The four non-executive directors wrongfully dismissed from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) have welcomed a formal apology from the body but have said that it is “difficult to accept it as a statement of genuine contrition”.
Last week, the Governing Council (GC) of RICS publicly apologised to four non-executives who were ousted from the organisation after raising concerns over an audit.
The four members - Amaarjit Atkar, Bruce McAra, Simon Hardwick and Steve Williams – have said that they are relieved that the matter “has finally reached a welcome outcome for us with the publication of RICS’s formal apology” and described it is “an important first step”.
They added: “It is, however, difficult to accept it as a statement of genuine contrition from those responsible when the apology appears on RICS’s own website alongside the expressions of thanks from the Chair contained in the resignation statements of Sean Tomkins, Chris Brooke and Kathleen Fontana, each of whom left office following publication of Alison Levitt QC’s report.”
The apology from GC came in the wake of Alison Levitt QC’s independent review, which found that four non-executives who raised concerns over an audit were wrongly dismissed and that “sound governance principles were not followed”.
Prior to the report’s publication, chief executive Sean Tompkins, president Kath Fontana, interim chair of Governing Council, Chris Brooke, and chair of the Management Board, Paul Marcuse all stood down from their posts. Amit Shah, the chair of the audit committee, has come to the end of his term.
Statement by the four former non-executive Management Board members in response to RICS’s public apology:
We are relieved this matter has finally reached a welcome outcome for us with the publication of RICS’s formal apology. We have endured a prolonged, difficult and stressful period since the issues within RICS first came to our attention in late 2018. Our focus - both then and now - was to discharge our responsibilities to the best of our abilities and to do the right thing for the Institution we had been appointed to serve.
The apology from the Interim Chair of Governing Council is an important first step. It is, however, difficult to accept it as a statement of genuine contrition from those responsible when the apology appears on RICS’s own website alongside the expressions of thanks from the Chair contained in the resignation statements of Sean Tompkins, Chris Brooke and Kathleen Fontana, each of whom left office following publication of Alison Levitt QC’s report.
We fully support the Institution’s commitment to consistently embed its recently published values - including those of integrity and transparency. As part of the process of re-establishing trust and confidence, these standards should be applied to all officers, members and external advisors in relation to past conduct, as well as in the future.
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