Kalms' Consensus

Sir Stanley Kalms is not a a nice man. This pillar of the Thatcher business establishment is a nasty snarling right-wing character, contemptuous of others and insensitive to those around him.  But I agree 100% with his onslaught on Derek Higgs and the strengthening non-Executive Directors.

The Higgs Report, with its advocacy of 50/50 parity on company Boards, as between executive Directors and non-executive Directors was a specific target for Sir Stanley.  He said the overall effect of would be that two boards were trying to run every company - one executive, one supervisory.  With the appointment of a Higgs "Senior Non-Executive Director", every company would effectively have two Chairmen - leading to conflict and confusion.  And the arch-Executive Sir Stanley was stung by the persistent imputation that non-Executive Directors were superior and "knew everything".  For my part, I identify fully with that impassioned attack.

My view is that none of the grave fault-lines of the modern company as an institutional form will be addressed by fiddling about with Board composition at all.  The problems are much more fundamental, and must be addressed by systemic structural reform, along the lines of my own manifesto at Tame the Corporations!   There must be greater publicity and accessibility by the media and the investing public.  Non-executive Directors and auditors are simply not enough. There must be effective external checks on the exercise of Board powers, by shareholders and the Courts.  And there must be more rigorous surveillance by the company registration authorities.

• I fancy that Sir Stanley and I, having united in our attack on Higgs, would part company decisively when it came to implementing the Newport Manifesto - see my Plan for Political Action.