Smokescreen FTSE 100 remuneration committees are striving to find acceptable remuneration structures to compete with their US counterparts. Articles abound of increased FTSE 100 CEO pay and new, hybrid executive incentives. But for the vast majority of UK listed companies, this is a smokescreen. That said, all companies must be competitive and this applies also…

April 29, 2026 Read more >

We see  different problems festering in portfolio companies (PortCos) such as a lack of a leadership pipeline, high executive turnover, reluctance or failure to address cultural issues until they become chronic. Reactive approaches are then employed: Leadership is assessed after the deal closes. The CEO is replaced in year one with little pre-planning. Culture is…

April 27, 2026 Read more >

MM&K supported the ESOP Centre’s 9th Share Plan Symposium, contributing to a panel on the evolving executive remuneration landscape, where Tamsin Howells and Stuart James explored a deceptively simple question: what comes first – culture or reward? There is a familiar pattern in organisations undergoing transformation. Significant investment is made in engagement, communication, and capability-building to shift behaviour.…

April 22, 2026 Read more >

2026 is set be a fairly quiet year for new UK corporate governance regulation. That said, the regulatory merry-go-round keeps turning; boards must continue to keep pace with the demands of regulation adopted in earlier years. The FCA has been consulting on proposed new UK Sustainability Reporting Standards (SRS) – see CP 26/5 ‘Aligning listed…

March 26, 2026 Read more >

Equity does more than distribute financial upside in an organisation – it quietly redistributes power. Formal power tends to be defined by role: title, reporting lines, decision rights. But in many organisations, particularly partnerships and private-equity backed firms, equity introduces another layer of influence. Ownership creates a different kind of voice – one that is often heard…

March 25, 2026 Read more >

In our experience, the biggest barriers to scale are usually internal. External events can affect operations, but over time growth more often stalls because of factors within management’s control. Priorities blur. Decision-making slows. Bureaucracy creeps in. Talent processes lag behind business needs. Incentives stop reinforcing the right behaviours. The organisation becomes more complex, but not…

March 24, 2026 Read more >

A recent newspaper report highlighted that there is a worry in the “Big 4” accountancy firms that there will not be enough people coming through their “talent pipeline”. For many businesses, the thought will strike them that “if one of the deepest resourced firms in the country is having issues, what could that mean for…

March 23, 2026 Read more >

Many organisations talk about culture, but few have robust evidence of how effectively it supports strategic objectives. According to our most recent Life in the Boardroom report (a survey of UK board Chairs and Non‑Executive Directors) 66 % of directors reported strong alignment between their organisation’s culture, values, and strategic objectives, with NEDs playing a proactive…

February 22, 2026 Read more >

Depending on your bonus culture, January may be when discretionary awards for 2025 are being decided, for others, this is when their “balanced scorecard” for 2026 is being reviewed and updated. Either way, now is the time when decisions will be made around where bonus monies (actual or potential) will be deployed. And for businesses…

January 21, 2026 Read more >

Boards focus on how culture enables strategy, shapes risk, drives leadership, and creates long-term value. Yet measuring culture is complex. Research by Russell Reynolds Associates shows that only 53% of board directors feel they have sufficient data to assess corporate culture, highlighting a persistent gap between intent and insight. Engagement surveys capture sentiment at a…

January 21, 2026 Read more >

A new year is a natural moment for reflection – and for reality checks. Too often, Boards enter the New Year believing strategy is aligned and culture is healthy, only to find the gaps emerge in execution. Research shows 82% of leaders believe teams are aligned with strategy, yet only 23% of employees agree. This…

December 16, 2025 Read more >

To some the title of this article might seem like a grammatical error. However, given our long history of working with both family and non-family companies, we would observe that in both types of business a similar question arises: “How do we successfully bring in much needed “new blood” without destabilising the existing team?” Interestingly,…

December 12, 2025 Read more >