A teddy bears' picnic or the lion's ring?Do non‐executive directors add value?

Audit Committee of The Medical Defence Union – a large UK mutual. He chaired the audit committee of The Paragon Group of Companies (FTSE250) for seven years until 2003. He has been a non‐executive director of an NHS acute hospital trust and he is a Council member of The Tavistock Institute of Human Relations, a charity. He is a member of ICAEW's Corporate Governance Committee. Andrew was Dean of what is now The Cass Business School, London and is an emeritus professor of City University, London. Now he is director of Management Audit Ltd who specialise in advising boards and audit committees on corporate governance matters. He holds the part‐time position of Deloitte Professor of Internal Auditing at London South Bank University and this paper was based on his inaugural lecture presented at London South Bank University on 30 November 2003.