The directors are responsible for preparing the annual report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice.

Company law requires the directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Company and Group and of the profit or loss of the Group for that period. In preparing those financial statements, the directors are required to:

• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
  
• make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; 
  
• state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and
  
• prepare the financial statements on a going-concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Group will continue in business.

The directors are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Group and Company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 1985. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Group and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

All of the current directors have taken all the steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any information needed by the Group’s auditors for the purposes of their audit and to establish that the auditors are aware of that information. The directors are not aware of any relevant audit information of which the auditors are unaware.

The financial statements are published on the Group’s website in accordance with legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements, which may vary from legislation in other jurisdictions. The maintenance and integrity of the Group’s website is the responsibility of the directors. The directors’ responsibility also extends to the ongoing integrity of the financial statements contained therein.