Chief Executive’s Report
Andy Hornby
Chairman
In 2007, the disciplined execution of our strategy has resulted in good earnings growth for our shareholders despite difficult market conditions. With our multi-brand distribution strength, strong balance sheet and low cost operating platforms, we are well placed to take opportunities presented by these difficult markets and deliver good growth in shareholder value over the next few years.
Our strategy has five key elements designed to create enduring value for shareholders:
- Growing the UK franchise
- Targeted international growth
- Cost leadership
- Capital discipline
- Colleague development
For each of these elements we have a number of key performance measurements which help investors understand the scale and rationale for our ambitions. In this section of the Annual Report we have set out the strategy deployed in our chosen markets and the pre-determined measures of performance. In the divisional sections that follow we report on the financial and operational performance of all our businesses in greater detail.