Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia, the government's preferred candidate to chair the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), faced a pre-appointment grilling by the Business and Trade Committee. MPs raised concerns about her ability to manage the demanding 10-days-a-month FRC role alongside seven other board and chair positions. Gadhia is currently Chair of Ovo Energy, Shakespeare’s Globe, Ozone, Moneyfarm, the Tate audit committee, and the Economy and Honours Committee. She also serves as lead non-executive director at HMRC and holds directorships at several other organizations. She stated she would step down from Tate in November and leave Ovo following its sale to E.ON, but declined to name other roles she would relinquish.
Liam Byrne MP, the Committee Chair, expressed unease about the potential overload. Gadhia countered that many of her roles demand limited time and that remote working would allow her to respond to FRC emergencies. She also strongly supported plans to give the FRC a statutory footing, arguing it needs guaranteed funding and legal powers to demand information, as its current arrangements are largely voluntary. She admitted the FRC is currently under-powered and doesn't always have the authority to require information.
When questioned about competition in the UK audit market, particularly the Big Four's 40% share of public interest entity (PIE) audits, Gadhia stated she did not know if their market share was still climbing but promised to provide the figures to the committee. She backed stronger statutory powers for the FRC but did not specify which audit reforms she would advocate for. The Audit Reform and Corporate Governance (ARGA) Bill, intended to replace the FRC with a stronger body, was previously scrapped, with the government now planning to grant the FRC a proper statutory footing when parliamentary time allows. The pre-appointment hearing is non-binding, and ministers will consider the committee's views before confirming her appointment.
