Apart from those with inside awareness and knowledge, the only way in which the average shareholder or stakeholder gleans transparency around corporate communication is through the remuneration reporting in the annual report and accounts. Since 2002, this has been governed by an increasing legal requirement, enhanced and underpinned by comply or explain governance expectation.

The 2018 UK Corporate Governance Code introduced a range of wider stakeholder aligned expectations for listed company reporting, and this, together with certain legal specifics, largely sets the current benchmark of expectation.