Black Sun was recognised at the Excellence in Governance Awards 2013 when its work for Telecity Group plc and Tullow Oil were selected by this year’s judges within the Transparency in Governance category.  Telecity’s Annual Report won the award for Best Board Disclosure in the FTSE 250 while Tullow Oil was shortlisted for Best Annual Report in the FTSE 100.

ICSA (Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators) held their Excellence in Governance Awards 2013, at The Brewery, 13 November 2013, attracting over 600 top governance professionals to celebrate the highest standards in governance.

The judges noted that Telecity’s Annual Report stood out for its clear introduction to the governance section by the chairman and CEO.  They made particular reference to the way the board attendance and schedule were presented with clear diagrams for governance roles along with the breakdown of decision-making roles of the different positions on the Board.

Additionally, the judges were pleased to see the Nomination Committee report included a detailed disclosure of the board evaluation, results, and follow-up actions.  The Remuneration Committee, featuring strong disclosure on achievements for 2012 and objectives for 2013, was also praised.

Tony Hunter, Company Secretary, Telecity said, “As well as showing how the business strategy and management is considered at Board level, we wanted to demonstrate the ownership of responsibility for each committee in their individual reports within our overall governance review. Our aim was to structure and design the review in a way that made it inviting to read, navigable and properly integrated with the rest of our Annual Report.”

Sallie Pilot, Strategy and Research Director, Black Sun said: “We are delighted that the Telecity Annual Report has been recognised for the efforts the team has made to provide better insights and transparency into how the business is run, how decisions are made and the value and importance of this kind of meaningful communication.”

The 2013 winners succeeded in bringing governance issues to life, in demonstrating that they appreciated why governance is important, they persuaded the judges that they understood how an annual report can generate more value if viewed as a communications opportunity rather than a compliance obligation.