Strategic Report | Governance | Financial Statements | 125
DIRECTORS’ RESPONSIBILITIES
The Directors are responsible for preparing the Annual Report and financial statements in accordance with applicable UK law and regulations. Company law requires the Directors to prepare Group and Parent Company financial statements for each financial year. Under that law they have elected to prepare both the Group and Parent Company financial statements in accordance with UK-adopted International Accounting Standards in conformity with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006. Under company law, the Directors must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Group and Parent Company, and of their profit or loss for that period. In preparing each of the Group and Parent Company financial statements, the Directors are required to: • select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently; • make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; • present information, including accounting policies, in a manner that provides relevant, reliable, comparable and understandable information; • state whether they have been prepared in accordance with applicable UK-adopted International Accounting Standards; • assess the Group and Parent Company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern; and • use the going concern basis of accounting unless they either intend to liquidate the Group or the Parent Company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so. The Directors are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the Parent Company’s and Group’s transactions, and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Parent Company and the Group, and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are responsible for such internal control as they determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and have general responsibility for taking such steps as are reasonably open to them to safeguard the assets of the Group and to prevent and detect fraud and other irregularities. Under applicable law and regulations, the Directors are also responsible for preparing a Strategic report, Directors’ report, Directors’ Remuneration report and Corporate Governance statement that comply with that law and those regulations. The Directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the Company’s website. Legislation in the UK governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.
DIRECTORS’ RESPONSIBILITY STATEMENT The Directors confirm to the best of their knowledge that: • the financial statements, prepared in accordance with the relevant financial reporting framework, give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss of the Company and the undertakings included in the consolidation taken as a whole; • the Annual Report, including the Strategic report, includes a fair review of the development and performance of the business and the position of the Company and undertakings included in the consolidation taken as a whole, together with a description of the principal risks and uncertainties that they face; and • the Annual Report and the financial statements, taken as a whole, are fair, balanced and understandable and provide the information necessary for shareholders to assess the Company’s position, performance, business model and strategy. The Strategic report contains certain forward-looking statements providing additional information to shareholders to assess the potential for the Company’s strategies to succeed. Such statements are made by the Directors in good faith, based on the statements available to them up to the date of their approval of this report, and should be treated with caution due to the inherent uncertainties underlying forward-looking information. Neither the Company nor the Directors accept any liability to any person in relation to the Annual Report and Accounts except to the extent that such liability could arise under English law. Accordingly, any liability to a person who has demonstrated reliance on any untrue or misleading statement or omission shall be determined in accordance with Section 90A and Schedule 10A of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. By order of the Board
DAVID RICHARDSON Group Chief Executive Officer
MARK GODSON Group Chief Financial Officer 7 March 2024
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