154. Sir James Wates CBE: How to be a good board chair - family businesses & the RFU

Enter the Boardroom with Nurole

Enter the Boardroom with Nurole
154. Sir James Wates CBE: How to be a good board chair - family businesses & the RFU
Dec 24, 2025 Season 1 Episode 154
Nurole

Sir James Wates CBE is Chair of the Rugby Football Union and Vestey Holdings Ltd. Formerly, he was Chair of Wates Group. Tune in to hear his thoughts: Key board-level decisions that helped grow Wates from 950m to 2bn revenues (02:20) How the board weighed the risks and benefits of increasing average transaction value (05:08) Key decisions the board used to assess risk (08:00) How the board decided when to quit and when to stick (10:03) CEO appointments: what’s worked and what hasn’t (14:02) Board succession planning: how to pick the right chair (18:11) How to handle redundancies as a CEO or Chair (22:45) The single governance practice Sir James would insist every family business adopt (26:12) Key lessons transitioning from a family to a fully independent chair (27:25) Independence versus centralisation in a group structure (30:21) Chairing the RFU: why Sir James took on the role and what it entails (37:54) ⚡The Lightning Round ⚡ (41:34)


Host: Oliver Cummings

Producer: Will Felton

Editor: Penelope Coumau

Music: Kate Mac

Audio: Nick Kold

Email: podcast@nurole.com

Web: https://www.nurole.com/nurole-podcast-enter-the-boardroom

Episode Artwork 154. Sir James Wates CBE: How to be a good board chair - family businesses & the RFU 43:24 Episode Artwork 153. Phil Walker CBE: University boards: lessons in stakeholder management, ethical decision-making and data points 40:35 Episode Artwork 152. Rupert Soames OBE: How to be a good listed company chair 40:59 Episode Artwork 151. Natasha Frangos: How to sustain culture whilst growing rapidly - boardroom lessons from HaysMac 44:10 Episode Artwork 150. Sir Douglas Flint CBE: Chairing listed companies - lessons from the BP Macondo crisis, HSBC and the abrdn rebrand 45:00 Episode Artwork 149. Mark Winlow: Bank & Insurance Boards - lessons from the boards of Aon and Starling Bank 46:22 Episode Artwork 148. Professor Doyin Atewologun: Should boards ditch DEI? 45:06 Episode Artwork 147. Tessa Clarke: Sticking, quitting & the ideal NED: The board’s role in Olio’s success 46:06 Episode Artwork 146. Dame Marie Gabriel CBE: structuring board meetings, dancing in the boardroom, and taking risks - lessons from an NHS Chair 47:21 Episode Artwork 145. Thomas Thune Andersen: Impacting culture, managing IPOs and embracing the climate revolution - Boardroom Lessons from the former/Chair of Ørsted and Lloyd’s Register Group 48:13 Episode Artwork 144. Professor Alison Taylor: Should boards speak up or shut up? 46:44 Episode Artwork 143. Charles McManus: Quick growth in heavy regulation — the board’s role in ClearBank’s success 38:28 Episode Artwork 142. David Dein MBE, Premier League co-founder: The heart of the deal: lessons from vice-chairing Arsenal FC 41:22 Episode Artwork 141. Louise Hill, GoHenry Founder: Product Market Fit, Scaling and Exit - the board’s role in the GoHenry story 39:01 Episode Artwork 140. Professor Randall Peterson: How to influence people in the boardroom 44:27 Episode Artwork 139. Fiona Hathorn: How and why to get board roles: mastering applications, transitioning to paid roles and building a plural career 41:37 Episode Artwork 138. Steve Rigby: Risk & acquisitions - the growth story of the Rigby family business from £0 to £4bn annual revenues 41:49 Episode Artwork 137. Baroness Dido Harding: NHS Test & Trace & the TalkTalk Cyber Attack — Board Leadership in the Public Eye 37:04 Episode Artwork 136. Jock Lennox: How to be a listed Chair and get the most from audit committees 47:32 Episode Artwork 135. Dr. Margaret Heffernan (2/2): How boards make the best decisions: agendas, wilful blindness and super chickens 33:21 Episode Artwork 134. Dr. Margaret Heffernan (1/2): How boards make the best decisions: cooling-off periods, embracing uncertainty and deep hanging out 35:44 Episode Artwork 133. Peter Clark: 200 years’ growth - inside the Clarks’ family business 42:34 Episode Artwork 132. Carl-Peter Forster: Forget Governance. Great Boards Focus on Strategy, People, and Execution. 43:32 Episode Artwork 131. Laurence Garrett: Featurespace - the board’s role in growth, pricing, US expansion and sale to Visa 45:27 Episode Artwork 130. Ian Phillips: How to be a great GoaT (Governor or a Trustee) 46:43