Revamped Institute of Directors finds its voice in time for general election

Previously characterised as a rather safe organisation, the IoD has been far more forthright in recent times. It has praised SportsDirect boss Mike Ashley for turning down his bonus, “recognising the governance concerns associated with [his] pay plan”, and warned the Burberry  board that shareholders had “fired a warning shot” over pay concerns. Last week it gave its backing to a Labour proposal on lengthening the time period for clawing back bankers’ bonuses.

 

While some of those interventions could be characterised as anti- business, today the IoD is criticising the so-called Google Tax – an attempt by the government to tax supposedly diverted profits. Its head of taxation Stephen Herring says the policy  “represents a dramatic breach with the government’s own road map on tax.” The attacks on bad capitalism give it the political cover for such  potentially controversial comments.

 

It’s all part of a modernisation  strategy. A source familiar with the situation says: “It’s no coincidence that the IoD is becoming more bullish, especially about things like bad  capitalism and bad companies and  Libor and stuff like that. At the same time it’s doing things like letting  people in without a tie, and  revamping its buildings”.

 

Director general Simon Walker says the organisation “needed a reframing” when he took over in 2011, “so it became more helpful for startups, younger people, people who are  coming into business.” He also says that its membership has become more diverse in terms of  “gender, but also  age”,  and there is greater racial  diversity too.

 

 Walker says the organisation has become strident because ”I think people that believe passionately in the free market, as I do, they have a special responsibility, when they see it abused, to stand up against it”. 

 

Since his appointment, Walker has begun replicating part of the strategy he deployed successfully in his previous role at British Venture Capital  Association, where he helped turn around the negative public perception surrounding private equity. The industry’s PR problem had reached a nadir when Permira chairman Damon Buffini became the subject of a GMB Union campaign after thousands of AA staff were fired when it was part- owned by a private equity firm.

 

The IoD also appointed its first  female chair, Lady Barbara Judge, last week. She has been chairman of the Atomic Energy Authority, deputy chair of the Financial Reporting Council, and a commissioner of the US Securities and Exchange Commission. 

 

Recent spats between political parties have put business at the centre of the election debate. Walker confirms that while the IoD will not endorse a party, it will not shirk from political battles either. He does not want the organisation to be seen as a “knee jerk, right wing group, because we’re not”, and cites immigration as an example of its liberal credentials. A source also confirms that while Walker is “less friendly to the Labour party” than his  predecessors, he is not a eurosceptic.

 

Times are changing at the IoD, and it seems to have found its political voice just in time for the election.