Insights
Governance, clearly explained.
Practical guidance for company secretaries, boards and governance leads on the UK Corporate Governance Code, board effectiveness, AI oversight and more.
Annual Board Calendar Template (UK): A 12-Month Governance Planner
A complete annual board calendar template for UK boards, month by month, with the Companies Act 2006 filing and meeting deadlines behind it, the effectiveness review and audit cycles mapped in, a standing items table, and variants for charities, housing associations and NHS bodies.
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Board Effectiveness Review Report Template: The Full Structure and Model Wording
A complete board effectiveness review report template, section by section, with model wording, a worked findings section and action plan, the verbatim Provision 23 disclosure requirement, illustrative annual report paragraphs for internal and externally facilitated years, and sector notes for charities and the NHS.
5 September 2026 · 16 min
Board Induction Checklist for New Directors (UK)
A complete board induction checklist for UK directors and trustees, phased across appointment, the first 30 days, the first 90 days and the first year, with the Companies Act 2006 duties behind it, a sign-off record, a worked example, and sector notes for charities, NHS trusts and housing associations.
5 September 2026 · 15 min
Board Meeting Agenda Template (UK): A Model Agenda With Timings
A complete UK board meeting agenda template you can copy, with timings, a consent agenda worked example and the rule for pulling an item, a strategic versus operational split, a 12-month rolling agenda plan, paper circulation timings and sector notes for charities and public bodies.
5 September 2026 · 16 min
Board Pack Checklist (UK): What Every Pack and Paper Must Cover
A board pack checklist built around what a director should be able to answer after reading the pack, with a pack-level list, a paper-level list, a one-page cover sheet template, the FRC 2024 guidance behind them, and a paper written twice for comparison.
5 September 2026 · 16 min
Charity Trustee Board Self-Assessment Template (2026)
A complete trustee board self-assessment questionnaire mapped to the eight principles of the Charity Governance Code 2025, with 40 statements, a "what a 5 looks like" column for each, a scoring and reporting method, a model trustees' annual report paragraph, and a worked example from a mid-sized charity board.
5 September 2026 · 20 min
Committee Terms of Reference Templates (UK): Audit, Remuneration, Nomination and Risk
Four complete model terms of reference for the audit, remuneration, nomination and risk committees, written to copy, with every clause traced to the UK Corporate Governance Code 2024 provision behind it and sector notes for charities and housing associations.
5 September 2026 · 28 min
Conflicts of Interest Register and Declaration Form (UK)
A complete UK declaration of interests form, register of interests template, meeting-level declaration procedure and conflicts policy skeleton, with the Companies Act 2006 duties behind them and the separate rules for charities, NHS bodies and housing associations.
5 September 2026 · 16 min
External Board Review: Scope and Tender Template
A complete scope of work and tender template for commissioning an externally facilitated board performance review, with a shortlist scoring grid, the questions to ask a reviewer before appointment, and the UK Corporate Governance Code and Chartered Governance Institute expectations behind each section.
5 September 2026 · 15 min
NED Appraisal Form (UK): A Complete Individual Director Review Template
A complete NED appraisal template you can copy straight into your own document: a 20-statement self-assessment with a 1 to 5 scale, a chair's one-to-one interview guide, a short peer input form, an outcome record with Provision 18 re-election wording, and sector notes for charities, NHS trusts and housing associations.
5 September 2026 · 19 min
AI Governance Maturity Assessment: A Board Self-Assessment
A complete board-level AI governance maturity self-assessment, published in full: five maturity levels, eight domains, the questions directors should be able to answer, how to score the result and what to fix in the next quarter.
4 September 2026 · 16 min
Board Effectiveness Review Questionnaire: A Template for UK Boards
A complete board evaluation questionnaire template for UK boards, with 62 statements grouped by the four lenses named in Provision 21 of the UK Corporate Governance Code 2024, plus scoring guidance, anonymity rules and sector notes for charities, housing associations and NHS trusts.
4 September 2026 · 23 min
Board Meeting Minutes Template (UK): A Complete Model Minute Set
A complete UK board meeting minutes template you can copy straight into your own document, with the Companies Act 2006 record-keeping duties behind it, a worked conflict-of-interest example, guidance on what not to minute, and sector notes for charities and public bodies.
4 September 2026 · 16 min
Board Skills Matrix Template (UK): A Full Grid You Can Copy
A complete board skills matrix template for UK boards, with a 0 to 3 rating key, twenty-four competency rows across eight groups, a gap heat map, a worked example for an eight-person housing association board, and sector variants for listed, charity, housing and NHS boards.
4 September 2026 · 18 min
Provision 29: The Board's Declaration on Material Controls
What Provision 29 of the UK Corporate Governance Code 2024 requires, when the material controls declaration first applies, how boards decide what counts as material, and the evidence an audit committee needs to stand behind the wording.
4 September 2026 · 16 min
Board Effectiveness Frameworks: How Different Models Define It
A comparative guide to the main board effectiveness frameworks, from the UK Corporate Governance Code's four lenses to the named models published by EY, IMD and Deloitte.
3 August 2026 · 9 min
Board Evaluation Services in the UK: How to Choose an External Reviewer
A buyer's guide to board evaluation services in the UK: who provides them, what the Chartered Governance Institute's Code of Practice checks, what published fees look like, and the criteria a chair can defend in the annual report.
3 August 2026 · 9 min
Committee Effectiveness Reviews: Audit, Remuneration and Nomination Committees
How to review the effectiveness of the audit, remuneration and nomination committees under the UK Corporate Governance Code 2024, and what evidence each one owes the annual report.
3 August 2026 · 8 min
Internal vs External Board Effectiveness Reviews: Which Do You Need, and When?
A decision guide to internal, external and alternating board effectiveness reviews: what each one can do, what the UK Corporate Governance Code expects, and how the external cycle works by sector.
3 August 2026 · 9 min
The UK Corporate Governance Code 2024: A Company Secretary's Guide to the Changes
A practical guide to the UK Corporate Governance Code 2024 for company secretaries: what changed from 2018, the 2025 timeline, and the Provision 29 internal-controls declaration landing for 2026 year-ends.
20 May 2026 · 8 min
Board Effectiveness Reviews: Running an Annual Board Performance Review
A practical guide to running a board effectiveness review, the exercise the UK Corporate Governance Code 2024 calls a board performance review: scope, the four lenses, candid input, annual report disclosure and an action plan the chair can own.
6 May 2026 · 11 min
Board Skills Matrix: A Step-by-Step Audit with a Worked Example
A step-by-step guide for company secretaries to build a board skills matrix, with a filled-in worked example: define competencies, capture expertise, surface gaps, and feed succession and diversity reporting.
22 April 2026 · 12 min
AI Governance for Boards: Building Oversight with ISO 42001 and the EU AI Act
How boards can build genuine oversight of AI risk by pairing ISO/IEC 42001 management-system structure with EU AI Act duties: roles, board questions and a gap-finding questionnaire.
8 April 2026 · 7 min
NED Appraisals Done Well: A Fair, Constructive Approach to Individual Director Reviews
A constructive playbook for NED appraisals: what 'effective' looks like, how to gather balanced evidence, handle chair and SID feedback, and document outcomes defensibly.
18 March 2026 · 7 min
Board Diversity and ESG Reporting in the UK: Meeting Expectations Without the Guesswork
A clarity-first guide to board diversity reporting in the UK: what to disclose under the listing rules, FTSE Women Leaders and Parker Review, and how it fits within ESG governance.
25 February 2026 · 7 min