What we do
IBE is different. Our clients regard an IBE board performance review as an investment in their boards’ effectiveness. One of the first UK practices to specialise in board reviews, independent since 2008, our approach is tailored to your needs. Our output is crafted for you. We are flexible and bespoke, in our agenda, methodology and engagement terms. We are your partner on the journey to excellent board performance.
In 2024, we launched our AI offering, providing a unique blend of technology and our own deep experience of conducting board reviews for listed companies, private and not-for-profit organisations and partnerships. Find out more about Derek and explore the future of board evaluation.
We take time to get to know your board and company, and reflect that knowledge back in our reports. We understand the cycles of board life and offer practical advice on what is and isn’t achievable at each stage from over 20 years of recommendations to boards across all sectors. Our hallmark is the quality of our judgment and the experience we have in bringing practical, effective good practice to your board process.
Contact us to discuss your board’s needs at info@ibe.uk.com
Who we are
Ffion is a board adviser, author and broadcaster who has been evaluating boards since 2003. She founded IBE in 2008 and since then has focused exclusively on board evaluation in the UK and internationally. She works with corporate, public sector and not-for-profit boards, including major private company boards and partnerships, to identify any obstacles to optimal decision-making and to suggest practical and effective solutions.
Lisa is a former lawyer who has specialised in board reviews since 2011, when she joined Ffion at IBE. A trusted advisor to FTSE companies across all sectors, her clients also include different governance models, such as large subsidiaries, professional services firms and not for profit bodies. Lisa enjoys working closely with her clients, supporting Chairs and Company Secretaries, guiding them to achieve their governance aims through the board review process.
IBE AI Analytics | Derek
Who or what is Derek?
IBE AI Analytics is known to us informally as Derek. Derek is used to support delivery of our board evaluations. We remain fully committed to consultant led qualitative reviews - we keep the human in the loop always - but can now underpin our analysis with a purpose-built evaluation programme designed to move our evaluations to the next level.
How does IBE work with Derek?
Your lead consultant conducts all interviews personally, as before. IBE uses Derek’s capability to support our qualitative approach, to analyse the output from interviews, across different participant groups, to challenge our thinking, remove bias, and allow us to spend more time assessing the trends and key issues to add value to your board. Derek assists IBE to present our findings in plain, easily understandable language, but the AI does not compute, determine or otherwise create the underlying findings themselves which remain crafted by us, tailored for your circumstances and your board in supporting our insight.
How can Derek help your board?
Combining Derek’s analysis with our consultants’ insight is, we believe, a uniquely effective offering. Derek analyses the feedback on your board’s performance and can cut the data in any way that is useful to us in helping your board evolve. He provides bias-free, objective analysis, whether on a full external review, or across all three years of your board evaluation cycle, and can access advice from over 20 years of IBE work with boards. Using Derek, you can track progress on key issues and measure change in a clear and accurate way.
Why use Derek?
Derek helps us provide our bespoke, qualitative reviews with a human centred approach, with all the nuance, skill and critical thinking that this requires, but supported by AI. Derek is an opportunity for you to use AI with your board, to match the AI journey that many businesses are embracing.
Testimonials
Clients
Principles
In early 2024, Ffion and Lisa joined with other established providers of board reviews as founder members of the International Register of Board Reviewers.
In becoming members, participants and their clients confirm that they abide by the above principles in conducting their reviews.
For more info see: TIRBR.info
Four guiding principles For evaluators
Independence
The evaluator must be able to exercise independent and objective judgement. Existing commercial relationships, and other conflicts of interest, should be avoided, and/or disclosed and managed.
Confidentiality
The evaluator must keep all information confidential. The only exception to this is the discovery of unlawful practices or regulatory demands.
Competency
The evaluator will disclose the skills and competences of each individual involved in the evaluation, and provide appropriate references. There must be alignment of expectation between the client and the evaluator with regard to quality, value and longevity of service.
Follow-up
The evaluator will discuss progress on agreed outcomes with clients (to include the Chairman, SID and/or Board) within 6-12 months of the evaluation.
Three guiding principles For clients
Cooperation
There must be full cooperation between the client and the evaluator in order to ensure integrity of process. This will include transparency of, and appropriate access to, Board and Committee information, participants, and meetings.
Transparency
All disclosures, including the Annual Report, must identify the evaluator (and any conflicts), the methodology (including the use of interviews and observation), final outcomes (with reference to accepted recommendations), and the approval process.
Approval
The evaluator should agree and approve any formal disclosures, including the Annual Report, which describe the evaluation.