Directors Duties

Overview

In the first of our series of board-focused webinars Alison Gill, CEO at Bvalco and former Olympic rower will be joined by Tom Bruce, Partner at Farrer & Co. Together they will discuss the roles and duties of directors, exploring the responsibilities and legal obligations of the board and some of the common challenges faced in meeting these. 

In this conversational session our speakers will explore the dynamic between executive and NED roles on the board, consider issues such as conflicts of loyalty for elected directors, and reflect more generally on their experiences of boards in the sports sector and beyond.

In order to make the most of the session Alison and Tom would like to hear from you. Please submit any questions you have in advance by responding to this email and our speakers will incorporate your queries into their talking points. There will still be an opportunity to ask questions on the day but please submit your questions in advance where possible.

Resources

You can access and download useful resources using the links below.

• Webinar recording
• SGA Knowledge base: Roles and responsibilities

Speakers

Alison Gill

Alison Gill is a founding director and CEO of Bvalco. She helps boards and leadership teams prepare for the future by designing and delivering external board reviews, with a particular emphasis on the human behaviour and dynamics elements that can contribute to, or undermine, board effectiveness. She is valued for her ability to listen deeply to issues and concerns and for helping leaders find actionable solutions.

By background Alison is a behavioural psychologist. Prior to co-founding Bvalco, Alison spent 18 years running a consultancy helping clients to understand the impact of values, behaviour and culture on performance. She acted as a special advisor on matters of culture and behaviour to Sir David Walker, for his Review of Banks and Other Financial Institutions. This gave rise to the recommendation in the Corporate Governance Code that boards should be reviewed externally once every three years.

Alison is keen to improve the quality of boards through the education of board directors. In 2011 she helped to set up and design the FT’s award winning Non- Executive Director Diploma. She is a lead tutor and Advisory Board Member for the diploma. The diploma has several hundred graduates, of which more than 70% go on to become successful board directors.

A keen sportswoman, Alison is a triple Olympian for rowing and now has a passion for the sport of eventing. She rides as a competitive amateur but more importantly supports young rider Lissa Green.

Tom Bruce

Tom is a Partner at Farrer & Co and leads it Sports Governance Practice, which won Firm of the Year – UK in 2018 & 2019.  He is an experienced sports lawyer known for his personable approach and outstanding client service.

Tom is embedded in the sports sector and works closely with sports clients on a wide range of corporate, commercial and governance matters. He advises Governing Bodies, commercial sports organisations and clubs and is a "go-to" adviser for a number of high profile clients on governance matters (including the Code for Sports Governance), joint ventures and structuring international sporting events.

Tom spent five months on secondment to the Rugby Football Union in 2014. He is a contributor to Lewis & Taylor's leading textbook "Sport: Law and Practice" and his commentary on governance reform at FIFA and the UCI has been published by the Telegraph, the Times, FourFourTwo and Perform, and also aired on the radio in South Africa.

Tom "has almost single-handedly helped to modernise the governance of many sports organisations". Legal 500.