and IoD Council Member Anneliese Reinhold.

The books on this list chosen for review are: ‘How Big Things Get Done’ by Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner, ‘Wonder Boy’ by Angel Au-Yeung and David Jeans, and ‘The Microstress Effect’ by Rob Cross and Karen Dillon.

You can find the FT’s ‘best summer business book 2023’ list here: https://www.ft.com/content/67fb4865-8913-4ae6-85a3-e60e28930fdd

Our new series of podcasts with senior political figures active in business policy continues. In this episode, IoD National Director for Scotland, Catherine McWilliam, talks to Richard Thomson MP, SNP spokesperson for Business and Trade.

Continuing our series of podcasts with senior political figures active in business policy, IoD Policy Director Dr Roger Barker talks to Sarah Olney MP, LibDem spokesperson for Business and Treasury.

In the second of our new series of podcasts with senior political figures active in business policy, IoD Policy Director Dr Roger Barker talks to Seema Malhotra MP, Shadow Minister for Business and Consumers, about her background and priorities.

In this episode of the Directors' Briefing podcast, Centre for Corporate Governance Adviser Chris Hodge discusses integrating sustainability, strategy and governance with corporate governance/ESG experts Stilpon Nestor and Tina Mavraki.

In the first of a new series of podcasts with senior political figures active in business policy, IoD Policy Director Dr Roger Barker talks to Kevin Hollinrake MP, the Minister for Enterprise, Markets and Small Business.

In this episode of the Directors' Briefing podcast Emma Rowland, Policy Advisor on Trade, speaks to IoD members Michael Lorimer, CEO of DCS Group, and Christopher Beckford, Commercial Creative of Creativo Oculus, about the challenges of exporting in a post Brexit world.

In this episode of the Directors' Briefing podcast Alex Hall-Chen, Principal Policy Advisor for Skills at the IoD, is joined by Hannah Stolton, CEO of Governors for Schools, and Kaye Bettey, Non Executive Director at the Thinking Schools Academy Trust, to discuss developments in school governance in recent years and the case for stronger business-education collaboration on governance.

In this episode of the Directors' Briefing podcast Dr Roger Barker, Director of Policy and Governance at the IoD, and Chris Hodge, Senior Advisor at the IoD Centre for Corporate Governance discuss the findings of the Governance and Innovation report.

In this episode of the Directors' Briefing podcast Emma Rowland, Trade Policy Advisor at the IoD, discusses our new policy paper 'Restoring Confidence in Cross-Border Trade'. You can read the full policy paper here: https://www.iod.com/app/uploads/2022/10/IoD-Trade-Report-1-36c2fdc2a7da4f993dfe3eebf4455a0a.pdf

In the first episode of the IoD Business Book Club Dr Roger Barker, Director of Policy at the IoD, Alex Hall-Chen, Senior Policy Advisor and Patrick MacDonald, Chair of the IoD review three books from the Financial Times' Business Book of the Year 2022 Shortlist.

• Disorder: Hard Times in the 21st Century by Helen Thompson
• The Power Law: Venture Capital and the Art of Disruption by Sebastian Mallaby 
• Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology by Chris Miller

In this episode of the Directors' Briefing podcast, Julian Richer, Founder and Managing Director of Richer Sounds, discusses what he's learned from decades in business, his motivation for setting up the Good Business Charter and why IoD members should consider it.

In this episode of the Directors' Briefing podcast, Dr Roger Barker, Director of Policy at the IoD, and Lord Shinkwin discuss the findings of the Shinkwin Commission. 

In this episode of the Shinkwin Commission podcast, Dr Roger Barker, Director of Policy and Governance at the IoD, discusses the role of boards in ED&I with Julie Ashworth, Chair of IoD Edinburgh and Women on Boards Presenter and Advisor.

In this episode of the podcast Chris Hodge, Senior Advisor at the IoD Centre for Corporate Governance, discusses the link between governance and innovation from a large company view with Megan Pantelides, Executive Director Researcher at Board Intelligence. 

In this episode of the podcast Chris Hodge, Senior Advisor at the IoD Centre for Corporate Governance, discusses the link between governance and innovation from an academic's perspective with Dr Tom Gosling, Executive Fellow at London Business School and Executive Fellow at European Corporate Governance Institute.

In this episode of the podcast Chris Hodge, Senior Advisor at the IoD Centre for Corporate Governance, discusses the link between governance and innovation from an investors perspective with George Dallas, Policy Director at the International Corporate Governance Network.

In this episode of the Shinkwin Commission podcast, Alex Hall-Chen, Senior Policy Advisor on Inclusion and Diversity at the IoD, discusses the importance of creating equitable and inclusive workplaces for women with Esther Teeken, COO and Board member at the IoD, and Dr Zara Nanu MBE, CEO of GapSquare.

In this Directors' Briefing podcast, Dr Roger Barker (IoD Policy Director) and Chris Hodge (IoD Governance Advisor) discuss latest developments in corporate governance reform with Alex Hall-Chen (IoD Senior Policy Advisor).

In this episode of the Shinkwin Commission podcast, Alex Hall-Chen, Senior Policy Advisor on Inclusion and Diversity at the IoD, discusses the importance of creating LGBTQ+ inclusive workplaces with Paul Donovan, Chief Economist at UBS and Professor Lee Badgett, Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and author of The Economic Case for LGBT Equality: Why Fair and Equal Treatment Benefits Us All. 

In this episode of the Directors’ Briefing podcast Dr Roger Barker, Director of Policy and Governance at the IoD, and Chris Hodge, Senior Advisor at the IoD Centre for Corporate Governance discuss the Centre’s new inquiry into governance and innovation. The inquiry will explore the extent to which companies’ governance arrangements, and the governance framework within which they operate, encourage or deter innovation.

In this episode of the Shinkwin Commission podcast Hugo Legh, Media and Comms Lead at the IoD interviews Stephanie Boyce, President of the Law Society and Rashmi Dubé, National Spokesperson for IoD Policy and Governance Ambassadors and Partner at GunnerCooke about the importance of ethnic diversity in the workplace. 

Lord Shinkwin interviews Steve Ingham, CEO PageGroup, on the importance of diversity in the workplace. 

In this episode of the Directors' Briefing podcast, Hugo Legh, Kitty Ussher and Alex Hall-Chen discuss 'The Green Incentive: how to put net zero at the heart of business planning'. This policy paper sets out four specific medium-term recommendations which would incentivise businesses, and particularly smaller businesses, to play their part in decarbonising the economy.

The IoD’s Director of Policy, Dr Roger Barker, was joined by the following expert panel:

• Kitty Ussher, Chief Economist, Institute of Directors
• Chris Forrest, Head of SME UK, Barclays
• Ian Stewart, Chief Economist, Deloitte

In this Directors' Briefing podcast, we discuss the British Chambers of Commerce campaign that we are supporting, calling on the Government to stop using the outdated word ‘chairman’.

In this episode, we discuss the forthcoming rise to National Insurance contributions and the IoD's campaign against it, #ScrapTheJobsTax.

You can sign the online #ScrapTheJobsTax petition here: https://chng.it/zNg8fXgdpY 

In this episode, we discuss ESG priorities for companies in 2022, following the publication of an IoD Policy Paper on the issue. In addition to the report's author, Dr Roger Barker (IoD Director of Policy and Corporate Governance), we are joined by Gillian Karran-Cumberlege (Co-founder of Fidelio Partners and Board Member of Chapter Zero, the Directors’ Climate Forum), Yanos Michopoulos (IoD corporate governance and leadership course leader and Chair of the Board of Directors of DESFA) and Chris Hodge (senior adviser to the IoD’s Centre for Corporate Governance).

In this episode, we discuss the prospects and priorities for 2022 with Dr Roger Barker, Director of Policy, and Kitty Ussher, Chief Economist.

Hosted by Andrew Griffiths, Chair of the IoD's National Sustainability Taskforce (and Director of Planet Mark), this Directors' Briefing podcast was recorded as part of a webinar on the business implications of COP26. Andrew is joined by: IoD Senior Policy Advisor, Alex Hall-Chen; John Scott, Head of Sustainability Risk at Zurich Insurance Group; and Gillian Karran-Cumberlege, Co-Founder of Fidelio Partners and Board Member of Chapter Zero.

Chief Economist Kitty Ussher discusses the Budget and Spending Review with Director of Policy Dr Roger Barker.

IoD Policy Advisor Emma Rowland discusses the Northern Ireland protocol

In this episode of the Directors' Briefing, Hugo Legh talks to Chief Economist Kitty Ussher about the Directors' Economic Confidence Index

Dr Roger Barker, the IoD's Director of Policy, interviews new Chief Economist Kitty Ussher on the outlook for the UK economy.

Dr Roger Barker (Policy and Corporate Governance Director), Amin Aboushagor (Policy Advisor on corporate governance) and Chris Hodge (Senior Advisor to the IoD’s Centre for Corporate Governance) speak to Hugo Legh (Media and Comms Lead) on the ‘Restoring Trust in Audit and Corporate Governance’ White Paper. You can see our response to the White Paper here: https://www.iod.com/news-campaigns/press-office/details/IoD-responds-to-Government-proposals-for-audit-and-corporate-governance-reform

The Institute of Directors' Governance and Policy Unit provides timely updates, insights, and commentary on the key issues impacting business leaders. In this episode, Joe Fitzsimons, Senior Policy Advisor, speaks to departing Chief Economist, Tej Parikh, reflecting on his 4 year stint in the role in a period spanning Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic.