Our Story

Our Goal

We believe that strong, effective boards help management make better decisions. That means improved strategic performance, ‘doing the right thing’ through strong values and ethics and considering the interests of the many stakeholders affected by any organisation.

At Independent Audit, we are on a mission to help boards lead complex organisations through effective governance that generates long-term value for shareholders, employees, and the communities they serve.

We provide common sense evaluations and advice to help make boards work better.

Who We Are and Our Resources

We are board review specialists. Founded in 2002, we have completed hundreds of board reviews for a wide range of firms of all sizes, from huge to very small, and in all sectors. These include listed companies, subsidiaries, financial services firms, regulators, public sector and membership organisations – and we have clients in every continent except Antarctica.

To give our clients the benefit of such wide experience, we work in teams, rather than singly.  That means we’re debating amongst ourselves as we go along, which gives us better insight and keeps our views balanced.  A typical team might consist of a Partner, a Senior Associate and a Consultant, with most interviews being taken by any two of them, but it can vary widely depending on what each engagement needs.

Partners and Senior Associates each have anything from 20 to 45 years of professional experience and a wide range of relevant expertise: company secretarial, audit and accounting, risk management, HR, investment analysis, legal, financial services regulation…  Most sit on boards themselves, or have done so in the past.  You will find our bios here.

Our professional backgrounds might vary, but one thing we all have in common is that we are good listeners with an interest in people and a practical knowledge of governance.

Our Consultants come to us through a rigorous selection programme, tempted by the training in governance, business and consulting that we offer.  The master-and-apprentice model is our core training method – the less experienced staff work alongside and are coached by the more experienced ones.

Staff of all levels maintain their professional development through courses, workshops and regular team meetings to share ideas and experiences.  We also share the load in preparing our well-regarded webinars and events – and as many people can testify, those who prepare and deliver material get the most out of them.

How We Work

We want to make sure any board regardless of location, size or maturity has access to tools to conduct effective, impactful board evaluations that will help take its performance to the next level.

We bring proven approaches to board evaluation to meet your needs at every stage of the evaluation cycle. Whatever the approach, the goal is to help your board make a difference in how your organisation performs and benefits others.

Our Board Effectiveness Model

There are many influences on effectiveness. We built the Independent Audit Board Effectiveness Model to look at these influences in a structured way.

This model provides clients with a clear structure through which to evaluate board performance and track effectiveness over time.

Our model distinguishes between ‘What the Board does’ and ‘How the Board does it’. Within each area, we focus on six categories that are critical to board effectiveness.

Within these categories are many other influences, including how people interact, how the board’s activity brings value, and how the board’s work helps achieve your governance objectives.

But the model provides that simple framework needed to organise that thinking.