Responsibility of Directors for the Preparation of the Annual Report and the Accounts
The directors are responsible for preparing the Annual Report and the group and parent company accounts in accordance with applicable law and regulations.

Company law requires the directors to prepare group and parent company accounts for each financial year. Under that law they are required to prepare the group accounts in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as adopted by the European Union (EU) and applicable law and have elected to prepare the parent company accounts on the same basis.

The group and parent company accounts are required by law and IFRS as adopted by the EU to present fairly the financial position of the group and the parent company and the performance for that period; the Companies Act 1985 provides in relation to such accounts that references in the relevant part of that Act to accounts giving a true and fair view are references to their achieving a fair presentation.

In preparing each of the group and parent company accounts, the directors are required to:

• select suitable accounting policies and apply them consistently;
• make judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
• state whether they have been prepared in accordance with IFRS as adopted by the EU; and
• prepare the accounts on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the group and parent company will continue in business.

The directors are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the parent company and enable them to ensure that its accounts comply with the Companies Act 1985. They have a general responsibility for taking such steps as are reasonably open to them to safeguard the assets of the group and to prevent and detect fraud and other irregularities.

Under applicable law and regulations the directors are also responsible for preparing a directors’ report including a Business Review, directors’ Remuneration Report and Corporate Governance statement that comply with that law and those regulations.

The directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the company’s website. Legislation in the UK governing the preparation and dissemination of accounts may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

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Responsibility Statement of the Directors in Respect of the Annual Report and the Accounts
Each of the directors as at the date of the Annual Report and Accounts, whose names and functions are set out in the Board of Directors section, confirms that to the best of their knowledge:

• the group and parent company accounts, prepared in accordance with applicable UK law and in conformity with IFRS, give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss of the company and the undertakings included in the consolidation taken as a whole; and
• the management report (which comprises the Report of the Directors, including the Business Review) includes a fair review of the development and performance of the business and the position of the company and the undertakings included in the consolidation taken as a whole, together with a description of the principal risks and uncertainties they face.

Sir John Banham
Chairman

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