Wilmington PLC Annual Report

New divisional structure

As part of the renewed strategic focus on the large and growing Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) and Regulatory Compliance markets, the business has been reoganised into two divisions:

Information & Data

Our Information & Data division is addressing the $1bn regulatory intelligence market. Its key drivers are the increased importance of independent, authoritative and actionable intelligence; increased investment in technology to solve regulatory compliance challenges; and disruptive technologies that create opportunities and threats.

Revenue

£56.8m

(2020: £56.6m)

50%
of Group revenue
(2020: 50%)

Training & Education

Our Training & Education division is addressing the $4bn compliance training market. Its key drivers are the shift from insourced to outsourced training; the shift from face-to-face to digital and blended training; increased demand for continuous learning and micro-learning; and increased focus on ROI through personalised learning experiences and outcomes-based programmes.

Revenue

£56.2m

(2020: £56.5m)

50%
of Group revenue
(2020: 50%)

Information & Data

Our Information & Data division is addressing the $1bn regulatory intelligence market. Its key drivers are the increased importance of independent, authoritative and actionable intelligence; increased investment in technology to solve regulatory compliance challenges; and disruptive technologies that create opportunities and threats.

Revenue

£56.8m

(2020: £56.6m)

50%
of Group revenue
(2020: 50%)

Training & Education

Our Training & Education division is addressing the $4bn compliance training market. Its key drivers are the shift from insourced to outsourced training; the shift from face-to-face to digital and blended training; increased demand for continuous learning and micro-learning; and increased focus on ROI through personalised learning experiences and outcomes-based programmes.

Revenue

£56.2m

(2020: £56.5m)

50%
of Group revenue
(2020: 50%)

Chair's Statement

We made good progress in the year, demonstrating the value of our diversified portfolio and digital-first strategy while we continue to adapt to the impact of Covid-19.

I would like to thank all our employees for their continued commitment and resilience in these testing and difficult times.

Martin Morgan
Chair
December 2021 Chair's Statement

Chief Executive's Statement

We have continued to refine and embed our digital capabilities across the business, reflecting our ambition to create a fully digital enterprise whilst retaining the flexibility to offer our customers face-to-face and hybrid solutions. These strong results with profitability up 27% demonstrate the continued and growing demand for our information and data products, despite the disruption caused by the pandemic. We are now at an inflexion point with a simplified portfolio and are well positioned to address large and growing markets which are increasingly online.

Mark Milner
Chief Executive Officer
December 2021 Chief Executive's Statement

Operating model

Our operating model is strengthened by the way that we draw on our core competencies to embed a set of defining characteristics into all of our businesses. It is these core competencies, exhibited as unique Wilmington characteristics, that in combination form a crucial element of our competitive advantage.

Digital capabilities

As a fully digital enterprise, we demonstrate best in class digital capabilities including:

Delivery platform agnostic
Multi-device enabled
Guaranteed excellence in User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI) solutions
Digital front and back office

Data enabled

Our businesses are data enabled, allowing them to provide unique insight and innovative solutions to their customers, driven by:

Unique methods of data collection, measurement, integration, and analysis, supported by dynamic user interfaces
Proprietary data and bespoke services

Differentiated offering

Our businesses occupy strong positions in the markets they serve, exhibited via the following credentials:

Market leaders – within the top three
Unique products with owned IP
Strong brands valued highly by customers

Attractive markets

The markets in which we operate present opportunities for sustained growth:

Macro fit with Wilmington's core markets
Micro fit with a growing end-user base in which our solutions are integrated into customer systems

Strong product and revenue model

Our product and revenue model drives value by targeting the following actions:

Identifying attractive economics
Prioritising repeatable revenue streams
Leveraging success across the portfolio to maximise the benefit of synergistic potential

Strong leadership

Our businesses are led by individuals who are best placed to accelerate their growth, evidenced by their core competencies:

Experts in their field, aligning sector specific knowledge to product development and delivery
Innovators seeking to embrace change to deliver bespoke customer solutions

Operational Excellence

Our strategy is executed via our clearly defined pillars of growth: our simplified structure and key drivers of operational excellence: People, Product, Technology and Data, and Sales and Marketing.

Product

As we continue to enhance our product portfolio, we adhere to clear internal guidelines to achieve best practice. By applying an integrated approach to assessing product viability, our product requirement processes allow us to identify clear opportunities for investment.

Technology and data

The innovation within our businesses is enabled by strong technology and data capabilities. Our investment in technology transformation demonstrates our commitment to a robust foundation for product growth and development.

Sales and marketing

The execution of dynamic sales and marketing strategies are essential to ensure that we realise the full potential of our product portfolio. Excellence in this area is demonstrated by strong leadership and a proactive sales culture, complemented by a focus on insightful KPI analysis.

People

The creativity, adaptability and dedication of our people is critical to our success. To continue to drive operational excellence in this area we are committed to developing our people and championing diversity at all levels within our workforce.

Segmental Review

Providing complementary solutions

Wilmington is a scalable portfolio in the growing Governance, Risk and Compliance (‘GRC’) market. We provide regulatory compliance solutions to enterprise customers and professionals. Our dynamic portfolio provides our customers with the benefit of a complementary range of information, data, training and education solutions, all under one roof.

Revenue

£113m

Operating profit

£16.6m

Operating margin

15%

Information and Data

Overall Information & Data revenues grew 1% in the year, despite the restrictions on face-to-face events. Divisional operating profit was down on the previous year despite the flat revenue performance as we took restructuring measures (closing product lines and outsourcing some costs) to improve revenues and profits going forward.

Revenue

£56.8m

Operating profit

£9.3m

Operating margin

16%

Training & Education

Training & Education revenues grew organically by 6% in the year, representing a significant improvement in the second half. Overall divisional operating profit increased strongly by 54% on FY20, mainly due to cost efficiencies and the transition to digital delivery.

Revenue

£56.2m

Operating profit

£12.2m

Operating margin

22%

Making a Positive Impact

Sustainability Report

Responsible Business: echoing our core purpose to embed a responsible business culture

We made good progress implementing the actions set out in our FY21 ESG roadmap, including performing a materiality assessment and defining the agenda for the future. By considering the key issues that impact our stakeholders, we used the materiality assessment process to refine our ESG strategy and concluded that four strategic pillars will drive our progress for the next phase of work, whilst simultaneously driving operational excellence.

Cultural Positivity

Core objective: Create equal opportunities and nurture talent in a safe and mindful environment. Fostering a positive culture will enhance employee experience and allow our people to perform highly as they continue to drive progress against our strategic objectives.

Customer empowerment

Core objective: Deliver products that are accessible, high value, up to date and move with industry trends. Empowering our customers ensures our products are aligned to their needs, and that our sales and marketing strategies effectively convey high product value.

Proactive assurance

Core objective: Uphold high standards related to digital protection, regulatory requirements, ethics & production. Responsible digitisation and ethical conduct are fundamental to our data and technology strategies as we innovate to deliver the best-in-class digital products.

Environmental responsibility

Core objective: Reduce environmental impact by minimising carbon footprint and committing to responsible procurement. Committing to environmental responsibility protects the future of our people and demonstrates to customers that we strive to deliver products with minimal environmental impact.