Best Practice Awards Dinner

Deborah specialises in financial training for all levels from beginners to advanced. She presents a comprehensive range of courses to a diverse range of corporate clients and financial institutions and specialises in making complex technical subjects comprehensible. 

Deborah qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Arthur Young and then worked in Corporate Finance gaining wide ranging experience in a variety of corporate and financial institutions. She then worked as a financial consultant to companies assisting them in raising finance and structuring.

Diane is an Investor Relations specialist with over 25 years’ experience gained in a variety of disciplines including corporate in-house, consultancy and banking. During 10 years of in-house roles she was involved in shareholder ID, targeting and the development of a proactive campaign to reshape a large retail (government privatised) shareholder base to an international institutional base particularly within North America. Her consultancy roles encouraged best use of technology to identify, target and communicate with institutional investors. Diane spent over 14 years with Citi Depositary Receipts’ where she advised clients on cross border communication during listing, capital raising and shareholder expansion. She has been a member of the IR Society since 1994, a board director from 2000-2006 and Chairman of the Society from 2003-2005.

Lisa joined Citi’s Depositary Receipt Group in December 2014 as Head of Investor Relations Advisory for EMEA.  Lisa has worked investor relations for 15 years and has experience of many aspects of corporate IR including equity capital raising, defence, management transition, shareholder activism, credit ratings and debt IR.  She was Director of Investor Relations for FTSE-250 retail brand Debenhams plc from 2007 to 2014 and for Rentokil Initial plc between 2005 and 2007 and Cookson Group plc between 1999 and 2015.  Lisa holds an LLB Law from the University of London.

Deborah specialises in financial training for all levels from beginners to advanced. She presents a comprehensive range of courses to a diverse range of corporate clients and financial institutions and specialises in making complex technical subjects comprehensible. 

Deborah qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Arthur Young and then worked in Corporate Finance gaining wide ranging experience in a variety of corporate and financial institutions. She then worked as a financial consultant to companies assisting them in raising finance and structuring.

Deborah specialises in financial training for all levels from beginners to advanced. She presents a comprehensive range of courses to a diverse range of corporate clients and financial institutions and specialises in making complex technical subjects comprehensible. 

Deborah qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Arthur Young and then worked in Corporate Finance gaining wide ranging experience in a variety of corporate and financial institutions. She then worked as a financial consultant to companies assisting them in raising finance and structuring.

Deborah specialises in financial training for all levels from beginners to advanced. She presents a comprehensive range of courses to a diverse range of corporate clients and financial institutions and specialises in making complex technical subjects comprehensible. 

Deborah qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Arthur Young and then worked in Corporate Finance gaining wide ranging experience in a variety of corporate and financial institutions. She then worked as a financial consultant to companies assisting them in raising finance and structuring.

Jonathan is an Investor Relations Manager, currently working at HSS Hire, where he is responsible for the investor relations and treasury for the group. He has been in the investor relations industry for over 6 years, previously working at Petrofac as an Investor Relations Officer. Prior to that he worked at HSBC in a number of different roles. He is currently studying towards the CIMA qualification and have previously obtained the Investment Management Certificate (IMC) andthe Certificate in Investor Relatons (CIR).

Richard is currently Investor Relations Manager for Aggreko plc, a FTSE 250 listed global supplier of temporary power generation equipment and of temperature control equipment. A chartered management accountant by training, Richard built his corporate experience prior to joining Aggreko in finance, strategy and investor relations roles across two FTSE 100 listed companies; the utility business, National Grid plc and aerospace and defence business, Rolls-Royce plc. At both companies, he gained exposure to a wide variety of capital markets work including corporate transactions. Richard is a graduate of the University of Leeds Business School.

Deborah specialises in financial training for all levels from beginners to advanced. She presents a comprehensive range of courses to a diverse range of corporate clients and financial institutions and specialises in making complex technical subjects comprehensible. 

Deborah qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Arthur Young and then worked in Corporate Finance gaining wide ranging experience in a variety of corporate and financial institutions. She then worked as a financial consultant to companies assisting them in raising finance and structuring.

 Diane is an Investor Relations specialist with over 25 years’ experience gained in a variety of disciplines including corporate in-house, consultancy and banking. Regulation has been a foundation of all these roles working alongside lawyers, brokers and financial advisors. Over her 10 years of in-house roles she was involved in IPO/secondary offerings, M&A and US listings. During 14 years with Citi Depositary Receipts’ Diane advised clients on cross border communication during listing, capital raising and shareholder expansion. She has been a member of the IR Society since 1994, a board director from 2000-2006 and Chairman of the Society from 2003-2005.

Deborah specialises in financial training for all levels from beginners to advanced. She presents a comprehensive range of courses to a diverse range of corporate clients and financial institutions and specialises in making complex technical subjects comprehensible. 

Deborah qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Arthur Young and then worked in Corporate Finance gaining wide ranging experience in a variety of corporate and financial institutions. She then worked as a financial consultant to companies assisting them in raising finance and structuring.

Lorraine established IR-connect as a new investor relations consultancy in 2015. Prior to that she had been IR Director at Standard Life plc, Head of IR at The Phoenix Group, and an equity analyst at Exane BNP Paribas. She originally trained as a chartered accountant, and has also worked in strategy, corporate finance and banking.

Helen Parris is Director of Investor Relations responsible for the Group’s communication with the investment community, providing stock market analysts and shareholders with quality information on a timely basis so the Group can be assessed and valued appropriately by the market. Helen has been voted top IR professional in the Institutional Investor and Extel Pan European Awards for the Support and Business Services Sector. She is a trustee of the G4S plc £2.3bn pension fund.

Helen has 30 years of City experience, covering fund management, investor relations (for media, security and oil and gas companies) and stock-broking. Prior to this appointment, Helen was Investor Relations Manager at BG Group, the FTSE 100 oil and gas company. Helen has a BSc in Accounting and Financial Analysis from Warwick University and is a Member of the Society of Investment Analysts.

Simon is currently working as an Investor Relations contractor, mostly recent for N Brown, a leading UK digital retailer, and Compass Group, the world’s largest food services business.  Previously he was Head of Investor Relations at SIG plc, a pan-European supplier of specialist building products and a member of the FTSE 250. Before SIG, Simon was Head of IR and Corporate Communications at Promethean World, having joined in order to float the business on the main market of the LSE.   Other roles have included Head of IR at United Utilities, a FTSE 100 business, which was Simon’s first investor relations position and VP of IR & Communications at Renovo, a small UK biotech company.

Simon has a Masters’ degree in Economics from Manchester University and MBA from Manchester Business School.

Since joining Black Sun over 20 years ago, Sallie has been providing strategic corporate communications consultancy for a wide range of UK and international clients. Sallie is an IR Society Board member has been Chair of the IR Society Best Practice Committee since 2014. Sallie is a member of the Financial Reporting Lab steering group, and is a recognised commentator in corporate reporting, responsible for publishing a wide range of industry recognised research reports. Her experience of working with leading organisations on their corporate reporting strategies and her industry leading research tracking trends in reporting of the FTSE100 for the past 12 years give Sallie a unique insight into what good looks like!

Melissa is a director at Asesoria Group which provides specialist expertise and consultancy support to organisations to assist them in building a sustainable business and creating long term value through their governance, corporate responsibility and human capital strategies. She is an experienced company director and advisor with a proven track record of advising boards on the areas of corporate social responsibility and human capital management. She specialises in, stakeholder engagement, non-financial reporting and leadership capability.  Melissa has extensive experience of advising companies on their annual and corporate responsibility reporting across a range of sectors.  She has undertaken extensive engagement with investors and other key stakeholders to understand their expectations of corporate governance and company reporting.  She uses this knowledge to take a pragmatic approach to narrative reporting and communicating a company’s material activities in annual reporting

Andrew leads the IIRC’s investor engagement programme which aims to help investors to understand the IIRC’s aims and the benefits of a broader more integrated approach to reporting and to encourage them to support or encourage this in their investee companies.Andrew is on a part-time secondment to the IIRC from KPMG Makinson Cowell.  He has over twenty years of experience with Makinson Cowell (now part of KPMG) and leads Makinson Cowell’s research team which advises stock market listed businesses on how institutional shareholders assess their investments and the performance and valuation measures they use. Andrew has long-standing experience on committees and panels involved in application of accounting standards and corporate reporting including:  the UK’s UITF, the FRC’s narrative reporting panel and tax accounting panel.  He also chairs the ICAEW’s Research Advisory Board.

Lorraine established the IR-connect consultancy in 2015 which specialises in IR for IPOs, and personalised IR mentoring for executive and non-executive directors, IR Directors and IROs. She runs a number of courses for the IR Society including the Diploma modules. Prior to setting up her consultancy company, she was IR Director at Standard Life plc, Head of IR at The Phoenix Group, and an equity analyst at Exane BNP Paribas. She originally trained as a chartered accountant, and has also worked in strategy, corporate finance, private equity and banking.

As a leading leisure sector analyst, Geof has charted, analysed and in some cases helped to reshape several leisure industries, and his extensive experience makes Geof perfectly placed to assess the corporate strategies of the good, the bad and the ugly that make up the constituents of the public and private markets. 

Geof has 38 years combined industry and investment banking experience and has spent the last 30 years in a Top 3 rated sector equity research team, working for Wood McKenzie, NatWest Markets, Banker’s Trust and Deutsche Bank, where he was MD of the Pan European Travel & Leisure Research Team. Having seen a variety of valuation methodologies come and go and come back into fashion again - and some new ones invented - Geof has developed a detailed understanding of how companies and managements should be viewed and rated, and how companies should deal with both the buy- and sell-side communities. 

During his city time, he has acted as corporate research broker to over 20 different Plcs, been involved in over 40 M&A transactions, and directly or indirectly, in over a dozen IPOs. Geof currently runs his own strategic consultancy business, Lavender Bank Partners.

Sue was Chair of the IR Society from 2014 to 2016, having previously been Chair of the Education Committee. During this time, the IR Society launched its Diploma in IR (which she continues to support as an examiner) and its Code of Conduct.

A CIMA-qualified accountant, she first started working in investor relations in the late 1990's, at GKN plc. She was involved in the demerger of its joint venture businessess and the subsequent listing of Brambles Industries plc in London; as well as the late unwinding of this dual-listed company structure. Most recently, Sue spent seven years as Director of Communications for AMEC plc, during a period of significant and successful transformation.

Sue is a board member at MAC, the Midlands' most visited arts centre.

Mike has been helping companies communicate with SRI investors for the past 15 years, during which time he has worked on the buy-side, sell-side and most recently for the independent communications platform, SRI-CONNECT. Mike has spent 18 years as an SRI Analyst, initially at Jupiter Asset Management and then at HSBC Global Equities where he established the first SRI research on the ‘sell-side’ and, most recently, at Citi Investment Research. Mike is currently Editor at SRI-CONNECT and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the Society’s advanced IR ESG/Sustainability course, introduced in 2016.

John has been a leader in the field of investor relations for nearly 20 years and is a former Chairman of the IR Society.  As an in-house practitioner, John has advised senior management and Boards on numerous complex investor, corporate and communications challenges leveraging his financial expertise and practical experience. John has led Investor Relations, Corporate Communications and Strategic Marketing functions over his career with Cadbury, ICI, Exel, National Grid and, most recently, Rolls-Royce. 

 Diane is an Investor Relations specialist with over 25 years’ experience gained in a variety of disciplines including corporate in-house, consultancy and banking. Regulation has been a foundation of all these roles working alongside lawyers, brokers and financial advisors. Over her 10 years of in-house roles she was involved in IPO/secondary offerings, M&A and US listings. During 14 years with Citi Depositary Receipts’ Diane advised clients on cross border communication during listing, capital raising and shareholder expansion. She has been a member of the IR Society since 1994, a board director from 2000-2006 and Chairman of the Society from 2003-2005.

Jon’s unique background means that he is ideally suited to helping professionals develop their writing skills. Jon is a Cambridge English graduate, a qualified teacher of adults and an Associate Tutor at Goldsmiths University, where he teaches management at BA and MA level, giving him a deep understanding of the challenges and requirements for effective business writing. He has been commissioned by several IR teams to assist in writing critical communications at times of significant change and has lots of experience helping businesses frame and couch language for both internal and external communications. He has delivered writing skills training for the IR Society for several years and has also trained special-interest professional groups in writing skills, including banks, regulators and government departments. Jon is also a qualified business psychologist and a chartered management accountant. 

Jon’s unique background means that he is ideally suited to helping professionals develop their writing skills. Jon is a Cambridge English graduate, a qualified teacher of adults and an Associate Tutor at Goldsmiths University, where he teaches management at BA and MA level, giving him a deep understanding of the challenges and requirements for effective business writing. He has been commissioned by several IR teams to assist in writing critical communications at times of significant change and has lots of experience helping businesses frame and couch language for both internal and external communications. He has delivered writing skills training for the IR Society for several years and has also trained special-interest professional groups in writing skills, including banks, regulators and government departments. Jon is also a qualified business psychologist and a chartered management accountant. 

Jon’s unique background means that he is ideally suited to helping professionals develop their writing skills. Jon is a Cambridge English graduate, a qualified teacher of adults and an Associate Tutor at Goldsmiths University, where he teaches management at BA and MA level, giving him a deep understanding of the challenges and requirements for effective business writing. He has been commissioned by several IR teams to assist in writing critical communications at times of significant change and has lots of experience helping businesses frame and couch language for both internal and external communications. He has delivered writing skills training for the IR Society for several years and has also trained special-interest professional groups in writing skills, including banks, regulators and government departments. Jon is also a qualified business psychologist and a chartered management accountant. 

Reg is a Managing Director of MHP, a leading Financial PR and IR consultancy. Reg joined Hogarth in 2010 (Hogarth becoming part of MHP), having previously worked for Smithfield and Weber Shandwick and its predecessor business Ludgate Communications. Between 1983 and 1995 Reg was a stockbroker with W Greenwell, SG Warburg Securities and Nomura International. He has been a member of the Investor Relations Society for many years, sitting on both its membership and events committees and is currently Chairman of the new Corporate Affairs Committee. Reg has an honours degree in Politics from the University of Bristol.

Darika has 14 years' experience working in communications specialising in digital for 12 of those. Prior to MHP, she was a digital consultant and analyst at Forrester where she developed research and wrote best practice guidance for marketers on digital marketing and innovation.
Her research and commentary on digital has been featured in the BBC, New York Times, Economist, Guardian and Independent.