2009:
Richard Davies to Become Chairman of the Investor Relations Society
29 January 2009The Board of the Investor Relations Society (the Society) unanimously elected Richard Davies of Richard Davies Investor Relations Limited ("RD:IR") as Chairman in succession to Peregrine Riviere who will be retiring from the Board at the Annual General Meeting of the Society in June. The Board also elected John Dawson of Cadbury plc to become Deputy Chairman.
Commenting on his appointment Richard Davies said:
"I am honoured to have been offered the role and I look forward to taking over from Peregrine's very able leadership in June. Despite difficult market conditions, I hope to help strengthen the Society's standing in the UK and internationally. Capital markets remain challenging in many ways, not least in the areas of investor transparency and responsible ownership. The Investor Relations Society should remain at the heart of these debates. I look forward to working with the Board and our membership to promote investor relations as a key business activity intrinsic to the communication and support of real corporate value."
Notes to Editors
Richard Davies
Richard Davies is Managing Director of Richard Davies Investor Relations Limited ("RD:IR"), a leading UK independent investor relations research consultancy acting for over 450 UK and international companies. RD:IR specialises in shareholder analysis and identification programmes; global market sentiment surveying; IR advisory and financial market research.
After gaining an Honours Degree in German from Sussex University in 1985, Richard worked as a freelance print journalist and television researcher before going into the City to design, maintain and manage one of the first UK share analysis services. Building on his experience in stock analysis, Richard set up RD:IR to offer full-service IR consultancy to UK and international companies, combining quantitative and qualitative research processes with insightful advisory skills.
As well as providing pure IR counsel, Richard has run pioneering research projects across the global financial markets including surveys looking at hedge funds, emerging markets, private equity, internet business and financial service marketing processes.
Richard is currently Chairman of the Events and Membership Committees and also sits on the IRS's Examination and Conference Committees. Richard is also a full Member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations through membership of its City & Financial Group.
John Dawson
John (42) is Director, Investor Relations for Cadbury, a world leading confectionery business. Prior to joining Cadbury, John was VP, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications at ICI. John has been an active investor relations practitioner since 1997.
John graduated from the University of Cambridge in 1989 with an honours degree in Manufacturing Engineering and completed a Masters in Manufacturing Engineering and Management in 1990. Sponsored by TI Group through university, John joined TI's John Crane division in 1990, qualified as a Management Accountant in 1992 and, over the next eight years, worked in Malta, Italy and the UK. In 2000 John joined Exel plc as their Director of Investor Relations and subsequently as Director of Corporate Affairs. At Exel he was responsible for the development of Exel's corporate reputation, including investor relations, media relations and marketing, as well as internal communications. In 2004, John joined ICI, running the entire Group communications activities for the next four years until the Group was bought by Akzo Nobel in 2008.
