Governance

In 1928, Alastair Macphie’s great uncle – Alistair – started a business selling bakery ingredients.

Since then, the Macphie family has evolved the company, and its offering, but keeping its strong values and community connections at its core.

95 years later, Alastair Macphie occupies the role of Non-Executive Chairman, having taken over from his father in 1995.

Maintaining guardianship of the company and how it operates, is the Macphie Family Council which exists to preserve the family’s legacy and to drive significant contributions to the communities in which it operates.

Mission lock

A fundamental part of becoming a B Corp is legally committing to considering the impact of company decisions on all stakeholders. This is referred to as “the mission lock” and in simple terms, means you’re giving a figurative seat at the table to your environmental and social stakeholders.

The B Corp legal framework allows companies to protect their mission and makes sure the business sustains stakeholder governance when times are tough or leadership changes. This way of working has always been our preference and we were delighted to formalise this in 2015 when we officially became a B Corp.

Employee Trust

Twelve percent of our company is held by an Employee Trust which is made up of both current and past employees and members of the Macphie family.

The trust oversees how the dividend generated by their shareholding is spent to the maximum benefit of employees. We’ll talk more on their recent activities on pages 25, 31 and 33.