Executive and board

We do not take for granted the trust placed in Deloitte by clients, investors, regulators and the wider business community, and sustaining this trust rests with every individual, at every level, within our firm. We recognise that embedding the values of integrity, respect, fairness, objectivity and accountability within our organisation to sustain that trust starts with the tone at the top and the strength and vision of our leaders.

Our leadership is shaped to meet continuing market challenges and to prioritise our continued investment in quality and our people. We have a structure for the leadership and management of the firm which includes governance structures to provide oversight of activities of the management team.

Deloitte's activities are managed by David Sproul, the Senior Partner and Chief Executive, and the Executive Group, which is appointed by him. The Senior Partner and Chief Executive is nominated by the Board and elected by the partners and serves for a four-year term of office. David Sproul commenced his first term of office as Senior Partner and Chief Executive on 1 June 2011 and was elected to serve a second term from 1 June 2015.

The Executive Group

Deloitte's activities are managed by the Senior Partner and the Executive Group who are appointed by the Senior Partner and work closely as a team to lead the firm. While all members of the Executive continue to focus primarily on client service and relationships, they are also each responsible for leading one area of the firm’s operations and strategy.

The Executive Group met 13 times during the year.

The Board

The Board of Partners is responsible for the promotion and protection of partner interests and for the oversight of management. It approves Deloitte’s long-term strategies and has specific oversight of risk. The Board is composed of the Chairman, the Senior Partner, both of whom are elected by the partners, a further eleven elected partners, three Executive Group partners proposed by the Senior Partner and affirmed by the partners and three Independent Non Executives.

Like the Senior Partner, the Chairman is nominated by the Board and elected by the partners and serves for a four year term of office. David Cruickshank completed his second term of office as Chairman on 31 May 2015. Nick Owen was elected to the office of Chairman for a four year period commencing 1 June 2015. The separation of the roles of the Chairman and the Senior Partner provides a strong measure of accountability for the Executive team.

Deloitte’s Partnership Agreement stipulates that the eleven elected board members, in addition to the Chairman, must not be members of the Executive Group. As a result three quarters of the Board membership is independent of the Executive Group.

The Board met 9 times during the year.

Board Sub-committees

The terms of reference for our Board sub-committees are available from www.deloitte.co.uk/leadership.

Further information on the activities of our Board sub-committees, and our leadership and governance is available in the 2015 Deloitte Audit Transparency Report.