“The crucial importance of effective succession planning in assuring the sustainability and continued success of our business”
Stanley Fink
Deputy Chairman
In our Corporate Responsibility Report last year, I said that leadership was about balancing the needs of all stakeholders while maintaining a viable course with a clear strategy.
As Chief Executive, a key element of my strategy focused on looking ahead and planning for our stakeholders’ future. I aimed to ensure that transitions in how and where we market and distribute our products and services and how we lead and manage our Company, were implemented as seamlessly as possible, enabling us continually to meet those stakeholders’ needs. It is at times of significant change that we become conscious of both the weight and opportunity of the Company’s heritage, and of the leadership responsibilities it entails. It is at such times that one fully appreciates the vital importance of having a group of trusted colleagues at all levels, with whom to share thoughts, float ideas, and generally chat through issues and opportunities. It is this sharing of insights and perspectives that helps us lead more effectively and meet more fully our stakeholders’ legitimate expectations.
It is this context, compounded by our rapid financial and geographical growth, that highlights the crucial importance of effective succession planning in assuring the sustainability and continued success of our business. I believe we are very fortunate, therefore, to have been able to appoint ‘one of our own’, my colleague Peter Clarke, as our new Chief Executive, following his successful tenure of numerous roles, including most recently Deputy Group Chief Executive, Finance Director and Company Secretary.
I step down now as Chief Executive, greatly looking forward to my new role of Deputy Chairman, in the sure knowledge that we could not have chosen a greater talent to take over the reins of our Company.