Do non-executive directors really add value to smaller quoted companies?
The failure of Patisserie Holdings and more recently Goals Soccer Centres, has thrown the spotlight on the role played by non-executive directors in smaller quoted companies. We are beginning to question what value they bring unless they are willing to roll up their sleeves and really get to understand the mechanics of the company.
The two non-executive directors at cake and coffee shop Patisserie Valerie were both highly experienced operators in the leisure sector, yet they clearly failed to ask the necessary questions or perhaps, after a long time out of the kitchen, they simply didn’t know what to ask. Non-exec Lee Ginsberg joined Patisserie Holdings in 2014 and was previously finance director at Domino’s Pizza. Until recently he was also chairman of the audit committee at travel agent On the Beach. James Horler joined Patisserie in 2013 and currently serves as chief executive of 3Sixty Restaurants, a business in which Patisserie’s chairman Luke Johnson also had…