Skip to contentSkip to footer

Governance

Governance at Thirdway is the framework by which the business is led, monitored and held to account. It applies to how the company is structured, how decisions are made, how performance is measured, and how the interests of clients and other stakeholders are protected across every project.

Board and Leadership Structure

Thirdway's leadership is structured across four tiers:

  • 4 C-suite executives

  • 14 Executive Directors

  • 6 Managing Directors, each accountable for their own P&L

  • 2 Non-Executive Directors, providing independent oversight of the Board

Performance is reported monthly at each level of the business. The full executive team meets quarterly to review performance, strategy and risk across the group.

Board Composition

The Board is currently composed of 38% women and 62% men, with tenure ranging from under five years to over ten. This composition reflects a mix of long-standing directors and more recently appointed members.

Thirdway's board composition sits within a broader national context of improving gender balance in UK corporate leadership. According to the FTSE Women Leaders Review 2026, women now hold 43% of board seats across the FTSE 350, up from 9.5% when the review began in 2011. Thirdway continues to monitor its own board composition against this benchmark as part of its ongoing governance review.

Non-Executive Directors

Thirdway's Board includes two Non-Executive Directors, Harvey Thomas and William Macpherson, who provide independent challenge and oversight separate from the executive leadership team.

Governance Framework

Thirdway operates a defined set of controls and procedures to safeguard the interests of clients and other stakeholders across each project. These controls are structured around the project lifecycle, covering:

  • Initial project approval

  • Contracting

  • Supplier engagement

  • Delivery

This framework is designed to support collaboration between internal teams and external partners, with the aim of maintaining consistent standards of productivity, quality and value across all projects.

Legal Governance

Thirdway has implemented a structured approach to contracting, designed to standardise and streamline the contracting process across its projects. The stated aims of this approach are more efficient project operation, clearer oversight for all parties, and more effective co-operation between Thirdway and its clients during delivery.

Thirdway's in-house legal team was shortlisted and "Highly Commended" in the FT Innovative Lawyers Awards Europe 2025, in recognition of this approach to contracting.

Performance Oversight

Thirdway tracks a defined set of business metrics as part of its governance and reporting process:

  • Market opportunity

  • Win rate

  • Gross margin

  • People costs

  • Client satisfaction

Reporting on these metrics is limited to information considered decision-critical, in order to support timely and independent decision-making by business leaders. This is supported by the company's approach to regulatory compliance, and by ongoing investment in people and product development.

Accountability of Senior Leadership

Senior Leadership, which comprises Thirdway's technical directors, is responsible for setting and maintaining performance standards across the business, and reports against these standards on a regular basis.

Tenure across Senior Leadership is mixed: a number of directors have held their roles for over a decade, while others have joined more recently.

Oversight and Accountability Mechanisms

Thirdway maintains the following governance mechanisms:

  • Executive evaluations: Formal evaluations are conducted twice a year, combining self-assessment with board feedback.

  • Director Skills Matrix: Professional experience, qualifications and tenure are tracked across the leadership team.

  • Conflict of interest disclosure: Directors are required to disclose any conflicts of interest as they arise.

  • ESG Committee: A dedicated committee oversees ESG matters, supported by an Executive Director for Sustainability.

  • HR reporting: The Board receives regular reports on leadership pipelines, skills, inclusion and retention, along with metrics on hiring times, turnover and demographic shifts.