The boardroom: an introduction for emerging governance professionals

Ben joined BP as company secretary in May 2019.  He is chairman of The Association of General Counsel and Company Secretaries of the FTSE 100 (GC100) and the co-chair of the Corporate Governance Council of the Conference Board.  Ben is also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators and is on the BP Pension Trustees Board.  Former appointments include Group Company Secretary of HSBC Holdings plc and Rio Tinto plc.

James joined Rolls-Royce as Corporate Governance Associate in January 2020, having previously worked at British American Tobacco and Royal Mail. He is an Associate of the Chartered Governance Institute, having completed his studies in the summer of 2019. James was a founding member of the UK Student Forum in 2017, serving as Vice Chair until 2018 and Chair until December 2019.

Scarlett is a researcher and consultant specialising in responsible business, diversity, and corporate governance. Her life in governance started with a PhD in boardroom diversity and how non-executive directors are recruited, before moving to Grant Thornton’s Governance Institute. She is now an independent researcher, a non-executive director of an arts logistics company and a trustee of a housing association. Scarlett recently co-founded Dynamic Boards, focussing on supporting the next generation of non-executives gain access to opportunities.