CEO Update - March 2026

In amongst our usual work programme, this is the month we finalise our year-end accounts, draft our annual report and begin preparation for our AGM, areas I’m sure busy IROs will sympathise with!  

At the start of the month, I moderated a webinar examining the UK’s new sustainable reporting standards, a significant development in climate related disclosures. Our expert panel investigated the unique challenges that non-financial data and reporting poses, as well as considering how technology and automation can help to reduce the pain points.  

 I also travelled to Frankfurt to meet my counterparts from Germany, Australia, Canada, and the United States. I mentioned in my last update the critical importance strengthening our international relationships, and sharing knowledge and insight around the world. It was an excellent programme including some fascinating insights into German capital markets.  
 
Returning to the theme of sustainability, my counterparts and I took part in a panel examining ESG divergence. Wherever our respective countries sit on the ESG spectrum, it’s clear that this remains a challenging and complex issue for IROs. 

The factors driving international divergence are many and multifaceted – it’s not just about investor expectations but the values of their customers and the wider public. It’s not just about politics and culture, in many cases it’s the proximity and exposure of different jurisdictions to ESG-related risks that is driving regulatory frameworks and reporting frameworks. 

Back in the UK, I attended Berenberg’s IPO Forum. We know our members want to see the UK improve its competitiveness and attractiveness as a listing environment, and it was great to hear panellists make the case for a UK that, in a time of global uncertainty, is fast regaining its reputation for stability, predictability, and reality.  

We also heard from a number of CEO’s and founders who had taken their companies from private to public. One question from the audience was pretty blunt: How do you balance meeting investors and raising capital with actually running your company?  
The answer from one CEO was very simple ‘make sure you have a great IR team’.  

While rightly recognising the relative stability of the UK, it’s importance to recognise the impact of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. While it is a minor issue compared to those people directly caught up in the war, this will have caused a lot of disruption and difficulty to IROs everywhere. Our support is particularly with our counterparts at MEIRA and their members, and we hope the situation improves soon. 

In other news, we launched the 2026 iteration of our mentoring programme. This is now in its fifth year, and the feedback from both mentors and mentees is fantastic.