Governance

Statement of Directors' responsibilities

The Directors are responsible for preparing the Annual Report and the Group and Company financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.

Company law requires the Directors to prepare Group and Company financial statements for each financial year. Under that law they are required to prepare the Group financial statements in accordance with IFRS, as adopted by the EU, and applicable law and have elected to prepare the Company financial statements on the same basis.

The Group and Company financial statements are required by law and IFRS, as adopted by the EU, to present fairly the financial position of the Group and the Company and the performance for that period; The Companies Act 1985 provides in relation to such financial statements that references in the relevant part of that Act to financial statements giving a true and fair view are references to their achieving a fair presentation.

In preparing each of the Group and Company financial statements, the Directors are required to:

• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
• make judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
• state whether they have been prepared in accordance with IFRS, as adopted by the EU; and
• prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis, unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Group and the Company will continue in business.

The Directors are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Company and enable them to ensure that its financial statements comply with the Companies Act 1985. They 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 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.

Steven Crawshaw
Group Chief Executive
12 February 2008