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 >

There will be a number of factors as to why a business does or does not offer “variable pay” – a.k.a annual bonuses and/or long-term incentives. These can include cultural choices, size and affordability. Often, businesses will just choose an annual bonus OR a long term incentive – with the most common choice being for…

November 25, 2025 Read more >

Boards track pay packages, bonus schemes, and KPIs. But are you clear on how behaviour is reinforced day to day – in the informal, often unnoticed moments that shape culture and execution? Performance is often won or lost here. Research and experience consistently show that culture does not just “happen.” It emerges when behaviours are…

November 20, 2025 Read more >

“Subcultures don’t signal misalignment, they reveal where strength and nuance already exist. Culture work should meet them there.” In private equity, culture is being recognised as a value lever, a driver of performance, resilience, and growth. But there’s always a catch: most companies don’t have one culture, they have many subcultures. Subcultures exist around teams,…

October 29, 2025 Read more >

October has been another busy month for the regulators. Having been dubbed by the Chancellor as “the boot on the neck of business” the government continues to seek to relax the burden of regulation on companies. Its message is that the government is on the side of business. Its priority is to enhance the attractiveness…

October 28, 2025 Read more >

Private equity investors are increasingly recognising that the success of their investment thesis depends as much on culture as on operational performance. Recent discussions among PE boards and operating partners have highlighted that even the most detailed playbooks, growth targets, or process improvements can be undermined if culture and incentives are misaligned. Strategy sets the…

September 24, 2025 Read more >

Amid rumours that Astrazeneca, which generates c.40% of its revenues in the USA, is considering switching its listing from London to New York and media comment on the collapse of the Government’s industrial policy, there is plenty to suggest that the London Stock Exchange is in for an uphill battle to attract new listings. Whilst…

July 24, 2025 Read more >

Earlier this year, we highlighted some thoughts around changes to remuneration reporting bought in by changes in the QCA Corporate Governance Code “the Code” (read the article here). To help support this, the QCA recently issued three new boardroom guides, QCA new series of boardroom guides , (which we are pleased to say that MM&K provided…

July 21, 2025 Read more >

After a consultation process, to which MM&K contributed as did many other interested parties, the FRC published the 2026 UK Stewardship Code on 3 June. In addition, the FRC has published draft reporting guidance on which comments and suggestions are requested before 31 August 2025 with a view to being finalised in the autumn. The…

June 9, 2025 Read more >

Reports of AIM’s demise are premature. That said, for some time London’s junior market has not been fulfilling the purpose for which it had been designed, i.e. a nursery for high risk early-stage businesses with growth potential but which do not meet main market entry requirements, to access the growth capital they need – a…

April 2, 2025 Read more >

The FRC closed its consultation on the proposed new Stewardship Code on 19 February. MM&K responded as proposals focused on engagement with investors and the role of proxy advisers are matters that affect many of our clients. Here is a summary of our response to the questions posed by the FRC. 1.  Do you support…

February 19, 2025 Read more >