UK Supervisory Board

The Supervisory Board is independent of the Management Board.  Twelve of its members are elected by the firm’s partners for a four year terms of office, with six seats being filled every two years. In addition, the Chairman of the Management Board and those partners who have been elected to the board of PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited (that is the Global Board, and excluding any partner who would be ineligible to stand for election to the Supervisory Board) are ex-officio members who are deemed as elected members in certain circumstances as set out in the Members’ Agreement.

The Supervisory Board generally meets monthly but may occasionally hold additional meetings as necessary. Six of the current elected Supervisory Board members took office on 1 January 2017 and six on 1 January 2019.

The Supervisory Board provides the firm's Chairman with guidance on matters of actual or potential concern to the partners. It is also responsible for: 

• determining and overseeing through the Alliance Supervisory Board the process for the election of the Alliance Senior Partner;
• determining how any meeting or ballot of the partners is to be called and conducted;
• initiating the process for a ballot for the removal from office of the Alliance Senior Partner;
• approving the firm’s accounts on behalf of the members;
• approving any statement made by the firm under the Modern Slavery Act 2015;
• testing the reactions of a wider body of partners to particular matters and/or issues and/or proposals either on the Supervisory Board’s own initiative or at the request of the Senior Partner, the Executive Board or others;
• seeking an effective dialogue between the Supervisory Board and the board of PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited to facilitate an effective working relationship;
• approving, if thought fit, transactions, commitments and arrangements outside the ordinary course of business of the LLP; and
• referring to a decision of the partners, by a special majority, any matter involving, in the opinion of the Supervisory Board, a significant change in the form or direction of the LLP.

The Supervisory Board currently has four committees.

The Audit Committee: The primary purpose of the Committee is to provide assistance to the Supervisory Board in fulfilling its legal and fiduciary obligations with respect to matters involving the accounting, auditing, financial reporting and internal control functions of the firm.

The Partner Affairs Committee: The primary purpose of the Committee is to ensure all partners are treated fairly, which includes monitoring and overseeing the annual partner income moderation process, reviewing partner medical provision, development, changes to benefits, flexible working and diversity.  It also ensures that appropriate processes and procedures are in place to provide robust governance for example on direct partner admissions, retired partner programme and involuntary retirements.

The Risk Committee: The primary purpose of the Committee is to review, on behalf of the Supervisory Board, management’s risk framework, assessment and recommendations on enterprise wide risks including financial, operational and reputational risk.

The Talent and Remuneration Committee (T&RC): The primary purpose of the Committee is to review the remuneration, talent development and, where appropriate, succession plans for the T&RC population. The T&RC population is defined as the UK Senior Partner, members of the Management Board (“MB”) and any UK partners on the Global Leadership Team or EMEA Leadership Team.

For the terms of reference of the Supervisory Board and of the Audit Committee, please go to Terms of Reference.

The members of the Supervisory Board from 1 January 2019 are:

Elected members:

Dave Allen*

Glen Babcock

Chris Burns*

Stuart Hatcher

David Kenmir*

Andy Key

Mary Monfries*

Teresa Owusu-Adjei*

Zafar Patel*

Lorna Ward

Kate Wolstenholme

Kenny Wilson

Those marked with an asterisk will serve until 31 December 2020 and the others until 31 December 2022.

The Chair of the Supervisory Board is Chris Burns. The Deputy Chair is Mary Monfries.

Ex officio members:

Pauline Campbell - Member of the Board of PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited

Kevin Ellis - Chairman of the Executive Board and Alliance Senior Partner

Duncan Skailes -  Member of the Board of PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited

Supervisory Board Committees:

Audit Committee: Chair - Kenny Wilson; Members - Stuart Hatcher, David Kenmir, Andy Key and Kate Wolstenholme 

Partner Affairs Committee: Chair - Teresa Owusu-Adjei; Members - Dave Allen, Glen Babcock, David Kenmir and Lorna Ward

Risk Committee: Chair Kate Wolstenholme; Members - Stuart Hatcher, Andy Key, Zafar Patel and Kenny Wilson

Talent and Remuneration Committee: Chair Mary Monfries; Members - Chris Burns, Dave Allen and Glen Babcock