Avoiding a second strike: what our shareholder engagement looked like in practice

How did you handle holders who would not meet? Around a third of our register is passive funds that decline meetings outside a short window and vote on policy. For them we sent a four-page letter in August. No replies, but votes against from that group fell by half.

A note of caution on declining requests. We declined one, a request to disclose bonus targets in advance, and explained why. One proxy adviser still recommended against on that single point and we landed at 79%. Explaining is necessary, but it is not always sufficient.

On holders who would not meet, we did the same: a letter, plus a recorded 15 minute briefing by the chair. About 40 downloads, so somebody watched it. And yes, the two declined requests still cost us a few points. We judged that acceptable.