John Dawson
- Deputy Chairman of the Investor Relations Society
- Chairman of the Best Practice and Education Committees
John was formerly Director of IR at Cadbury plc having joined in August 2008. Prior to this he was Vice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications for ICI, having joined the company in this role in August 2004. 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 its John Crane division in 1990 and qualified as a Management Accountant in 1992. Over the next eight years John worked overseas in Malta and Italy as well as in the UK for several of TI Group’s divisions, as well as at group centre, in a number of finance and strategy roles. 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.
Richard Carpenter
- Managing Partner - Merchant
- Chairman of the Conference Committee
Richard Carpenter is Managing Partner of corporate reporting consultants, Merchant.
Before joining Merchant, Richard was a board director and head of reporting at Radley Yeldar for three years. Prior to that he ran his own investor communications and reporting consultancy for six years.
He has also been a financial journalist including stints on the Mail on Sunday and as editor of Investor Relations magazine. He is author to several publications including the London Stock Exchange's Practical Guide to Investor Relations. He sat on the ICSA working group on electronic communications prior to the publication of its 2007 report.
He is currently a board director and member of the Policy Committee of the UK Investor Relations Society.
Richard Davies
- Chairman of the Investor Relations Society
- Richard Davies Investor Relations Limited
- Chairman of the Nominations and Events Committees
Richard Davies is Managing Director of Richard Davies Investor Relations Limited ("RD:IR"), a leading UK independent investor relations research consultancy acting for over 500 UK and international companies and their advisors, which specialises in:
- Share register analysis & shareholder identification surveys
- Proxy vote & acceptance chasing
- Investor Relations CRM services
- Investor sentiment studies
- Targeting & roadshow services
- M&A support
- Financial market research
After gaining an Honours Degree in German from Sussex University, Richard worked as a freelance print journalist and television researcher before going into the City to build and manage one of the first UK share analysis services and edit the well-known City directory, “The Index of Nominees & their Beneficial Owners”. Building on his experience in stock analysis and related areas, Richard set up RD:IR in 2002 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 IR counsel, Richard has run many pioneering research projects across the global financial markets including surveys covering hedge funds, emerging markets, private equity, internet business and financial service marketing processes.
Richard is Chairman of the UK Investor Relations Society where he has been a Board member for nearly seven years and has contributed greatly to the development of the Society's education, events & social programmes. Richard is currently Chairman of the Nominations and Events Committees and also sits on the IRS’s Conference and Policy Committees. A member of the IR Society’s Examination Board, Richard helped set up the Society’s Certificate in Investor Relations and retains a keen interest in the Society’s education programme.
Richard is also a member of the following entities:
- All Party Parliamentary Corporate Governance Group
- Chartered Institute of Public Relations
- CIPR City & Financial Group
- Shareholder Voting Working Group
- Stewardship Code Monitoring Steering Group
Rebecca Ford
- Senior Account Director
- The Group
Rebecca is a consultant with online corporate communication specialists, The Group, where she focuses on helping FTSE100 companies communicate effectively with investor relations audiences.
Previously she worked with Cable & Wireless, Jefferson Smurfit Group and Centrica where she variously managed marketing, PR, and reputation and investor communications.
Rebecca has a First Class degree in Physiology from King’s College London and post-graduate qualifications in communications, advertising, marketing and PR.
Claire Jenkins
- Group Director Corporate Affairs
Rexam
Joined Rexam May 2010. Prior to Rexam she sat on the management committee of international tobacco company Gallaher Group (acquired by Japan Tobacco in 2007) where she was responsible for investor relations and group planning. Corporate experience also gained in various consulting roles and at Laing & Cruickshank. She is a non-executive director of Retro Classics Fund and a trustee of Amicus.
Al Loehnis
- Investis
Al Loehnis was a founding director of Investis, Europe's leading specialist in providing web-based investor relations and corporate communications services.
Prior to this, Al worked as an analyst in the City, most recently at Credit Suisse First Boston, where he was a Vice-President in Equity Research.
Michael Mitchell
- General Manager
- The Investor Relations Society
Michael qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1974 and worked in the retail and transport sectors. After various line positions in finance he moved into investor relations in 1986. From 1998 until 2004 he was Director of Corporate Communications with FirstGroup plc, before working on the renewal of the Group’s railway franchises. Michael has been a Board member of The Investor Relations Society since early 2005 and became General Manager in January 2007.
