Delt Shared Services Ltd – Board of Directors Meeting

Directors in attendance: Lorna Collingwood-Burke (Non-Executive Director via phone), Nick Franklin (Staff Nominated Non-Executive Director), Mark Greaves (Independent Non-Executive Director, Chair), Paul James (Executive Director), Giles Letheren (Executive Director), Mark Lewis (Independent Non-Executive Director), Giles Perritt (Non-Executive Director) and Andrew Millward (Non-Executive Director)

Attendees:  Kim Brown (Service Director for HR and OD, Plymouth City Council), Nathan Coughlin (Bishop Fleming), Aaron Hartley (Print Services Manager), Damean Miller (Head of Business Services), Helen Prendergast (Secretariat) and Jane White (Head of Workforce and Brand)

The Delt Board of Directors met on 27 May 2020 and discussed the following key items of business:

• Introduction: the Board congratulated Nick Franklin on this re-election for a further two years.
• Audit Feedback: the Board congratulated Delt’s auditors, Bishop Fleming, on its audit of the accounts, whilst recognising the challenges of conducting a remote audit during the pandemic and Delt’s finance team for their thorough preparation of the accounts.
• Draft 2020 Accounts: the Board approved the Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended March 2020. These would be submitted to the Shareholders for consideration at the Annual General Meeting on 24 June 2020.
• Coronavirus Update: the Board noted the work being undertaken by Delt in supporting its customers; work to ensure that the office was compliant with Government guidance had been undertaken.
• Performance Management: the Board reviewed the latest performance information for the Company against its Service Level Agreements (SLAs), in particular the contractual SLAs that had been missed, and progress against the datacentre action plan;
• Client Acquisition and Business Development: the Board noted and discussed the update on the business development. The Chief Executive provided his thoughts on ‘five years in’ which looked at a different approach in pursuing targeted leads.
• Board Effectiveness Review: the Chair (Mark Greaves) was currently in the process of completing this report. An overview of the findings from this review would be briefly considered at the meeting of the Board on 24 June 2020, with a more extensive discussion at a Board development day.
• Service Line: the Board welcomed Damean Miller (Head of Business Services) and Aaron Hartley (Print Services Manager) who provided an overview of the Print and Mail Service. It was considered that this was an excellent example of a service with huge potential being realised through its transfer from a public sector organisation to a shared services company.
• Feedback from Quarterly Meeting held with Jane White (Head of Workforce and Brand): Lorna Collingwood-Burke (Non-Executive Director) advised she had felt assured by the Company’s proactive approach and the work being undertaken regarding employees’ emotional wellbeing during this challenging time, in particular the measures being put in place to identify mental health issues.
• Performance Pay Award Scheme: the Board considered the update regarding the proposed scheme and requested amendments be made prior to the proposal being submitted to Delt Rad for consideration.
• Comms Plan: the Board reviewed the current progress against the plan and the future actions.
• The next Board meeting will be held on 24 June 2020