Welcome to Alison and Fraser, who joined as Trustee Directors in April 2019. We caught up with both trustees to find out a bit more about them.
Alison Houston – Member Nominated
Before retiring in 2017, I had worked at M&S for 34 years. I
spent the majority of my career in HR in stores and offices, then moved
into Corporate Governance to take on senior succession planning and
Board performance. The last five years were spent managing the
development of the M&S Archive, something I feel immensely honoured
to have been involved with. I was also a representative for the National
Business Involvement Group.
Fraser Ramzan – Company Nominated
I joined M&S three years ago as Head of Investor Relations.
Before then, I spent most of my career in the City, working as an equity
analyst, first for Lehman Brothers and later at a Japanese Bank,
Nomura. A large part of my time was spent as an external financial
analyst on retail companies and one of the most important companies I
covered was M&S.
- What was your first impression of the Trustee Board?
AH – The Board is extremely professional and I immediately felt what a huge responsibility it is to be a Trustee Director. I was made to feel very welcome and all involved have been very generous in their offers of support as I settle into the role.
FR - The Board has a wide range of experience from legal, to store operations, to HR to finance. What’s clear is the whole team takes its responsibilities very seriously and each plays an important part bringing different skills to the table.
- What skills/experience do you think you bring to the role?
AH - I bring significant experience of being a board member having served on boards for a very large grammar school, the M&S Company Archive and Leeds University Business School and Cultural Institute. My HR background has given me in-depth experience of what’s important to colleagues and has seen me involved in a number of areas relevant to the Scheme. I believe I bring integrity, straightforward discussion and constructive challenge to meetings.
FR - In my past roles my job was to have a forward-looking view of the financial prospects of the companies I covered and to bring an industry-wide view to my opinions which I communicated to fund managers, who are the people managing pension funds and other investments. It was also to provide opinions without fear or favour. I think that will help in our decision making.
- What’s been the biggest challenge for you since being appointed?
AH - Getting and keeping up to date with all the latest pension news and legislation. The next challenge will be passing the exam all Trustee Directors must take!
FR – It’s only been a short time, but there is a lot to learn about the Scheme Rules and a lot of well thought through content to absorb for the Trustee Board.
- What’s been the most rewarding part of the role so far?
AH – Having the opportunity to learn and develop knowledge on such a fascinating and critically important subject matter. I am not a financial expert and I am really keen to ensure we make pensions easier to understand and readily accessible to all.
FR – It’s really interesting learning about a new part of the financial services industry and thinking like a Trustee not just like the fund managers who invest on our behalf.