Annual Report and Accounts 2008

Directors' responsibility statement

The Directors are responsible for preparing the Annual Report, the remuneration report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.

Company law requires the Directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law the Directors have prepared the Group and Company financial statements in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as adopted by the European Union. The financial statements are required by law to give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Company and the Group and of the profit or loss of the Company and the Group for that period.

In preparing those financial statements, the Directors are required to:

• Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
• Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
• State that the financial statements comply with IFRS as adopted by the European Union; and
• Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis, unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Group will continue in business, in which case there should be supporting assumptions or qualifications as necessary.

The Directors are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Company and the Group, and enable them to ensure that the financial statements and the remuneration report comply with the Companies Act 1985 and, as regards the Group financial statements, Article 4 of the IAS Regulation. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Company and the Group and for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

To the best of their knowledge, each of the Directors listed on Directors' profiles confirm that:

• The Group financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with IFRS as adopted by the EU, give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit of the Group;
• The Directors’ report, including the information incorporated from elsewhere in the Annual Report, includes a fair review of the development and performance of the business and the position of the Group, together with a description of the principal risks and uncertainties that it faces;
• So far as they are aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the Company’s auditors are unaware; and
• They have each taken all the steps that ought to have been taken by them as Directors in order to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the Company’s auditors are aware of that information.

The statement from the Chairman and the Chief Executive and the Business review contain certain forward-looking statements with respect to the financial condition, results of operations and businesses of the Group. Such statements and forecasts involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend upon circumstances in the future. There are a number of factors that could cause actual results or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and forecasts. Forward-looking statements and forecasts are based on the Directors’ current view and information known to them at the date of this report. The Directors do not make any undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Nothing in this report should be construed as a profit forecast.