The Board is committed to high standards of corporate governance and believes that it is in the interest of all its stakeholders to detail how the principles of corporate governance are applied within the Group.
In preparing its corporate governance statement, the Board has closely followed the recommendations set out in the Combined Code, issued in June 2006. The Board has also taken into account the Group’s structure, with 100% of the ordinary share capital of the Group being held by the Scott Trust. Three trustees are directors of the Group, and the chair of the Trust also attends all Board meetings and is a member of the remuneration and nominations committees. All trustees receive copies of management accounts and Board minutes. This results in a closer relationship between management and shareholder than envisaged in the Combined Code.