Black Sun Corporate Communications held its Annual Conference, 'Communicating Value in Challenging Times', on Wednesday 5 June at the RSA House in Central London.

The conference, now in its 6th consecutive year, is renowned across the industry for providing a forum for discussions and insights into the hottest topics on the corporate reporting and communications agenda. The half day event addressed the importance for companies today to communicate their license to operate and demonstrate their commitment to transparency, accountability and shared value.

The keynote speech was delivered by Sir John Egan, Past President of the CBI and Former Chairman of Severn Trent. Sir John set the tone for the day by discussing the importance of strategy and long-term performance and the factors which can create and destroy value. The event focussed particularly on the role of governance in communicating value as well as how companies are using Integrated Reporting to unlock trust and create value. The afternoon played host to a range of leading industry specialists including: Julie Hudson, UBS Investment Bank, Amra Balic, Blackrock EMEA and Colin Melvin, Hermes EOS, aswell as providing the opportunity to hear from companies such as HSBC, Smith & Nephew and Coca-Cola Hellenic, amongst others. Delegates were also treated to an update from senior representatives from BIS, FRC and the IIRC on the future direction of corporate reporting, to provide context for what’s required and when.

The conference was aimed at individuals from key positions within Company Secretariat, Investor Relations, Sustainability and Corporate Communications and attracted representatives from companies such as AstraZeneca, Barclays, BP, British American Tobacco, Burberry, GlaxoSmithKline, Kingfisher and Rio Tinto. Other relevant industry bodies also included attendees from BIS, the Investor Relations Society, CIMA, ACCA, Deloitte and the Financial Reporting Council. Those in attendance on the day were also the very first to receive a copy, hot off the press, of Black Sun’s 8th annual analysis of corporate reporting trends of the FTSE 100; this year entitled ‘Capturing Value’.

Some of the feedback included comments such as: 'It was a really good event. All presenters had interesting points of view and brought different perspectives into the discussion’, ‘Overall timely relevant and focused….. excellent event as always’ and ‘the event was fantastic with eminent speakers, great content, thought provoking research and a wonderful venue’.