Non-Executive Director Academy

Every year the modules of the course are designed in collaboration with leading academics and some of the UKs top Chairs and non executive leaders to stay up to date with the most relevant business school teachings as well as the practical skills and experiences Boards are looking for in their future board leaders.

This years syllabus will cover:

• Board Papers: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
• What is the Role of the NXD in assessing Risk?
• AI – opportunity or threat? What NXDs need to know
• The opportunity and challenges of being an NXD in a Private Equity backed business
• Energy transition strategies and climate reporting: The escalating challenge for Boards and NXDs
• The Effective Board
• End of Programme In-Person Event

The programme runs over the course of 4 months with sessions twice a month. The separate sessions use facilitated learning with a combination of professional NXDs leading the sessions with an academic backbone to the course, and are designed to encourage active learning where participants learn from one another as well as from these experts. Each module is designed around a theme particularly relevant to individuals in Non Executive roles already as well as those aspiring to their first or future plural portfolio, and offers tools or frameworks that can be put into practice immediately.

In addition, during sessions participants will work together to discuss scenarios and case studies. The level of teaching is Executive MBA and above and each session is video recorded for the exclusive use of delegates for continued learning and in case a session is missed. The style of learning and delivery will be practical workshops, case studies, and group work to enable practical learning at all times.

The first six sessions will be held online and recorded footage of each session will be available via the University Learning Hub.

Each session will be hosted by:

Board Papers: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

• Niamh Corbett leads Board Intelligence’s senior board relationships in both the UK and the US, advising the boards of some of the world’s largest organisations, particularly Financial Services firms, on board materials and boardroom effectiveness. She joined Board Intelligence from Morgan Stanley, where she spent 10 years advising UK companies on their capital market transactions.

What is the Role of the NXD in assessing Risk?

• Angus is the Non-Executive Chairman of the shipping, oil and gas services business, James Fisher and Sons plc, having started in the role in May 2021.  He is also Senior Independent Director of plant rental FTSE 30 business, Ashtead Group plc and Senior Independent Director of the privately owned Edrington Group Limited, which is a global drinks business with brands such as Macallan, Highland Park, No.3 Gin and Brugal rum.  Additionally, Angus has recently become a Non-Executive Director of BAE Systems plc. Prior to retiring from his executive career, Angus was the Group CFO at Serco Plc, a position he held for 7 years from October 2014. Angus’ previous roles have included CFO and Interim CEO of Aggreko plc, Managing Director of Pringle of Scotland, and senior finance positions at PepsiCo Inc. He was also previously an NXD of Howdens Joinery Group plc and GKN plc.  He is a chartered accountant with an MBA from the IMD Business School in Switzerland, has an Honorary Professorship from the University of Edinburgh and is a member of ICAS.
• Bill McCall is an experienced Company Director, Investor and Advisor and has worked with and for a range of private equity organisations. He has chaired a number of businesses in the UK & mainland Europe, US and the Nordic Countries and has considerable knowledge of international energy markets. He has chaired public and private boards with complex dynamics and multiple shareholder objectives, keeping clean lines of fiduciary duty, conflict and dispute resolution. He is the Principal of McCall & Partners, a strategic corporate finance advisory business, and Editor of Coffee House Economics. Bill was elected an individual member of the London Stock Exchange in 1990, is a Chartered Banker and Fellow of the Chartered Banker Institute, where he is past President. A Fellow of CISI and RSA, Bill is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of International Bankers (London) and Freeman of the City of London.

AI – opportunity or threat? What NXDs need to know

• Louise Smith has undertaken leadership roles across Digital, Data, Product, Distribution, Technology and Operations in leading organisations across the UK. This has included delivering the first UK steps into Digital distribution for a major UK bank; leading the digital transformation during a company’s significant turnaround to profit and being appointed as the first Chief Digital Officer in the history of Lloyd’s of London, shaping the strategy and plan to deliver the world’s most advanced digital insurance marketplace. At the cutting edge of technology, Louise has also led the FinTech Strategy on behalf of the sector and Scottish Government during the Financial Services crisis, including the establishment of FinTech Scotland; was appointed Chair of Innovate Finance – the ‘voice’ of the FinTech community; and currently works with high growth businesses whilst mentoring at Creative Destruction Labs (Oxford University) supporting the next generation of innovators. She has been recognised as one of the Top 100 UK leaders in Digital, Top 25 leaders in Scotland and Top 100 FinTech Leaders globally. Louise has worked with Boards and senior management on addressing technology issues and opportunities for many years, and chaired boards in this area also, so is well placed to guide our understanding and knowledge, enabling us to add better value and input to our Boards as they grapple with these challenges.

The opportunity and challenges of being an NXD in a Private Equity backed business

• Calum Paterson has led SEP, a private capital fund management firm specialising in growth equity investments for software and technology-enabled businesses in the UK and across Europe, since its inception. Over the last 25 years, SEP has backed more than 160 companies, working closely with their founders and management teams, and using its knowledge, experience and extensive network to help them build their businesses and achieve their ambitions. He chairs its investment committee and works from the firm’s offices in London and Glasgow. He also works closely with SEP’s portfolio companies and was a member of the board of directors at Skyscanner, the Edinburgh-headquartered travel-technology company, prior to its £1.5 billion acquisition by Trip.com. Calum has been investing in high growth companies since 1991. He trained as a Chartered Accountant with EY, has BA and MBA degrees from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland’s national academy of science and learning. He is also a former Chair of the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVCA), the industry body and public policy advocate for private equity and venture capital in the UK.
• John Watson has nearly 30 years’ experience working with companies of all sizes. He joined Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) as an Operating Principal in 2013 and Chief Commercial Officer of their investment, Edinburgh Airport Limited, and is currently CEO of Crosswind Developments Limited. GIP is an international infrastructure investment fund with assets in the energy, transport, digital and water and waste sectors. John works in the operational improvement team with a number of GIP investments worldwide. Prior to joining GIP, John was managing director of Lloyds Banking Group’s £50bn SME Lending portfolio and a founding board director of the Business Growth Fund plc. After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant with PwC Corporate Finance, John joined 3i plc. John is Chair of Intelligent Growth Solutions, Chair of FOR-EV, Senior Independent Director of Scottish Event Campus and NXD of Entrepreneurial Scotland Foundation. Formerly John was Chair and NXD of the Institute of Directors and a member of the ICAS Governing Council.

Energy transition strategies and climate reporting: The escalating challenge for Boards and NXDs

• Dr Valentina Kretzschmar has over 25 years of experience in the energy sector. She is a senior expert, with a focus on corporate energy transition strategies and climate reporting. She joined Wood Mackenzie’s Consulting team in June 2023 from Capricorn Energy, where she served as Energy Transition Director, responsible for the company’s climate change and energy transition strategy and reporting. Before Capricorn, Valentina spent 18 years at Wood Mackenzie across Corporate, Upstream Russia and Caspian Dr Valentina Kretzschmar and Coal Research teams. As Vice President of Corporate Research, she led the development of Corporate New Energy Research. She is an NXD on the Board of D2Zero, as well as an Advisory Board Member at CausewayGT – a geothermal company. Valentina has a BEng Honours Degree in Engineering from the University of Edinburgh, MSc in Advanced Mechanical Engineering from Imperial College, London, a PhD in Clean Coal Technology from the University of Edinburgh and an MBA (Finance) from Durham University. Valentina is a Chartered Engineer (C.Eng. MIMechE) and holds a Non-Executive Director Diploma.
• Amanda Young was until very recently the Chief Sustainability Officer for the Investments business at abrdn plc, where she led the sustainable investment strategy for the firm and the Investment’s Business Sustainability Group. She has over two decades of experience in responsible investment. Previously, Amanda held positions at Newton Investment Management, CCLA Investment Management and Rabobank International. Amanda led a workstream for the UK Government’s task force on social impact investment and co-chaired the Scottish Purposeful Business Commission. She is a board director for Social Investment Scotland’s SIS Ventures fund and the Deputy Chair of the Sustainability and Responsible Investment Committee of the Investment Association. She has appeared on the Financial News top 100 most influential Women in European Finance for 5 years. She was the inaugural winner of the Women in Investment Awards Sustainable & ESG Investment Woman of the Year in 2021, and was on Financial News’ inaugural Fifty Most Influential in Sustainable Finance list in 2022.

The Effective Board

• Atholl Duncan is an experienced NXD and Chair who works with boards to help them become more effective and successful. He is also a high-level executive coach. He brings to the table years of real-life experience in the heat of the boardroom and on the front line of transforming organisations. He is the Chair of UK Coaching; the Chair of the performance and technology business, Black Isle Group; the Chair of Salmon Scotland – the trade body for a £1 billion pound industry; and the Founder and CEO of The Edge Consultancy. He is a former NXD in a cinema business and has an executive education from Harvard and Insead. He works with CEOs, Chairs, and emerging leaders helping them to navigate the complex and challenging issues which they face in the post pandemic world. He has worked extensively internationally, especially in Europe and the Middle East. He is expert in coaching in situations involving transformation, group dynamics, conflict, and influence. He is the author of “Leaders in Lockdown” which was shortlisted for “Leadership Book of the Year” in 2021.

Networking – Managing Your Network & Connections

• This will be an opportunity to meet fellow delegates from the programme face to face. Whilst some of the focus will be on networking and sharing thoughts and ideas from the programme, there will also be an experienced Chair as guest speaker who will lead an interactive discussion, with small group sessions and activity.

“If you are going to make just one investment in your personal development this year, choose this programme. It offers leading Chairs and NXDs at the top of their game and crucially willing to share; the structured format delivers relevant, concentrated insights and the online format offers maximum efficiency. Finally, you will never conclude a session without the opportunity to connect offline with experienced fellow participants.”

“This is a great programme from which I gained quality insights from experienced leaders across a variety of current and topical business matters that are being discussed around most Boardroom tables. The programme is valuable for all stages of the NXD journey with knowledge sharing amongst participants contributing significantly to the learning experience.”

“The programme acts not only as a refresher course, but also as the generator of ideas, challenges and new thinking: shared experience is central to the workshops and provides endless food for thought from some of the best NXDs operating in this country today.”

“The overall insight into the duties of an NXD and best practice were particularly helpful and interesting, and equally relevant whether you were experienced or new to NXD roles.”

This interactive, strategic and practical board level programme is for participants either developing their NXD portfolios or aspiring towards one in the next phase of their executive and professional development. It will also supply the tools, strategies, and networks to support and challenge participants as they develop their careers in or towards non executive positions.