Board meetings

The Board holds regular scheduled meetings throughout the year and holds unscheduled supplementary meetings as and when necessary. These meetings are structured to allow open discussion. At each meeting the Board receives certain regular reports which include an update from the Group Chief Executive, current trading/finance (including liquidity) reports from the Group Finance Director, capital expenditure approvals and reports from the Company Secretary (including governance, legal, insurance and risk, and corporate responsibility updates) and people-related updates from the Group Human Resources Director.

All directors participate in discussing strategy, trading and financial performance, and risk management of the Group. Comprehensive briefing papers are circulated to all directors approximately one week before each meeting in digital format. Should a director be unable to attend a particular meeting, they are provided with all relevant briefing papers and are given the opportunity to discuss any issues with the Chairman or the Group Chief Executive and, where possible, participate by telephone for critical discussions and approvals on specific matters.

The Board generally meets at the Group's head office in London and holds at least one meeting each year overseas. During the year under review, the Board held a meeting in Paris, and reviewed the Brico Dépôt and Castorama brands in France, Poland, Russia and Spain. In addition to its normal meetings, at least once per year, the Board holds a meeting off site, which focuses on presentations from the UK executive team and includes visits to UK stores. During the year, the Board held two such meetings and visited the Group's regional Distribution Centre and a B&Q store in Swindon. It is the Board's intention to conduct at least one meeting each year outside the UK in a country in which the Group operates.

At the request of any non-executive director, the Chairman will arrange meetings consisting of just the non-executive directors. During the year, the Chairman and non-executive directors met without the executive directors, and there were no matters of concern raised at this meeting.

Board and committee meeting attendance

The following table shows the number of years each director has served on the Board as at the financial year end, and their attendance at the scheduled Board and Committee meetings which they were eligible to attend: