Andium Homes Limited: Appointment of a Director

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A decision made on 1 November 2019

Decision Reference: MD-TR-2019-0106
Decision Summary Title:	Andium Homes Ltd – Appointment of a Director		Date of Decision Summary:	31st October 2019
Decision Summary Author:	Director of Treasury and Investment Management		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt?	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title:	Andium Homes Ltd – Appointment of a Director		Date of Written Report:	31st October 2019
Written Report Author:	Director of Treasury and Investment Management		Written Report : Public or Exempt?	Public
Subject: Andium Homes Ltd – Appointment of a Director
Decision(s): The Assistant Minister for Treasury and Resources decided to:- Appoint Jason Laity as a Director of the Company with effect from 1st November 2019. Notify the Company Secretary in writing that the appointment has been made.
Reason(s) for Decision: Article 38 of the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the Company provide the Guarantor with the power to appoint any Director (except the Chief Executive and the Finance Director) at any time by notice in writing to the Secretary. Following recent departures from the Company’s Board this appointment is required to strengthen the current Board and ensure it can operate to the required standards.
Resource Implications: There are no resource implications for the Government of Jersey arising from this decision, the Director will be remunerated directly by the Company.
Action required: The Head of Financial Governance to inform the Director of Treasury and Investment Management that this decision has been signed.
Signature:		Position: Deputy L Ash, Assistant Minister for Treasury and Resources
Date Signed:		Date of Decision:

Andium Homes Limited: Appointment of a Director

Treasury and Exchequer

Ministerial Decision Report

ANDIUM HOMES LIMITEd – APPOINTMENT OF A DIRECTOR

Purpose of Report

To enable the Assistant Minister for Treasury and Resources, as Guarantor, to appoint a Director at Andium Homes Limited (“the Company”) in accordance with the Memorandum and Articles of Association.

Background

With effect from 31st October 2019 the Board of Andium Homes will see the departure of two Independent Directors, Frank Walker and Heather Bestwick (Chair and Vice Chair respectively). This follows the departure of Jane Martin at the end of June 2019.

Furthermore, the Finance Director of Andium Homes resigned on 30th August 2019 and is currently on gardening leave whilst his notice period is served. This leaves the Board under strength and potentially unable to operate to the standards required at a time when the company has a large and complex development programme to deliver social housing in Jersey.

As an immediate solution the Assistant Minister has made a nomination for a Guarantor’s Appointee to act as Chair of the Company with effect from 1st November 2019.

A Board Effectiveness Review undertaken by Satori at the end of 2018 recommended the appointment, as soon as possible, of one non-executive qualified accountant with recent or current professional financial experience.

Appointment

Having considered the current number of vacancies on the Board and taking account of the Satori recommendation the Assistant Minister intends to make an appointment under Article 38 of the Memorandum and Articles of Association.

The proposed candidate is Jason Laity who until September 2019 was the Senior Partner and Chairman of KPMG Channel Islands. Mr Laity has been a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales since 1994. Educated in Jersey, Mr Laity was also the Chairman of the local branch of the Institute of Directors between 2011 and 2014.

Mr Laity has significant Board level leadership experience and meets the criteria identified in the Satori recommendation. It is intended that Mr Laity’s appointment will commence on 1st November 2019 and he will be contracted by the Company at the standard rate for a Non-Executive Director of £20,000 per annum.

As with the Guarantor’s Appointee, it is intended that Mr Laity will be in post for a period of up to 12 months. Whilst this term of office will not be automatically extended by the Guarantor Mr Laity is free to apply for a longer term role on the Company’s Board through the standard recruitment process should he wish to do so.

The Jersey Appointments Commission have been consulted about the appointment of Mr Laity.

Recommendation

The Assistant Minister for Treasury and Resources is recommended to:-

Appoint Jason Laity as a Director of the Company with effect from 1st November 2019.
Notify the Company Secretary in writing that the appointment has been made.

Reason for Decision

Article 38 of the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the Company provide the Guarantor with the power to appoint any Director (except the Chief Executive and the Finance Director) at any time by notice in writing to the Secretary.

Following recent departures from the Company’s Board this immediate appointment is required to strengthen the current Board and ensure it can operate to the required standards.

Resource Implications

There are no resource implications for the Government of Jersey arising from this decision, the Director will be remunerated directly by the Company.

Report author : Director of Treasury and Investment Management	Document date : 31st October 2019
Quality Assurance / Review : Head of Financial Governance	File name and path: L:\Treasury\Sections\Corporate Finance\Ministerial Decisions\DS, WR and SD\2019-0106 - Andium Homes – appointment of Director
MD sponsor : Director of Treasury and Investment Management