The Board is collectively responsible for promoting Burberry’s long-term success, for setting its strategic aims, establishing the Group’s purpose and values and ensuring a framework of prudent and effective controls.
The Board is responsible for promoting Burberry’s long-term success. This is achieved through effective governance and keeping the interests of stakeholders at the fore in decision-making. The Board establishes the Group’s purpose and values and sets the Group’s strategy, including sustainability and climate goals, ensuring alignment with our culture and overseeing its implementation by management.
The Board is also responsible for oversight of the Group’s governance, internal control and risk management, including the Group’s risk appetite.
Specific key decisions and matters have been reserved for approval by the Board. These include decisions on the Group’s strategy, the annual budget and operating plans, major capital expenditure and transactions, dividends and other capital returns and approval of financial results. The matters reserved for the Board’s decision are available here.
The Chair, Senior Independent Director and Chief Executive Officer have defined roles and responsibilities, which set out the scope of their roles:
Burberry applies the principles and supporting provisions of the UK Corporate Governance Code (the Code) issued in July 2018.
The principles and supporting provisions cover Board leadership and company purpose, division of responsibilities, composition, succession and evaluation, audit, risk and internal control and remuneration. More information on how Burberry complies with the Code can be found in the Corporate Governance Report of our latest annual report, here.
The Board is supported in its activities by a number of committees:
More information on each of the principal committees, including members and terms of reference, can be viewed here.
The committees can engage third-party consultants and independent professional advisers and can call upon other resources of the Group to assist them in discharging their respective responsibilities. In addition to the committee members and the Company Secretary, external advisers and, on occasion, other directors and members of our senior management team attend committee meetings but only at the invitation of the Chair of the relevant committee.
The diagram below illustrates our governance structure of Committees and advisory forums and the key environmental, social and governance topics within their scope.
This structure establishes an information flow to the Board, enabling it to make informed decisions.
