Press Update: Marks & Spencer

The governance issues raised by the Marks & Spencer AGM and Manifest’s analysis of the outcome received broad coverage in the UK press and broadcast media. In addition to newspaper coverage, Manifest was asked for its input on BBC Radio 5 Live’s “Wake Up to Money” and BBC Radio 4’s flagship current affairs program, “Today”.

While the coverage and awareness raising of governance issues is very welcome, at the same the messages appear confused. As a case in point, Jeremy Warner, the Daily Telegraph’s newly appointed Assistant Editor, wrote a comment piece on the role of shareholders. On the one hand he suggests that “as if finally awakened from a long sleep, institutional shareholders are flexing their muscles” but then goes on to suggest that LAPFF’s attempt to encourage best practice “amounted to no more than completely pointless corporate governance grand standing”.

Jeremy also doesn’t appear to hold out much hope for the efficacy of the Combined Code in preventing any more governance catastrophe’s but finishes by pointing out the disparity between the compliance requirements of companies – 20 pages – “yet there is only one on the duties of shareholders. In the interests of the health of our economy, as well as the safety of our money, it is about time this deficiency was rectified.”

So shareholders appear damned if they do and damned if they don’t, with very few suggestions of what would be the better course.