Statement from the Chairman

I firmly believe in corporate governance as a support to good business performance and fiduciary duty. As chairman of Aegis, it is at the top of my agenda.

My principal governance priorities here include ensuring a business environment that lends itself to responsible professional behaviour and value creation, as well as the core plc areas of Board composition; disclosure standards; and oversight of the executive management team.

I want to ensure that this group is compliant with accepted standards of governance, unless there is a sound commercial reason not to be. From time to time, that is indeed the case - particularly as Aegis operates in over 70 countries, and customs vary from one to another. However, in that case, I believe we should give a clear explanation for our policy, and be prepared, quite properly, to be robustly challenged.