Coffee break with a CoSec: Nickesha Graham-Burrrell, Company Secretary at Serco Group Plc
This is a series of short discussions with Company Secretaries over a coffee to take a glimpse into their careers and lives and thoughts on the profession.
Let’s meet Nickesha Graham-Burrrell, Company Secretary at Serco Group Plc – an international FTSE-250 company.
A law graduate and ACG qualified, Nickesha has enjoyed continued swift progression in her career. Starting at Songbird Estates plc, she then enjoyed strong career advancement at HSBC before further developing her experience as Head of Secretariat at OSB Group Plc. Since June 2023, Nickesha has been Group Company Secretary at Serco Group Plc.
So, how did it all begin… how did you first get into company secretarial work?
During my law degree at the University of Westminster I managed to secure an internship at Royal & Sun Alliance. Someone had left the department quite suddenly and there were lots of cosec filings that needed to be done. I remember it was a week’s internship at Christmas time, and I thoroughly enjoyed it there; and it’s at this point I decided I wanted to become a Company Secretary! Soon after graduating I secured my first company secretarial role at Songbird Estates which was an AIM listed company and I started my studies for the professional exams.
How do you feel things have things changed since you started out?
I think when I just started, not a lot of people knew about what it entailed to be a Company Secretary. The role of Company Secretary has become much more familiar to people, and I do think we’re taken more seriously now. We’ve been given greater responsibilities and we’re seen as the ‘trusted adviser’. With all the Companies Act changes and the Code changes, I think people have come to realise that this is an important role.
What career tips would you give your younger self?
I’ve always been a ‘go getter’ and very impatient to get to the next role! Maybe I could have paced myself a little bit better. I’ve had lots of challenges as well… when I was at HSBC I’d just had my daughter and got extremely ill immediately afterwards, which is when I found out that have a condition called Myasthenia Gravis (similar to MS) – a chronic autoimmune disorder that causes muscle weakness and fatigue. Then a year later, I found out that I had cancer. So I had chemotherapy and lots of different things but all whilst still working and driving my career, and people didn’t realise what was going on. So looking back, I think I would maybe tell myself to slow down a bit. Take a breath. Because I was so busy trying to make sure that I didn’t lose sight of my career, or that I didn’t get forgotten if I took too much time off work. So I was trying to keep myself in the game, but maybe I could have thought to take a bit more time.
What pointers can you give for how to get into the top job?
It’s really quite difficult. It’s all about making sure you have enough of the right tools available to you, but also recognising that you won’t always have all of the tools available to you! Above all, it’s really important to believe in yourself and your abilities and to make sure you have the right people around you. We don’t always have to know all the answers all of the time, and that’s one thing I thought I did need. It’s about being self-aware and knowing when and where to seek advice. There are a lot experts out there, and it’s OK to ask for help and advice and that’s how you grow.
Also, I think it depends on the situation that you’re in but sometimes it might be easier to move out and change company to make the transition upwards. Before I joined Serco, the role was joint General Counsel & Company Secretary and they were looking to recruit a Deputy but that wasn’t what I wanted and so they decided to split the role. So now I’m looking to shape this new role which is exciting. You have to believe in yourself and then you can make things happen.
As Company Secretary at Serco Group Plc, what do you most enjoy about your job?
I think what I’m enjoying the most at the moment is that it’s very different. I’d pretty much always worked in financial services so this is a completely new industry for me with a fresh set of challenges. I’ve had to get to grips with the business and understand and appreciate how this business really does add value and change people’s lives.
What’s great about working for a FTSE-250 company?
I find what’s great about working for a FTSE-250 is that it’s not too big like a FTSE-100, but its sizeable enough to get the full breadth of the cosec role. Sometimes if you go into a Secretariat of a big FTSE – and I worked at HSBC for number of year – the roles are more siloed. If you prefer greater breadth in your role, a FTSE-250 can offer you that. You’re still subject to the requirements as a larger FTSE but you are able to hone your skills in a smaller team with greater breadth of exposure.
Any tips on changing sector?
My tips on changing sector would be to believe in your abilities, research the sector that you want to be in and seek to value the skills you have that are transferable. As long as you have the foundation of what is required, a lot of the skills a Company Secretary acquires are transferable. I think it was probably easier for me because I developed a lot of my experience in financial services which is a highly regulated environment, so it’s possibly then easier to move to a role in commerce and industry. It might be more challenging to do it the other way round and later try to secure a role within financial services.
From a work perspective, what are you most excited about over the next 12 months?
One thing I’m excited about is the subsidiary governance at Serco and helping to reshape it, and this is something new to me; taking on board the changes in the Corporate Governance Code and the requirements of Provision 29 and reshape our reporting.
What do you see as the biggest challenges facing the governance professional?
I think one of the biggest challenges is just the sheer number of regulations we have to comply with. There are continuous changes which you need to be aware of to ensure you’re compliant and remain on top of your game – all while managing the day job.
How do you manage to stay up to speed with all the changes in reporting, legislation and best practice?
I sign up to lots of different bulletins from law firms. I’ve signed up to the FRC and attend their governance related webinars. I’m a member of the Deloitte Academy. I make sure I do find the time to know what’s changing, where best practice is moving, and learn about new topics that might impact my board and the business.
And how do you strike the right work-life balance… what tricks have you learnt and what tips would you give others?
I’m not sure I have…I’m a self-confessed workaholic! But I love what I do and I love my job.
But in terms of tips to others, the Company Secretary role is always very busy and so one thing I’ve learned to do over the years is to delegate effectively which helps to develop the team. Work is important but so is life outside of work and unless you learn to delegate, you won’t be able to get everything done.
In terms of work-life balance, it’s about being able to prioritise and learning to work smarter, not harder.
Over your career, what personal attributes do you feel you’ve consciously developed that have made you a better Company Secretary?
I’m naturally curious about the profession but have seen the benefit of being proactive and anticipating what’s going to happen next. That way you’re never on the ‘back foot’. I’ve also learnt that the more proactive I am, the more I’ve been able to organise my workload and then prioritise it effectively. So for me it’s been about staying that one step ahead. And I suppose resilience because you’ll get a lot of things thrown at you and that I have developed that resilience over time.
Interview by Jon Moores.
Additionally, if you need advice on staff retention, benchmarking, permanent or interim hiring or would like to have a confidential discussion about your job search, then please reach out to a member of The Core Partnership team on 020 3589 0333, or via email on team@core-partnership.co.uk.
