Each year, our Board undertakes a full and rigorous evaluation of its own performance. This includes an assessment of the Board as a whole as well as its committees, individual members and the Company Secretary. Each Director completes a self-assessment questionnaire which also addresses the provision of information, relationships, strategy, training and the overall effectiveness of the Board.

Our evaluation process has been developed internally and refined over several years. It is reviewed before it is used each year and updated where necessary to take account of relevant developments. A scoring system is used to assess Board and Committee performance with an emphasis on skills and contributions of individuals.

The Company Secretary prepares a report of the conclusions of the exercise which is presented to the Board. A detailed assessment highlighting areas of particular focus is discussed with the Chairman who can then raise issues with individual directors as appropriate.

The most recent assessment concluded that the Board, its Committees and the contributions of individual directors remained effective. While it remains outside the FTSE 350 index of companies the Board is not required to undertake an external evaluation of its effectiveness. It has nevertheless carefully considered the merits of doing so and concluded that this is not appropriate at this time. The position will be kept under review.