Board Excellence is a leading provider of board evaluations and board/governance services to listed stock market companies, corporates and international subsidiary companies. We have a strong understanding of the board dynamics and wider practical challenges faced by larger corporate and listed company board teams in consistently delivering outstanding performance and meeting shareholder and stakeholder expectations.
Our support services are adaptable to the particular requirements, size and nature of your organisation and our engagement approach is one which empowers your board to identify issues and constraints and to achieve step changes in your board effectiveness, governance and performance and the value you add for shareholders and stakeholders.
Our engagement with you is based on a passionate belief that a highly effective board of directors makes a significant contribution to the success of your organisation beyond its statutory requirements and is a powerful source of added value for your company, shareholders and wider stakeholders.
We provide a full range of high-quality board support services to listed companies, corporates and subsidiary companies including:
- External board evaluations
- External governance evaluations
- Support for internal board evaluations
- Support for Annual Board Chair and Board Director evaluations
- Support on Board composition, diversity and succession planing
- Support on CEO succession planning
- Board and Director Training
- Chair and Non-Executive Director Search service
- Mediation of internal boardroom disputes and issues seriously impacting board effectiveness
- Support on optimising Executive Reporting to the Board and Committees
- Strategy and Board Away-Day facilitation
- External corporate culture evaluations
- General Governance support
All of our board support services and materials are built upon a combination of our proprietary research and philosophies and international best practices, and reflect the provisions of leading international corporate governance codes (e.g. the UK Corporate Governance Code (2018), the Irish Corporate Governance Code (2024) and the UK Quoted Company Alliance (QCA) Corporate Governance Code). We incorporate guidance on board and committee effectiveness from leading international guides , other relevant publications and guidelines, and international best practices.
Some of Our Clients
What Our Clients Say
“We recently engaged with Board Excellence to perform an external review of the performance of our Board. Under the guidance of Ros O’Shea, Board Excellence delivered a comprehensive assessment that was professional, rigorous, and fair. Universally, our Directors had affirming comments about their interviews with Ros. I found that Ros was particularly adept in bringing forward best practices that will help the performance of our Board as we move forward. The approach taken was not cookie cutter in any fashion. Board Excellence tailored our assessment to our Industry and our circumstances. I have no reservations in recommending Board Excellence to others.”
“Ros approached this engagement using a structured and collaborative style and her easy manner ensured constructive and positive engagement from the board and senior management. Her review was comprehensive and included fresh insights and perspectives on our approach. Ros’s wealth of experience coupled with her structured approach ensured the company has a well-informed set of pragmatic recommendations that can be implemented to strengthen our current corporate governance arrangements. In addition, Board Excellence advice and guidance on the implementation of those recommendation is an invaluable part of their servicing offering. The evaluation exceeded our expectations, and we would highly recommend Ros O’Shea to any company looking to improve their corporate governance framework.”
The Irish Times DAC recruited Board Excellence to carry out an independent effectiveness evaluation of the Irish Times Board and its sub-committees, recognising the unique nature of the Irish Times organisation and corporate structure. Martina Maher followed a very clear and staged process involving a review of historical Board documentation followed by questionnaires and one-on-one interviews to elicit the input for all Board members and selected members of senior management. She also attended Board and subcommittee meetings as an observer. Martina then synthesised her findings in a clear and understandable report with detailed recommendations on a range of changes in structure and systems that were accepted by the Board at its meeting in June 2024. As Board Chair I have no doubt that the implementation of the changes recommended by Board Excellence will assist in the sustained improvement and enhancement of the Irish Times Board’s effectiveness and performance.
“We approached Board Excellence at a critical stage in the company’s development, undertaking a large transaction which would platform the business for growth over the coming years. We were anxious to upskill our PLC board with commensurate non-executive director experience. Board Excellence have an incredible reach into the professional marketplace and the ability to find the best board placements is undoubted as a result. I would have no hesitation in recommending Board Excellence as a best in class Non-executive director search partner.”
“We engaged Board Excellence (BE) to conduct an external review of our Board’s effectiveness and governance. The collaboration was highly pleasant, professional, and goal-oriented. Under the experienced leadership of Ros O’Shea, BE delivered a detailed, professional, and balanced analysis with pragmatic recommendations tailored to our company’s specific needs, while also considering the nuances of our industry. We have already begun implementing some of these recommendations and are confident that we have taken a significant step toward enhancing the overall performance of our Board. We wholeheartedly recommend BE’s services without reservation.”
“Kieran Moynihan of Board Excellence completed a very comprehensive review of our board structure and practices. The nature of the engagement was thorough and forthright but at the same time commercial and pragmatic. The insights and advice received from Kieran will enable our board to perform at a higher level and to work more effectively with management to deliver ambitious targets for our business. I would highly recommend the engagement of Kieran and Board Excellence in assessing a board and advising on how best to deliver enhanced board effectiveness.”
“Ifac is Irelands farming, food and agribusiness specialist professional service Firm. We employ 475 people in more than 30 regional offices across the country. We engaged Board Excellence to help us recruit a high calibre independent non-executive director (INED) to join our Board. From the outset Kieran and Anne-Marie invested time in understanding our business and our needs. They used this knowledge to create the specification for the role and brought us a stellar group of INED candidates. The process was detailed, professional, open, and transparent. Kieran and Anne-Marie were excellent throughout. Board
Excellence did a great job for Ifac and we highly recommend them.”
“AIU selected Board Excellence to conduct an independent board effectiveness review. Ros O’Shea is an exceptional governance professional with the experience to understand the strategic and regulatory challenges in an ever changing financial services environment. The final report was excellent and her insightful suggestions have served the board well as we continue to enhance our governance and effectiveness. I would strongly recommend Ros and Board Excellence.”
Board Excellence is a leading provider of board evaluations and board/governance services to listed stock market companies, corporates and international subsidiary companies. We have a strong understanding of the board dynamics and wider practical challenges faced by larger corporate and listed company board teams in consistently delivering outstanding performance and meeting shareholder and stakeholder expectations.
Our support services are adaptable to the particular requirements, size and nature of your organisation and our engagement approach is one which empowers your board to identify issues and constraints and to achieve step changes in your board effectiveness, governance and performance and the value you add for shareholders and stakeholders.
Our engagement with you is based on a passionate belief that a highly effective board of directors makes a significant contribution to the success of your organisation beyond its statutory requirements and is a powerful source of added value for your company, shareholders and wider stakeholders.
We provide a full range of high-quality board support services to listed companies, corporates and subsidiary companies including:
- External board evaluations
- External governance evaluations
- Support for internal board evaluations
- Support for Annual Board Chair and Board Director evaluations
- Support on Board composition, diversity and succession planing
- Support on CEO succession planning
- Board, Director and Committee Training
- Chair and Non-Executive Director Search service
- Mediation of internal boardroom disputes and issues seriously impacting board effectiveness
- Support on optimising Executive Reporting to the Board and Committees
- Strategy and Board Away-Day facilitation
- External corporate culture evaluations
- General Governance support
All of our board support services and materials are built upon a combination of our proprietary research and philosophies and international best practices, and reflect the provisions of leading international corporate governance codes (e.g. the UK Corporate Governance Code (2018), the UK Quoted Company Alliance (QCA) Corporate Governance Code and the Wates Corporate governance Principles for Large Private Companies ). We incorporate guidance on board and committee effectiveness from leading international guides , other relevant publications and guidelines, and international best practices.
Some of Our Clients
What Our Clients Say
“Paul George and Sue Bonney recently completed a comprehensive Board Effectiveness Review for us. They have a well-established process for gathering evidence, apply sound judgement in interpreting that evidence and provided a clear and concise report with practical recommendations. Paul and Sue communicated professionally and effectively with us throughout the process and were prepared to listen and reflect on feedback and address our comments. We appreciated Paul and Sue’s experience and guidance throughout the process.”
“Board Excellence delivered a robust and objective assessment of the Board. Paul George and Martina Maher clearly understood the context in which the Board was operating as a result of the rapidly growing nature of the business, the level of regulatory scrutiny given the Group’s ambitious plans for further growth and the resulting pressures placed on the Board. The report was clear, to the point with some pertinent and practical recommendations which will help our governance arrangements keep place with our changing environment.”
“Our recent external board evaluation process with Board Excellence was a very thorough process, assessing our board effectiveness and performance in a wide range of areas. Kieran’s approach, while challenging and setting the bar high for the board, was very engaging, constructive and warmly embraced by the board. Kieran went the extra mile to understand our board, our dynamics as a board team, our strengths to build upon and identify opportunities to improve. We worked closely with Kieran to develop a practical roadmap based on the evaluation recommendations to drive sustained improvement in our board effectiveness, leveraging the deep experience and best practices Board Excellence have developed and we are already seeing the benefits of this. For any board looking to select a board evaluation practice to provide a robust honest evaluation of the board that adds genuine value, I warmly recommend Board Excellence.”
“Cirencester Friendly takes Corporate Governance very seriously and we undertake a triennial external review of the effectiveness of our Board. For our most recent review process we partnered with Board Excellence to conduct an independent review. The approach they took was thorough and robust and we worked closely with Paul George and Kieran Moynihan to produce an output that was practical and proportionate. The report contained a good range of findings and recommendations that recognised our Board was already effective but can be made even more so. We saw Board Excellence’s commitment to include follow-up work over a 12-month period as a key differentiator in the market. I would be happy to recommend Board Excellence to organisations looking for an independent and objective assessment of their Board.”
“We engaged with Board Excellence to conduct our Board Effectiveness Review and would not hesitate to recommend their services. The review was conducted in an efficient and professional manner and within agreed timescales. The process was effective in challenging current processes and the output was useful with practical recommendations we could apply”
“I would certainly recommend Board Excellence to carry out a robust and thorough effectiveness review. Their UK lead Partner Paul George was quick to understand the issues and presented us with an excellent report with some very clear and pertinent recommendations.”
“Border to Coast Pensions Partnership selected Board Excellence to conduct our Bi Annual external independent review of the effectiveness of our Board. As a regulated Asset Manager we felt that Board Excellence had the right experience and skill set to work with us. The approach, including the process and timetable was well managed and included the main board and board committees. The review was thorough and robust and the outputs helpful in terms of how we as a Board continue to develop and improve from a position of effectiveness. We worked with Paul George and Martina Maher who presented us with a useful set of findings incorporating Board support, future accountabilities and, Board dynamics, all of which are appropriate and proportionate to our business . The feedback session with the Board was excellent leading to some good debate and clarification of the actions we will now take forward in our plans. We would work with Board Excellence again and would recommend them to other Boards”
“Our Board evaluation process has done just what it should do, which is challenge us as a Board and make us think about ways to improve our performance for all of our stakeholders. The Board Excellence team ran a well-structured process, ensuring that multiple data inputs were used and put into the right context. They partnered with us collectively and individually from beginning to end of the evaluation, communicated clearly with us throughout and definitely went the extra mile to ensure that we got real value out of the evaluation. One of the main reasons we selected them was their excellent knowledge of, and insights into, Board dynamics and performance; this proved to be very helpful and informative when reflecting on our own performance. They are not afraid to address the elephants in the room and to challenge everything, which is the only way to make real progress. I would definitely work with them again.”
“Thanks to Paul George and Board Excellence on completion of a Board Effectiveness Review at BHSF. Paul’s open style and encouragement of conversation enables reflective conversation and conclusions. The structured approach enabled the agreement of an improvement plan to ensure even higher performance from our Board.”
“Our decision to choose Board Excellence to run our External Evaluation turns out to have been an excellent one ! Kieran Moynihan’s report was thorough, balanced, comprehensive and excellent value. More importantly it was insightful. It pulled no punches and provided candid feedback that was hard hitting but accurate. At the same time it drew out an array of very positive points too. We all greatly appreciated the directness of Kieran’s comments, are thoroughly pleased we have done the exercise and are relishing our next steps. Thanks Board Excellence – an excellent job !”
Board Excellence is a leading provider of board evaluations and board/governance services to listed stock market companies, corporates and international subsidiary companies. We have a strong understanding of the board dynamics and wider practical challenges faced by larger corporate and listed company board teams in consistently delivering outstanding performance and meeting shareholder and stakeholder expectations.
Our support services are adaptable to the particular requirements, size and nature of your organisation and our engagement approach is one which empowers your board to identify issues and constraints and to achieve step changes in your board effectiveness, governance and performance and the value you add for shareholders and stakeholders.
Our engagement with you is based on a passionate belief that a highly effective board of directors makes a significant contribution to the success of your organisation beyond its statutory requirements and is a powerful source of added value for your company, shareholders and wider stakeholders.
We provide a full range of high-quality board support services to listed companies, corporates and subsidiary companies including:
- External board evaluations
- External governance evaluations
- Support for internal board evaluations
- Support for Annual Board Chair and Board Director evaluations
- Support on Board composition, diversity and succession planing
- Support on CEO succession planning
- Board, Director and Committee Training
- Mediation of internal boardroom disputes and issues seriously impacting board effectiveness
- Support on optimising Executive Reporting to the Board and Committees
- Strategy and Board Away-Day facilitation
- External corporate culture evaluations
- General Governance support
All of our board support services and materials are built upon a combination of our proprietary research and philosophies and international best practices, and reflect the provisions of national corporate governance codes, market listing rules, regulatory frameworks and sectoral guidance and regulations. We incorporate guidance on board and committee effectiveness from leading international guides , other relevant publications and guidelines, and international best practices.
Some of Our Clients
What Our Clients Say
“Africa50 engaged Board Excellence – a leading international board consulting practice – to conduct an external independent board and committee evaluation as part of our deep commitment to the highest standards of corporate governance. At Africa50, we believe that regularly conducting and acting on such assessment is meant to improve board and committee’s overall effectiveness and performance. We found the process to evaluate Africa50 Board performance to be comprehensive, tailored to our requirements and added significant value. The quality of the team – Kieran and Chaka – were excellent, highly engaging, with deep expertise in the board governance area. The Corporate Secretary team kept engaged in the planning and during all the process. They managed to keep our directors engaged all along in a helpful and pleasant manner. We are delighted to recommend the engagement of Board Excellence in assessing a board and advising on how best to deliver enhanced board effectiveness.”
Morocco
“We have been carrying out annual Board evaluations for a number of years which we had been handling internally. We made a decision to carry out an external board evaluation using a firm with international experience. We definitely made the right decision selecting Board Excellence. Their process was extremely thorough with all the board members and executives being interviewed. The report delivered by Board Excellence was very detailed and has helped us realise various ways we can take our Board performance to the next level. The report included several insightful recommendations which we are keen to implement. Their commitment to 12 months support postcompletion of their report at no additional cost is quite impressive and was a pleasant surprise as it is not something we had contemplated when we decided to carry out an external board evaluation. Working with Kieran Moynihan was a pleasure. He is very knowledgeable and pleasant and made the evaluation process quite interesting. I definitely recommend Board Excellence for anyone that intends to carry out a board evaluation.”
Nigeria
“Kieran led our Board of Directors and Executive Management Team through an education session on Board Best Practices. The session covered key best practices for the executive team partnering with the board of directors, optimizing the value of board committees and evolving expectations of and key trends in publicly listed company boards. With Kieran’s extensive experience as an advisor and a board member, he was able to provide current and practical advice and guidance to the board and executive team. Thanks to his facilitation style, we had genuine healthy engagement and discussion from both board members and executive. We would not hesitate to recommend Kieran.”
Canada
“FMO, the Dutch Development Bank, highly values training of its (potential) nominee directors to support them in the proper performance of their board role thus enabling them to positively contribute to board effectiveness and – dynamics. In Board Excellence we found a diligent, knowledgeable and experienced training institute performing a dedicated nominee director training highly appreciated by the participants.”
Netherlands