Risks & Uncertainties

TO MINIMISE THE IMPACT OF SPECIFIC RISKS ON THE GROUP’S OPERATIONS, FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE AND REPUTATION, IT IS CRITICAL THAT RISKS ARE IDENTIFIED AND MANAGED

RISK MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK

The Group has an established risk management framework in place to; identify, evaluate, mitigate and monitor the risks the business faces, which incorporates both a “top-down approach” to identifying our principal risks and a “bottom-up approach” to identify our operational risks.

The Board has the overall responsibility for the risk management framework however, the Board delegates the ongoing review of this to the Group Risk Committee, which is chaired by the Group Finance Director and consisting of key Senior Managers, has met four times over the course of the year.

The outputs from the Group Risk Committee are reviewed by the Audit Committee with regular updates being provided to the Board. This includes understanding the movement in risks, the status of mitigating actions and importantly highlighting emerging risks.

The Group also has a well-established and effective in house Internal Audit team which reports to the Audit Committee and provides further independent assurance that the Group’s risk management framework, governance and internal control procedures are operating effectively.

IDENTIFYING AND MANAGING RISKS

The Group’s Risk Management Framework enables the business to identify, prioritise and mitigate risks. A Group risk register is in place which captures overarching business risks together with detailed individual site risk registers owned by operational management. The Group undertakes reviews for new and emerging risks on a regular basis and implements appropriate mitigating actions as required.

The Group Risk Committee monitors these processes, reviews the risk registers and reports significant risks to the Audit Committee. The Board receives a quarterly update report on the risk profile facing the Group and formally reviews the key risks facing the business at least once a year. Through this formalised process the principal risks are determined and subsequently agreed by the Board.

PRINCIPAL RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES

The principal risks and uncertainties facing the Group are summarised here.

However, these are not intended to be an exhaustive analysis of all risks currently facing the Group.