Spotlight Series #3 Georgina Sharley

Georgina Sharley is Group Company Secretary at Alpha FMC , a leading global provider of specialist consultancy services to the financial services industry. She was recently named Board Influencer Category Winner in the 2024 Governance HOT 100. We spoke to Georgina to gain more of an insight into her career and why being recognised in the Governance HOT 100 sends out such a positive message.

How did you become a company secretary/governance professional?

For me it was mostly a case of serendipity. I left university in 2000, with a completely unrelated degree in Fine Art and English Literature, and the vague notion of wanting a graduate trainee role in some sort of business discipline. I stumbled across an advert for a trainee company secretary within a fund services provider, and with no real understanding of what that involved, and decided to apply. I was lucky enough to be offered an interview and then to be offered the role. As a trainee I was supported through the ICSA qualification (now the Chartered Governance Institute) and given immediate exposure to workings of listed investment companies. I absolutely loved it.?

After qualification, I gradually progressed into a management role, and then eventually in into leadership roles within the outsourced company secretarial services and shareholder services spaces. I loved the variety of work, the commercial focus, and the team interaction that comes with working in professional services, but after 18 years I felt the need for a change of direction. It was at that point, in 2018, that I took on my first in-house Group Company Secretary role at Aptitude Software Group plc.

With hindsight, I was so lucky to have landed my first trainee role. In today’s highly competitive graduate job market, with an unrelated degree and no relevant experience, I doubt I would have even been offered an interview.

What has been your biggest career achievement to date?

Definitely being appointed to my current role as Company Secretary of Alpha FMC in June 2023. From the first moment I read the job description I knew that it was exactly the sort of challenge that I was looking for. I am Alpha’s first in-house company secretary, which is both a privilege and a fantastic opportunity to the shape an internal governance function. The role enables me to draw upon both my client-facing and in-house previous experience, and I feel that have been able to add value to the organisation from day one. In addition to this, Alpha it is face-paced and dynamic company, so I continue to learn something new every single day.

Moving in-house has 100% been the right decision for me personally. Although I also know many amazing governance professionals in the outsourced sector who have successfully transitioned in the opposite direction! I enjoy being able to build deep relationships with the full range of internal stakeholders beyond the Board, including the legal, finance and HR teams, and I believe that experiencing the culture of a company first hand as an employee helps me to influence at a strategic level.

Looking ahead, what do you think are the biggest challenges facing the governance profession?

At present, I think our biggest challenge is staying relevant and up to date, given the incredible pace of change that we are currently experiencing. Our day jobs are notoriously busy and sometimes it can be difficult to lift your head up from your desk to appreciate what is on the horizon. Not only in terms of the regulatory landscape, but also new technology solutions that can transform governance processes.

This is particularly true when working in a small in-house team or in a stand-alone role, without the benefit of having access to the collective knowledge of a large team of company secretarial professionals each day. You need to make much more of a conscious effort to build and utilise your professional network to achieve this, and it does not always feel like the highest priority when you are knee deep in the draft annual report or trying to turn around a complex set of minutes! However, Boards rely on us having our fingers continually on the pulse, to always be thinking about what is coming next and, most importantly, what it means in practice for the organisations that we support.

What does winning in this category mean to you?

Of course, I’m absolutely delighted! To me, this category celebrates the strategic contribution that Company Secretaries and governance professionals make at Board level. This aspect of the role is well understood by those of us within the profession and, of course, by Board members themselves. However, it is often less visible to and less understood by those outside of the governance world. Following the announcement via Linked-in, so many of my friends and network in completely unrelated fields have been in touch to congratulate me and to ask questions about it.

Being named as winner of this category has also made me reflect on my journey within the profession to date, and the groundwork that is needed to effectively influence at Board level. Being technically proficient is obviously a pre-requisite, but I think what is most important is the ability to build strong relationships and to succinctly articulate practical and proportionate advice - this is what truly enables us to influence and to support the strategic objectives of an organisation.

The DMJ Recruitment Governance HOT 100 is sponsored by Computershare Entity Solutions

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