In Conversation: Building the FRC's Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25
Published: 1 August 2025
11 minute read
In this In Conversation podcast episode, Kate O'Neill, Director of Stakeholder Engagement and Corporate Affairs, is joined by Tara Trousdale, Finance Director, Rob Amponsah, Senior Marketing and Digital Communications Manager, and Kristianne Russell, Stakeholder Engagement Manager, to discuss the FRC's Annual Report and Accounts 2024/25. They explore how the FRC successfully reduced the report's length by 30% over the last three years while transitioning to new reporting requirements, the collaborative approach to avoiding repetition and enhancing accessibility, and reporting with the same transparency and clarity expected from regulated organisations.
Transcript
00:00:09:06 - 00:00:37:05
Kate O'Neill
Hi there and welcome to another FRC in Conversation podcast series. My name is Kate O'Neill. I'm the director of Stakeholder engagement and Corporate affairs for FRC, and this morning I'm joined by three of our colleagues on a very important topic, which is the FRC's very own annual report and accounts. As the regulator who is responsible for good clear and useful reporting.
00:00:37:09 - 00:01:01:18
Kate O'Neill
We thought it would be a good idea to examine how we at the FRC look at such an important document for all companies. So this morning I'm joined by Tara Trousdale, finance director of the FRC, Rob Amponsah, senior marketing and digital communications manager, and Kristianne Russell, stakeholder engagement manager. Welcome Tara, Rob and Kristianne.
00:01:01:20 - 00:01:03:10
Tara Trousdale
Thanks, Kate. Great to be here.
00:01:03:16 - 00:01:04:14
Rob Amponsah
Thank you Kate.
00:01:04:16 - 00:01:29:05
Kate O'Neill
The first thing I noticed was that this year on a report is notably more concise than previous years. I think as a team, you've managed to produce it by something like 30% over the last few years. And I get that. It's not a quality versus quantity situation here, but we hear so much from stakeholders saying and annual reports have become too long.
00:01:29:10 - 00:01:49:05
Kate O'Neill
What can we do to make them more concise? So this is quite an achievement for you as a team. Was it a conscious decision or challenge that you set yourselves? And if so, what drove it? I mean, Tara, the accounts are the accounts, but, you know, trying to reduce them, make them more concise is very difficult.
00:01:49:07 - 00:02:17:15
Tara Trousdale
Yes, Kate, I would agree. And this being the first year we reported end of the frame, the frame is the government financial reporting framework. So it is an expectation from government how government organizations should be reporting certain things in their financial statements. So it does require actually some enhanced reporting which is sort of counter to reducing. But the aim of the frame is core to our accountability as a public body.
00:02:17:15 - 00:02:22:06
Tara Trousdale
And it demonstrates how best we have used public money.
00:02:22:08 - 00:02:28:21
Kate O'Neill
And also, I guess there's some consistency across public bodies with the introduction of this requirement. Correct?
00:02:28:23 - 00:02:38:09
Tara Trousdale
Yes. It does mean then across government that the annual report and accounts will have consistencies in terms of things that they are required to report.
00:02:38:11 - 00:02:54:05
Kate O'Neill
So Rob, as far as disclosure, you listen to our stakeholders saying, oh, there's evermore expectations on disclosure. How did you look at that saying, well, we've got to balance obviously what we must disclose, but also there's a discretionary element to it.
00:02:54:07 - 00:03:18:12
Rob Amponsah
Thanks, Kate. I think for us it's always been a case of ongoing refinement year on year and looking at disclosure with the end in mind, we're creating this document not just for ourselves, but also knowing that we're setting a standard externally as well. We have a whole lot of resource internally we can pull on, but working across the whole organization, it gives us a sense of making sure that our purpose is quite clear in what we do, and that's to create something that makes sense.
00:03:18:12 - 00:03:31:01
Rob Amponsah
It's transparent, it's digestible, it's understandable. I think having that as a bit of a North Star makes things a lot easier to do in terms of considering what disclosures are absolutely necessary and the additional elements that are helpful in that.
00:03:31:03 - 00:03:51:13
Kate O'Neill
Thanks, Rob and Kristianne I guess the FRC has got an unusually wide remit and mixture of statutory requirements, voluntary codes. And so how did you look at it from a stakeholder perspective on thinking? Well, we have a wide remit. How do we bring it to life without being repetitive?
00:03:51:15 - 00:04:10:18
Kristianne Russell
I think we've got a good enough relationship with our stakeholders. We understand them well so we know what our audience is looking for in this report. I think in terms of content, there's a careful balance that has to be struck between making sure the report's comprehensive and still tells the story we want to tell, but without becoming weighed down with every possible little detail.
00:04:10:23 - 00:04:20:06
Kristianne Russell
That's something I have to think about with every bit that I write for this report. However, I collate from across the organization to make sure we're still walking that fine line.
00:04:20:08 - 00:04:32:11
Kate O'Neill
Kristianne, given the volume of required publications through the year at the FRC and some discretionary ones that bring to life at work, you had quite a lot of content already there to draw on.
00:04:32:13 - 00:04:56:10
Kristianne Russell
Yeah, there's a lot of great material that we put out through the year, lots of different documents that we produced that really tell stakeholders what it is that we are doing as an organization, what we're contributing to the wider industry. So it's really good for us to be able to highlight those documents, not repeat them, but use that as other sources of information for stakeholders to look at if they want to know more.
00:04:56:12 - 00:05:17:08
Kate O'Neill
So we talked about looking at last year's report and saying, well, what do we say last year? Are we being consistent if we promised to do something? How do you go about identifying what to include kind of as your baseline to kind of keep the story of the forces remit work moving forward? Did you have a particular methodology or framework, Rob?
00:05:18:11 - 00:05:34:23
Rob Amponsah
Yes, we certainly did. Again, you know, after years of refinements and being in the industry of reporting myself as well, you'd pick up a couple of tricks to also pick up a couple of clear methodologies that need to work. I think one thing I'll probably say off the bat is box ticking is something that we actively try and avoid.
00:05:35:00 - 00:05:50:05
Kate O'Neill
Well, we hope that is something that will be music to our colleagues in corporate governance and stewardship. As we talk about that so much with our stakeholders to move away from that box ticking. So great to hear that we've really disciplined ourselves in not doing it.
00:05:50:07 - 00:06:10:17
Rob Amponsah
Yeah, very much so. And also that's the other advantage of the colleagues that we have, which is probably a good point to draw on. We do have the corporate governance team just, you know, a couple of desks down, the Stewardship team as well, and their contributions and documents as well, in terms of aligning our structure, making sure that we have the correct elements in and doing so in a way that's authentic to the FRC is extremely important.
00:06:10:17 - 00:06:22:19
Rob Amponsah
So that's organization wide approach certainly. But we also, as you said as well, Kate, need to look at what we promised last year and equally consider that this is not just a report on the past year, but a strategically forward looking document as well.
00:06:22:21 - 00:06:30:04
Kate O'Neill
Excellent point, Rob, because it is that mixture of the past year, but setting the tone for the upcoming year as well.
00:06:30:06 - 00:06:52:15
Rob Amponsah
That's right. And I think having that put in throughout the report, not just in the key leadership elements that will come out from the leadership reports, but also throughout the strategic report, governance, etc., but in areas that are quite relevant and to Kristianne's point as well, don't over embellish that, provide the right direction and make it this clear and understandable as possible for our readers.
00:06:52:17 - 00:07:16:02
Kate O'Neill
So I guess, Tara, is that the person really covered by what most people call the front end of the report? You have other elements in your department that are very important to reflecting governance risk management, such as the risk team, other colleagues and places like our HR team about our people and culture. So it isn't just about the mathematics of the accounts.
00:07:16:03 - 00:07:25:00
Kate O'Neill
There are some really important pillars that you and your colleagues in corporate services have to look at when bringing together the FRC to the outside world.
00:07:25:02 - 00:07:49:15
Tara Trousdale
Absolutely. And I think that the front end is a very important part of understanding the back end in terms of the financial statements, because it gives a picture on the money that we've spent and how we've done it, and how we've ensured that the organization is aligned to the corporate governance code and taking sustainability and employee engagement seriously.
00:07:49:17 - 00:07:56:18
Kate O'Neill
I guess to Tara, demonstrating our commitment to delivering to our levy payers value for money.
00:07:56:20 - 00:08:08:17
Tara Trousdale
100%, I couldn't agree more. This is an important document to show levy payers that the money that they are contributing to our activities is achieving our statutory objectives and adding value.
00:08:08:19 - 00:08:25:17
Kate O'Neill
Kristianne. I mean, I don't want to make it sound like this is a segmented work stream, but as the person bringing together, I'll call it the back end. I mean, the front and back end can't be two separate documents. There has to be linkage, there has to be demonstrable things in the content that you can bring to life.
00:08:25:17 - 00:08:28:03
Kate O'Neill
When describing our activities.
00:08:28:05 - 00:08:58:00
Kristianne Russell
Yeah. That's right. I think the huge advantage in our approach of having one person holding the panels, I can make sure that that narrative piece flows, that we aren't repeating ourselves for no reason. I'm not going to claim by any stretch that I am the person writing everything in this report. Different people across the organization contribute so much content to the annual report that it's my job to make sure we're pulling all those different strands together into one story that, as Tara mentioned, it demonstrates that we are meeting our strategy and objectives.
00:08:58:02 - 00:09:21:02
Kate O'Neill
You also, apart from looking at the government's financial reporting manual, Frem, a new acronym for our listeners, we changed from frozen one or 2 to 5 for US accounting. What was the rationale behind that and did that have an impact on what. You know, let's admit it's a pretty annual event. So you've got a planning and execution process in place.
00:09:21:08 - 00:09:26:09
Kate O'Neill
Did you have to adjust those processes a lot to accommodate both those things?
00:09:26:11 - 00:09:49:14
Tara Trousdale
Absolutely, Kate, I think the adoption of IFRS from IFRS 1 or 2 should not be discounted. It is a big piece of work. The rationale for changing how we report in our annual report was on the basis that most public bodies report under IFRS, and most of the firms that we deal with and raise money from, so are levy payers report under IFRS.
00:09:49:14 - 00:10:12:22
Tara Trousdale
So there's a consistency element that I think is important in terms of the work involved in the transition. I think that's what's important to note is that you must not underestimate the time that you need for assessment, reconciliation and review. So factoring that in into your planning, especially for management review and for the auditors so that the timelines can be met.
00:10:12:24 - 00:10:37:05
Kate O'Neill
So it's a really good reminder that just because there are some similarities between IFRS wanted to and IFRS, it is a different approach. And as you say, many of our levy payers listening to this podcast would recognize that as they have probably done that transition themselves. The report also mentions that you've implemented some effective cross-referencing, and there's a detailed table in the director's report.
00:10:37:05 - 00:10:54:18
Kate O'Neill
The points rate is too relevant sections throughout. What are some of the benefits of this? Is it to say, look, we're not going to have, you know, ten references to culture or ten references to risk management throughout the report and give that streamlined. Here's where to find that approach.
00:10:54:20 - 00:11:16:02
Kristianne Russell
I think that's right, Kate. The cross reference and piece is actually really important, not just within the report itself, but in linking to our other work throughout the year in the actual report, while, as you mentioned, the report has got shorter over the last few years, having cross-referencing stops it from becoming completely unwieldy. It means that when our stakeholders want to look at a specific area.
00:11:16:02 - 00:11:36:24
Kristianne Russell
So for example, waste management, they don't have to sit and flip cover to cover to try to find the information that they want. And I think that's very important to make sure that we're meeting the stakeholder needs with this report. Like I mentioned, we produced so many useful publications over the course of the year that really highlight the work they are focusing on.
00:11:37:01 - 00:11:52:15
Kristianne Russell
If we can use cross-referencing for that purpose as well, to direct people who want to know more in-depth detail on a subject. I think that's really beneficial to demonstrate the breadth of the work that we're trying to show in this report, without putting it all into this report.
00:11:52:17 - 00:12:14:03
Kate O'Neill
I guess there's no annual report process. Rob, that doesn't feel like, dare I say, herding cats. I mean, Kristianne's reference to she wasn't just the only author. She worked with many teams across the organization to make sure that the good work was reflected, not repetitive. But what would you say to business is the magic dust you have to bring to bring people together?
00:12:14:03 - 00:12:22:01
Kate O'Neill
Is it a good process? Is it bringing people along the journey with you? I guess a brief summary of how you approached it.
00:12:22:03 - 00:12:41:12
Rob Amponsah
Yeah, sure. I'm happy to. I think that we have a very strong steering group that helps to manage the annual reporting process from start to finish. Composed of people who would be very useful to the process, members from finance, governance, for example, ourselves, and seek in terms of the communication direction and how we string it all together.
00:12:41:14 - 00:12:59:02
Rob Amponsah
But I think another element is that we do in this case, unlike a lot of, I would say, corporate facing organizations come at it from a position of strength. We did talk a lot about the internal resources that we have in our team, such as corporate reporting review, KRA corporate governance team. I mean, I don't you all pull together in order to help with this.
00:12:59:02 - 00:13:18:04
Rob Amponsah
And I think the element that's quite crucial as well is that we're a very purpose driven organization. I'm quite proud of the fact that it's fairly easy to expect a certain amount of alignment from certain teams. Once you explain what the output needs to be, and the fact that we're putting up what is effectively in some level, a certain standard of what we expect from 14, as I mentioned before.
00:13:18:06 - 00:13:55:23
Kate O'Neill
But it's a great point for us because we do set out expectations in our corporate reporting review team, corporate governance team to external stakeholders and corporates across Britain. So we'd have to be really thinking about what we're asking people to do and suggesting that they do and applying it to themselves. Power in question. Would any mistakes or fall starts that you've learned to avoid at any cost, or that you've you know, we all learn from hiccups or mistakes, but what would you say to listeners to avoid all try to plan for so it doesn't become a hugely pressured process or environment?
00:13:56:00 - 00:14:19:16
Tara Trousdale
Okay, I think you've hit the nail on the head by using the word plan. I think that my top tip would be, do not underestimate how important planning is in this process. And the other thing I would say is collaboration is key. One of the things I think we do quite successfully year on year, is after the annual report and accounts has been published, the steering group gets together and does the lessons learned.
00:14:19:18 - 00:14:32:13
Tara Trousdale
And I think that that has shown that year on year, the process is smoother and stronger because we learn from things that we have done that we could improve on and bring that into the following year's planning.
00:14:32:15 - 00:14:55:16
Kate O'Neill
Kristianne, I mean, all of us on this call have had a couple, if not more years on doing this. Do you think things like the requirements on accessibility and tagging that we've been talking about at the FCC in our digital reporting team are helping streamline the process, make the accessibility of information, and cross-referencing ever more crucial.
00:14:55:18 - 00:15:19:18
Kristianne Russell
I would say, given the work that the FRC does, especially, as you mentioned on corporate reporting, we need to demonstrate that we are not just dictating to our stakeholders and telling them what to do, and that we are doing the same things with our report. So, as we've already mentioned, making changes under Frem, looking at accessibility, all of those sorts of things are really important to make sure we get right.
00:15:19:18 - 00:15:26:11
Kristianne Russell
So we can demonstrate to stakeholders that we're not just telling them what to do. We are doing the same thing.
00:15:26:13 - 00:15:58:10
Kate O'Neill
As we draw this to a close. It isn't a size versus substance. Both can be achieved listening to you through today, planning, collaboration, but also really putting the mirror on yourself to say are we repeating the same information in multiple places? Do we even need to provide that information? And to Kristianne's point, knowing what your stakeholder expectations and requirements are should be driving it, not the need thing from the rooftops on every single subject.
00:15:58:12 - 00:16:22:20
Kate O'Neill
Thank you so much to Rob, Tara and Kristianne. Congratulations on another not just interesting report, but one that actually is accessible, easy to read. And you know, I know you didn't set yourselves a target of reduction in the length of the report, but in a world that is looking for more accessible information, I think this is a great achievement and you should be proud of it.
00:16:22:20 - 00:16:23:20
Kate O'Neill
So well done.
00:16:23:22 - 00:16:28:12
Rob Amponsah
Thank you Kate. It's actually been such a pleasure to be part of such a successful and organized process.
00:16:28:14 - 00:16:29:16
Kristianne Russell
Thank you Kate.
00:16:29:18 - 00:16:30:12
Tara Trousdale
Thanks, Kate.