About us

Lorraine Young BSc FCG ACIArb

Profile

Lorraine is a non-executive director, chartered governance professional, consultant and accredited mediator with wide ranging experience in many organisations, from large commercial and listed companies to start ups and those in not for profit sectors. She is a highly motivated self-starter with first class interpersonal and communication skills. Lorraine has proven leadership and team building capability. She is an enthusiastic and effective professional, committed to excellence in all that she does and thrives in challenging situations.

Career summary

Lorraine has worked in business for over 30 years, having begun her career in the financial services sector in the City where she undertook senior governance roles as an in-house company secretary for large listed companies. From 2003 onwards she set up and grew her own governance advisory practice. In 2016 she merged this with a similar practice in a top 50 UK law firm, where she became a partner. In 2019 she left the firm to pursue her own consultancy interests once more.

Board experience

Lorraine has experience as a non-executive director of two AIM listed companies (City of London Group plc – for which she chaired the remuneration committee and PHSC plc – for which she chairs the audit committee). She is a Past President of The Chartered Governance Institute where she carried out an evaluation of the main Committee for the UKRIAT[1] division, including a skills and strengths audit.

Lorraine is on the Court of the Worshipful Company of Chartered Secretaries & Administrators (one of the modern livery companies) where she chairs the Finance & General Purposes Committee, which oversees strategy and resources. She was also Honorary Treasurer for four years. Lorraine is on the advisory board of Indigo Independent Governance.

In other board roles, Lorraine was on the governing body of the local primary school from 2007 to 2013, which she chaired for four years. During her tenure as Chair, a new senior leadership team was put in place. The school was graded outstanding by Ofsted in 2011. She served on the UKRIAT Committee and International Council of ICSA, the Chartered Governance Institute from 2011 to 2015.

[1] UK Republic of Ireland and Associated Territories

Education

Lorraine graduated from Leeds University gaining a BSc (Hons) 2(i) in Chemical Sciences. She qualified as a chartered secretary in 1990 and was admitted to Fellowship in 1996. She became an accredited mediator in 2018.

Mediation

Throughout her career, Lorraine has helped boards of directors and other governing bodies to improve the way they work and to achieve better outcomes. This has sometimes required skills in conflict resolution which led Lorraine to become an accredited mediator in 2018. Her ability to listen sympathetically and relate well to people, together with her pragmatic and practical approach to problem solving have enabled her to help individuals and groups to identify ways forward in some very difficult and challenging situations. Lorraine undertakes civil & commercial and workplace & employment mediation.

What our clients say

"Lorraine conducted a board review for Mercia Asset Management plc, which I chair. It was a wholly worthwhile and positive experience. Lorraine was thoughtful and constructive, easy to work with, and both understanding and respectful of the issues which the board had to address. Her sensible, practical and eminently readable report highlighted many positives in the way in which we worked, as well as a range of things the board might do better or differently. This led to the creation a “living” Action Plan which we then spent the next twelve months working through – and still use as a reference point today. I would have no hesitation in recommending Lorraine to any organisation seeking a partner to help them review and improve the effectiveness of their governing body."

"Lorraine delivered Board Effectiveness training to our European team – she covered a huge amount of ground in just a few hours in a professional and highly engaging way. Great job – highly recommended!"

"We decided that we would have our first board evaluation last year, and we were fortunate to appoint Lorraine Young to assist us with the process. Lorraine was able to quickly assess our ability as a board and to give us ideas and practical tools that have allowed us to improve and develop. One-year on we frequently refer back to her valuable advice and recommendations. She has had a very positive and lasting influence over how our board communicates, operates and assesses its own performance. We would highly recommend Lorraine Young and look forward to working with her again in the future."

As Vice Chair of the Independent Schools Council (ISC) I had been asked to arrange for a review of the Board and its methods of operating. Lorraine came highly recommended and did not disappoint. She provided welcome clarity on how we should tackle this quite major task and set about interviewing, reading and fully understanding the ISC before producing an excellent and well-structured report. In addition to the report came an action matrix that broke down the key requirements into a realistic and clear list with timelines. I would not hesitate to recommend Lorraine, she quickly gained the respect of all the Board members and skilfully teased out the key areas to address. Lorraine was a real pleasure to work with and certainly has a no-nonsense approach to outlining the suggested way forward. Without doubt Lorraine is one of the very best consultants I have worked with.