We seek to balance our goal of sustained economic value creation with ensuring that our ways of working comply with current tax legislation. Our business has a strong focus on corporate responsibility, and we view compliance in administration and payment of taxes as a key element of doing business in the right way.

The company manages risks to ensure compliance with legal requirements in a manner which ensures payment of the right amount of tax.  We engage external advisers to provide additional assistance with tax compliance, including for supervisory review of the company’s business risk strategies, as well as to review our internal processes and procedures. External tax advice is also sought where the tax treatment of transactions is complex, unclear or uncertain under UK tax law.  The company does not engage in tax planning that does not support genuine commercial activity nor does it participate in artificial tax avoidance schemes to reduce its UK tax liabilities. The company does not seek to structure transactions in ways that give tax results inconsistent with their underlying economic consequences.

We have a low appetite for tax and regulatory compliance risk. The business regularly reviews tax risks and controls and this is overseen by our management.

We, with the assistance of external advisers as applicable, ensure compliance with tax laws and regulations both in the UK and internationally, and to ensure that we identify, and then mitigate, any significant tax risks within our business. By being compliant and timely in managing its tax affairs is the way the company looks to reduce its tax risk.

We are committed to being compliant with all UK statutory obligations, filing requirements and/or tax disclosures with UK HMRC. We try to ensure that our engagement with HMRC is professional, open and honest, and undertaken in a spirit of cooperation.

This tax strategy statement covers the period ending 31 December 2021 and is published in accordance with the requirements of paragraphs 22 and 23 schedule 19 Finance Act 2016.

We review and refresh our tax strategy annually, updating our tax strategy statement when required.