He is a practiced governance adviser with executive management experience gained in senior roles. Seamus was formerly Policy Director at the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA), now known as the Chartered Governance Institute (CGI), where he authored the Institute’s 2010 guidance on ‘Boardroom Behaviours’, and led the working group which produced the FRC’s 2011 Guidance on Boardroom Effectiveness. He also led the working group which produced Enhancing Stewardship Dialogue, a guide to improving communications between companies and institutional investors and was responsible for the Financial Times/CGI Boardroom Bellwether, the CGI Excellence in Governance Awards, and for a range of initiatives relating to the NHS and not-for-profit sectors.

He oversaw the production of CGI’s technical output, including its best-practice Guidance Notes on boards and directors, relating to areas such as ‘Director induction’, ‘Joining the right board’, ‘non-executive director appointments’, ‘Matters reserved for the board’, ‘Committee terms of reference’, and ‘Care, skill and diligence’.

He has been at the forefront of thinking and practice on governance issues, in the UK and internationally. He has worked around the world, written four national governance Codes, been involved in the production of a Code of Practice for Independent External Board Evaluations, has written numerous articles and speaks at conferences.

Previously, He was the Group Company Secretary and Director of Regulation at Anglian Water (later AWG) plc, advising the board on regulatory, governance, environmental, operational and corporate issues; and Head of Public Policy and Regulation at O2 plc, where he had a similar role. He was originally a senior Whitehall policy adviser, and was Private Secretary to John Gummer MP, Secretary of State for the Environment, and John Prescott MP, Deputy Prime Minister. He has also served as an adviser to the French Government, working in the Ministere de l’Equipment, de Transport et de Tourisme, following a secondment to the prestigious Ecole Nationale d’Administration.

He has a BA (Hons) in Business Studies and French, a Masters in Business Administration from Henley Management College, and is a Fellow of the Chartered Governance Institute. He worked on the UK Financial Reporting Council's Guidance on Board Effectiveness - the most refreshing and straightforward piece of Code guidance, globally, on building better board and has extensive practical experience on Board evaluation - from formal board effectiveness reviews to board facilitation on a range of governance-related challenges, Governance audit - including restructuring of boards and ExCos, reviewing governance structures, Leadership Development - for company secretaries and governance professionals operating in the boardroom, who wish to develop the leadership skills needed to step into the top role

His Previous assignments include:

• Board evaluations of a
  • Listed company in the Oil & Gas Sector
  • range of National Governing Bodies in the sports sector
  • Listed Investment Fund
  • Listed company in the Beverages sector
  • Large UK pension scheme, with funds under management of £4.8bn
  • Non-listed company board pre-IPO, in preparation for listing (company entered the FTSE250, and now a FTSE100 Constituent)
• Governance and board effectiveness review of a family/privately-owned US company and its UK subsidiary, to allow the latter to exploit commercial freedoms more effectively
• Board evaluation and governance audit of a systemically important professional association, leading to the revamping of its governance arrangements, including the creation of a risk management system, an ethics policy and a set of values; subsequent audits of its financial services subsidiary
• Review and revision of the governance of the largest membership organisation in the UK, and one of the largest UK charities by both income and assets
• Training programme for the leadership of the sport and recreation sector, to increase trust in the sector, improve board effectiveness, and strengthen the chances of obtaining government funding
• Training on ‘Director’s Duties’ and ‘The Role of the Company Director’ to directors from a wide range of organisational backgrounds – in the UK and internationally
• Board facilitations for a range of companies – half-day and whole day sessions
• Advice to two Lord Mayors and the City of London Corporation on the creation and implementation of banking standards – including a survey of foreign banks’ boards
• Ongoing roll-out of a Leadership Development Programme for company secretaries and governance professionals