Statement of directors' responsibilities in relation to the financial statements
To the members of Northern Foods plc
The following statement, which should be read in conjunction with the auditors’ responsibilities set out in their report, is made with a view to distinguishing, for shareholders, the respective responsibilities of the directors and of the auditors in relation to the financial statements.
The directors are responsible for preparing the Annual report and the financial statements. The directors are required to prepare the financial statements for the Group in accordance with applicable law and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as adopted by the European Union and have also elected to prepare financial statements for the Company in accordance with IFRS issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). Company law requires the directors to prepare such financial statements in accordance with IFRS, the Companies Act 1985 and Article 4 of the International Accounting Standard (IAS) Regulation.
International Accounting Standard 1 requires that financial statements present fairly for each financial period, the Company’s financial position, financial performance and cash flows. This requires the faithful representation of the effects of transactions, other events and conditions in accordance with the definitions and recognition criteria for assets, liabilities, income and expenses set out in the IASB’s ‘Framework for the Preparation and Presentation of Financial Statements’. In virtually all circumstances, a fair presentation will be achieved by compliance with all applicable IFRS. The directors are also required to:
- properly select and apply accounting policies;
- present information, including accounting policies, in a manner that provides relevant, reliable, comparable and understandable information; and
- provide additional disclosures when compliance with specific requirements in IFRS is sufficient to enable users to understand the impact of particular transactions, other events and conditions on the entity’s financial position and financial performance.
The directors are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 1985. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities and for the preparation of a Directors’ report and Directors’ remuneration report which comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 1985.
The directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the Company’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.
Directors’ responsibility statement
We confirm to the best of our knowledge:
- the financial statements, prepared in accordance with IFRS as adopted by the EU, give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit and loss of the Company and the undertakings included in the consolidation taken as a whole; and
- the management report, which is incorporated into the Directors’ report, includes a fair review of the development and performance of the business and the position of the Company and the undertakings included in the consolidation taken as a whole, together with a description of the principal risks and uncertainties they face.
By order of the Board
S Barden
Chief Executive Officer
27 May 2009
A M Booker
Group Finance Director
27 May 2009