LONDON, June 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

At last night's IR Society AGM, new chairman John Dawson, Director of Investor Relations at National Grid, made his maiden speech to IR Society members stating:

"As a Society I believe we have to continually promote IR as a distinct and essential part of the corporate landscape. We need to be recognised as the voice of issuers and we need to help our members develop the gravitas and skills which will make them an integral part of the top management team."

Dawson praised outgoing chairman, Richard Davies, Managing Director of RD:IR, by saying:

"I would like to thank Richard Davies for guiding the Society through two very challenging years and for handing over the Society in a very strong position."

He also welcomed new deputy chairman, Karen Keyes, Head of Investor Relations at Logica before expressing his priority "to continue to develop and strengthen the Society… lets work together to make the IR Society and our profession even more successful in the future."

Members also voted on to the Board, Gillian Karran-Cumberlege, Managing Partner of Fidelio Partners and Sue Scholes, Director of Communications at AMEC plc.

All other resolutions were passed by the members and full details of the results will be available on the Society's web site.

Notes for editors:

John Dawson

John was formerly Director, Investor Relations for Cadbury, until its take over by Kraft Foods in 2010. John has been an active investor relations practitioner since 1997.

John graduated from the University of Cambridge in 1989 with an honours degree in Manufacturing Engineering and completed a Masters in Manufacturing Engineering and Management in 1990. Sponsored by TI Group through university, John joined TI's John Crane division in 1990, qualified as a Management Accountant in 1992 and, over the next eight years, worked in Malta, Italy and the UK.  In 2000 John joined Exel plc as their Director of Investor Relations and subsequently as Director of Corporate Affairs. At Exel he was responsible for the development of Exel's corporate reputation, including investor relations, media relations and marketing, as well as internal communications. In 2004, John joined ICI, running the entire Group communications activities for the next four years until the Group was bought by Akzo Nobel in 2008.

Karen Keyes

Karen joined Logica in 2006 as Head of Investor Relations. While at Logica, Karen has been involved in the acquisition of WM-data and the divestment of the telecoms products business. Her previous role was Vice President, Investor Relations at Marconi Corporation Plc, where she worked on Marconi's disposal of its telecommunications equipment business to Ericsson. Prior to that, she spent seven years at Nortel Networks where her roles included business development and government relations. Karen has Masters degrees in Finance (London Business School) and International Political Economy (Carleton University) and a BA from McGill University.

The Investor Relations Society

The Investor Relations Society represents members working for public companies and consultancies to assist them in the development of effective communication with financial markets and to create a level playing field for all investors. It has nearly 600 corporate and individual members drawn both from the UK and overseas, including the majority of the FTSE 100 and much of the FTSE 250.

For further information contact:

The Investor Relations Society
John Dawson - Chairman                +44(0)20-7004-3170
Michael Mitchell - General Manager    +44(0)20-7379-1763

SOURCE The Investor Relations Society