Mirriad Advertising PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2021
Mirriad Advertising PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2021
Mirriad Advertising PLC Annual Report and Accounts 2021
GROWING
At a glance
OUR VISION
IS TO LEAD A
NEW ERA IN
ADVERTISING
with the high-performing, in‑content
ad format across the most powerful and
valuable content platforms and properties.
Mission
The world’s largest content players are faced with unprecedented
pressure on their business models, and the marketing ecosystem
48 ↑
Protected by 35 granted and 13 pending
is in search of new answers. Mirriad’s mission is to provide the patents in the USA, Europe and Asia
most advanced advertising solution to the content industry that is
easy to integrate, deploy and scale, and that will instantly enable
5,232 ↑
new revenues and levels of reach and impact.
15,394 ↑
Seconds of advertising insertions
delivered in 2021 compared to
5,254 in 2020
1
Consumers shift to more ad free/
2
Present day cookie-based
3
Ad clutter and over‑exposure
light video environments targeting unsustainable drive ad‑fatigue and avoidance
ENABLING AN ENTIRELY
NEW MARKETPLACE
Mirriad sits at the centre of a brand new marketplace, seamlessly linking content producers, networks,
publishers and platforms, to advertisers and agencies across a growing range of brand experiences.
DEMAND
(Advertisers, agencies)
TV
MUSIC VIDEOS
BRAND EXPERIENCES
SPORTS
INFLUENCER
PLANNING BUYING
LIVE
UGC
BRAND
GAMING*
SUPPLY * Future development
(Producers, networks, publishers, platforms)
Investment case
LEADING THE
NEW CATEGORY
2000s
We are focused on the world’s largest advertising markets, We have 35 granted patents, an increase of seven on
with a combined estimated $149 billion Total Addressable the previous year, with a further 13 in process.
Market (“TAM”)*.
We are working to integrate our technology into the demand
We are content agnostic and work across all forms of video and supply side of the advertising market ecosystem.
content from high-end entertainment, through music to
We have proof of concepts for Dynamic Ad Insertion (“DAI”)/
influencer content.
Server-Side Ad Integration (“SSAI”) which allows different
Conventional broadcast advertising focuses on 6% of the advertising to be seen by different audiences.
available airtime while we focus on the remaining 94%
We have run campaigns in China for Tencent based on buying
comprising the content people actually want to see**.
audience not specific programme content (“CPM campaigns”).
$149bn
TAM*
35
granted patents with a further 13 in process
Dynamic in‑content
TV Sports, Gaming VR & AR
Film Live Action
Streaming
Music
We have established relationships with a wide range of We work on a revenue share basis so as our partners’
high-quality supply partners in our core markets covering revenues increase, so do ours.
entertainment, music and influencer content.
Our revenue share is in the range 20-30% of gross
We are working with a growing range of the world’s leading campaign value.
brands covering key sectors such as food & beverage, FMCG,
automotive, financial services and online/e-commerce.
110
Supply and demand partners worldwide
20-30%
average revenue share of gross campaign value
POSITIVE
PROGRESS
PATHWAY
Miles Lewis
appointed Chief
Revenue Officer
Hallmark
(Crown Media)
contract signed
Chairman’s statement
ENTERING
THE CRITICAL ADOPTION PHASE
John Pearson
Non-executive Chairman
10 May 2022
Annual report and accounts 2021 09
STRATEGIC REPORT
CUTTING
THROUGH THE CLUTTER
2023
ion
mat
u to
INTEGRATION
Da ta, A
Media-Buying AI,
2022
Ecosystem
(Linear and Digital)
2021
2020 ADOPTION
Top 6 Markets (US, CN, JP, UK, DE, FR)
Demand: Advertisers, Agencies
Supply: TV, VOD, Music Video, Influencer, UGC, Live, Gaming
Stephan Beringer
Chief Executive Officer
10 May 2022
Markets
A MARKETPLACE
IN TRANSITION
6% 70%
Interruptive advertising
• Interruptive advertising has
dramatically increased ad
globally find traditional
fatigue and denial
adverts ad formats annoying1
• Marketers need solutions to effectively
1 Source: Kantar
cut through the noise and authentically
connect with consumers
• The content industry needs solutions
to both maximise audience success
and monetisation
65%
globally will skip ads**
** Source: IPG/Magna
94%* content
$751bn
global advertising market **
$149bn
Mirriad Total Addressable Market (“TAM”)/
Total Video and TV spend**
$234bn
CHINA, JAPAN, UK, GERMANY, FRANCE
$378bn
US AND CANADA
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
3+ SERVICES
5.8
13%
21%
32%
50%
31% 57% AVERAGE PAID
65%
32%
VIDEO STREAMING
31% SUBSCRIPTIONS BY
28%
2025 (FORECAST)
21%
56% 17% 2 SERVICES
47%
37%
22% 22% 18% 1 SERVICE
16 17 18 19 20 21
Business model
HOW WE
CREATE VALUE
What we have What we do
Our expertise
A depth of expertise in
analysing video to create
Supply partners
New inventory and revenue
streams from existing inventory
46
Supply partners whose content
opportunities for advertising. tapping into the majority of viewing
we can take to market
time in the programme not the
Our platform
64
conventional advertising.
Patent protection covering
key elements of our workflow. Demand partners
A more effective and impactful way Agencies and brands used
Our operational model for brands and media agencies
A fully managed service for our services in 2021
to reach audiences improving key
+23%
advertisers, agencies and
brand metrics and driving sales.
supply partners.
Viewers
Scalable solution A better, non-interrupted viewing Higher reach for in-content advertising
Scalable cloud-
experience for audiences using versus TV spots in 2021
based systems. (Source: Nielsen, BARB, CIM, GFK. 7 campaigns)
a format which is preferred to
65%
Our opportunity traditional advertising.
A growing range of content
Our team
opportunities for advertisers
A stimulating environment where
and agencies targeting the Of viewers preferred the Mirriad format
our team are proud to work at
94% of airtime that is typically to traditional advertising in 2021
Mirriad and feel highly motivated (Source: Kantar, Dynata – across 12, 2021 Studies)
content rather than the 6%
to succeed.
97%
that is typically advertising.
Shareholders
A business with a substantial
addressable market, blue chip Of staff proud to work at Mirriad
clients and a scalable business (Source: Mirriad annual staff survey, Dec 2021)
$149bn
model with significant future
potential.
addressable market
(Source: Zenith advertising forecasts, Dec 2021)
STAKEHOLDER
ENGAGEMENT
This section outlines how the Directors have fulfilled
their duties under s172 of the Companies Act 2006.
s172 requires that Directors act in a way that is most
likely to promote the success of the Company for the
benefit of its members as a whole.
The Directors have had training in their duties
generally from the Company’s solicitors, Osborne
Clarke LLP, and from its NOMAD. The Directors
also bring experience from board appointments at
other organisations.
The Directors’ engagement and interaction with
shareholders and wider stakeholders is specifically
covered on pages 18 to 19 of this Strategic Report.
SHAREHOLDERS
The specific requirements of s172 are that Directors
have regard to:
Why we engage
• The likely long-term consequences of their decisions • To provide updates and insights into business performance
• The interests of the Company’s employees • To answer questions raised by shareholders
• The need to maintain business relationships • To better understand shareholders’ needs and requirements
with suppliers, customers and others
• The impact of the Company’s operations on How we engage
the community and environment • Investor roadshows
• The desirability of maintaining a reputation • Investor webinars and presentations
for good business ethics
• Regulatory and other news updates
• The need to act fairly between members
• The Company AGM (note that this was a closed session
of the Company
in 2021 due to Covid restrictions and investors were invited
The Directors consider the key relationships for the to submit questions via the Company’s website)
Company to lie with shareholders, employees and
• Specific one on one meetings with larger investors
customers. The Directors consider that the Company
has a fairly low impact on the environment and • Regular dialogue with the Company’s broker/NOMAD
is starting to engage with communities in its key
operating markets. More detail on these particular Outcomes of engagement
areas is set out on page pages 32 to 39 of this • A clear explanation of the Company’s strategy
Strategic Report. and objectives
• High level of institutional shareholder support
• Understood concern around future revenue guidance
THE PATH
TO SCALE
We continue to pursue the strategy set out in 2020
SUPPLY SIDE
25 46 472,754
2021 25 2021 46 2021 472,754
Defined as the number of supply Defined as the number of supply partners Defined as the total number of seconds
partners who ran a campaign during who had given permission for Mirriad to of advertising inventory available for sale
the period market their content during the period during the period
DEMAND SIDE
19 45 3
2021 19 2021 45 2021 3
Defined as the number of media Defined as the number of individual Defined as the number of signed
agencies who had placed a campaign brands who had placed a campaign agreements with media agencies and
during the period during the period advertisers in operation during the period
In these KPIs an active partner is defined as one where we ran at least one campaign during the year. Supply partners
represented includes all those partners where we have permission to take their content to market.
We will also start reporting on the level of ecosystem integration by reporting the total number of successful integrations
within the programmatic and linear media planning, buying and delivery ecosystem.
Outstanding impact
INDUSTRY
LEADING
RESULTS
In 2021 we conducted a record 12 advertising effectiveness Mirriad advertising is seen by consumers as natural,
research studies as the number of client campaigns increased. innovative and makes the brands involved more appealing to
them and Mirriad is able to address the industry challenges
We now have strong evidence proving the performance of
of declining reach.
our in-content advertising with a total of 21 studies across
numerous categories and markets. Our results continue to Advertisers are faced with an accelerating decline in reach
be industry leading. through their TV campaigns and particularly amongst
younger audiences.
Our solution is able to match high visibility in a format
consumers like, driving double digit increases across all key Mirriad is the solution and we are continually providing
brand performance measures. evidence of the extra reach that content delivers compared
to TV spot breaks, a key benefit for advertisers.
Key to this success is that consumers really like the format.
+23%
It is this consumer acceptance of the format which drives
greater brand strength.
78%
of viewers say they like the format
average increase in reach delivered by Mirriad advertising
in‑content compared to conventional TV spots
Source: Nielsen, BARB, CIM, GFK. 7 campaigns
65%
of viewers prefer Mirriad integrations to TV spot advertising
with only 8% preferring TV spots
+15%
+70%
71% 80%
76% 74%
63% 72%
51% 53%
46%
30%
Advertising awareness Brand affinity Brand consideration Naturally fit Was not Was Made the
into the distracting innovative brand more
programme appealing
■ Unexposed ■ Mirriad
44%
39% 41%
Source: Nielsen
+39%
higher reach from content than TV spots
1,537
1,103
■ Spot break
■ Content
Audience 000’s
Specific Location, Location, Location episodes
Source: Kantar
Annual report and accounts 2021 23
STRATEGIC REPORT
Financial review
SIGNIFICANT
PROGRESS IN
US MARKET
Introduction
Covid-19 continued to impact the world’s advertising markets
in 2021, particularly in the first half. Although we are reporting
a slight fall in year-on-year revenues this masks significant
improvements in the range and volume of work we undertook
and the significant progress we made in developing our US
market. Overall Mirriad saw an increase in underlying
campaign activity, particularly in the second half of 2021.
Zenith advertising forecast figures, published in December
2021, also suggest that growth returned to the advertising
market in 2021 following a contraction in 2020 as a result of
Covid-19. According to Zenith worldwide television advertising
grew by around 5.5% in 2021.
During the year we focused particularly on investment in our
US operations as the scale of the opportunity in the US market
is significantly greater than any other market. The US remains
Revenue the world’s largest advertising market with revenues estimated
£2.0m
at just over $285 billion making it over three times larger than
the next biggest market, China, based on the same Zenith
data. We also continued to invest in our technology and
-8% have begun to reorientate our technology team following the
appointment of a new CTO, Philip Mattimoe, in February 2021.
Cash consumption
Current year results
£10.4m Revenue for the year was slightly lower than the prior year
at £2.0 million (2020: £2.2 million) reflecting, particularly, the
continuing impact of Covid-19 in the first half of 2021 and
+28% the change in contractual terms following the renewal of
our Tencent Video contract.
Supply partners under contract During the year revenues from the US expanded fast and
25
have begun to replace the revenue historically guaranteed in
our Tencent contract. US revenue increased by 182% year on
year to £884k. We booked the majority of this revenue in the
+25% second half of the year. The key metrics of volume of content
inventory, up 45% year on year, the number of advertisers, up
59% year on year and number of active supply partners, up
42% year on year, all improved in the US. We also broadened
the range of supply partners during the year and we were
pleased to add influencer content to the available inventory
following deals signed with Influential and We Are Verified in
the second half of 2021.
David Dorans
Chief Financial Officer
10 May 2022
26 Mirriad Advertising plc
Managing our risks
EFFICIENTLY
MANAGING
RISKS
Risk management process The maximum risk rating is 27 (where each scale is graded as
The Company has a formal risk management a 3), the minimum risk is 1 (where each scale is graded as 1).
process which is completed quarterly across the All risks with a residual risk rating of 12 or more are identified
business with responsibilities assigned for the for review. These risks are further assessed to determine
regular management of risk. The summarised risks whether they are significant enough to be designated as
are presented to the Audit Committee for review, overall Company risks as opposed to departmental or
comment and approval. territorial risks.
Risks are identified by all business functions The Company’s overall risk register is created by consolidating
and territories in a standardised format that inputs from all divisional heads and senior management team
requires units to: members who are asked to document risk areas within their
divisions using a standardised format and the scoring system
1. Identify and specify the risk. outlined above. They are also asked to divide the risks they
2. Assess its impact on a scale of 1 (low) identify between divisional risks and corporate level risks.
to 3 (high). This data is consolidated by the Group finance team who
cross-check it and review it to ensure a consistent perspective
3. Assess its probability of occurring on a across divisions. The full risk register is then reviewed by the
scale of 1 to 3. CFO before being shared with the Company’s Audit Committee.
4. Assign a risk rating calculated as the The Company’s Audit Committee consider whether the risks
product of the impact and probability ratings. are complete and whether risks are being treated optimally
5. Assess mitigating controls on a scale since it may not be economic to remove the risk (for example,
of 1 to 3. foreign exchange exposures are not currently hedged though
they may in the future). Company residual risk ratings of 12
6. Assign a residual risk rating calculated as and above receive regular Audit Committee review and are
the product of risk rating and mitigation. addressed where practical. The Audit Committee reports its
work to the Board at each relevant Board meeting.
The CFO has been delegated to manage Company-level risks
on a regular basis.
High
risk. Each risk identified in the risk register has an identified
owner who is responsible for ensuring that the risk is optimised
3 5
as far as possible, taking into account that not all risks can be
fully mitigated economically.
1
The Board holds executive management accountable to 4
ensure that they manage the business on a day-to-day basis
in a way that doesn’t increase the risk profile of the Company 8
2
Likelihood
without explicit acknowledgement and debate at the Board. As
general guidance, executive management has been asked to 6 7
9
run the business in such a way that the Company is not put at
significant financial, operational or reputational risk.
Low
4 Competitor risk
6 Reputational risk
9 IP risk
1 2
Failure to break through Lack of content supply –
with product/drive revenue reliance on supply partners
to clear content
Link to strategy
Link to strategy
A B C
A B C
Risk description
Revenue generation is dependent on demand Risk description
from media agencies and brands. The Company relies on its distribution partners to supply
rights-cleared content that allows digital insertion.
Mitigation
The Company has invested in its sales force with the Mitigation
addition of a Chief Revenue Officer in 2021 and key The Company has increased the number of active
hires made in the US market. supply partners over 2021. A growing pool of available
content remains critical to adoption and scale.
Change
Change
No change
No change
3 A Adoption
B Integration
Link to strategy
A B C
Risk description
The Company’s employee value proposition remains
under strain as labour markets tighten in most
geographies and staff cost inflation increases,
driving the Company’s cost base up.
Mitigation
Market data shows 75% of UK staff and 70% of US staff
are actively or passively job hunting (Workable survey
Sept 2021). The Company’s Employee value proposition
is under significant strain as salary inflation increases
across all territories. Staff turnover is increasing.
Balanced against this our annual staff survey continued
to show exceptionally high levels of satisfaction.
Change
Increased risk
4 5
Competitor risk Working capital risk –
the business may need further capital
Link to strategy to achieve break-even
A B C
Link to strategy
Risk description A B C
The Company is seeing an increase in the number of
competitors in its core markets which could damage Risk description
the business’s growth prospects and/or disrupt pricing Revenue has not increased as fast as the Company
and business model. Many of these competitors are assumed and the Company is likely to need to raise
US based and have access to significantly more additional capital to fund the business until cash flow
funding than the Company. turns positive.
Mitigation Mitigation
The Company believes it remains the market leader in The Company could lengthen runway by reducing costs
its field and that no competitor matches its services but the Directors believe that it is in the best interest of
in terms of capability. The Company continues to shareholders to invest sensibly in sales and technology
invest heavily in technology, developing its patents at this stage in the Company’s development and there is
and know-how. However, more competitors in our core therefore no effective mitigation.
market may help us expand that market by raising
awareness of in-content advertising as a format. Change
Increased risk
6 7
Reputational risk – Foreign exchange risk
concern that advertising embedded many costs and revenues transacted
in content may be further regulated in foreign currencies
8 A Adoption
B Integration
Link to strategy
A B C
Risk description
The Company has centralised production services in
India for efficiency and cost reasons but this creates a
single point of failure. In the event of loss this impacts
the Company’s ability to deliver revenues at scale.
Mitigation
Distribution of services in the cloud mitigates
single point of failure and allows remote working
in case of infrastructure issues. The Company has
shown it can successfully work remotely during the
Covid-19 pandemic.
Change
No change
9
IP risk –
infringement by third party
Link to strategy
A B C
Risk description
The Company’s IP may be infringed by emerging
competitors and the Company may not have sufficient
resources to successfully defend its IP. This is a new
risk for 2021 as a result of the increase in the number
of competitors identified.
Mitigation
The Company’s actively monitors the market to scan
for potential IP infringements so it can take early
action. Were a significant infringement identified the
Company may need to find additional resource to
pursue any action.
Change
New corporate risk for 2021
Sustainability/ESG
INCREASED
ESG FOCUS
Sustainability/ESG continued
• We have ensured that all our staff have access to private medical insurance. This is offered
to all staff in China, India and the US and is an elective benefit in the UK
• We have invested in formal training for mental health first aiders who are available to talk
confidentially to any staff member
• Online training modules covering Positive Mental Health and Mindfulness are available
for all staff members
• A wellbeing taskforce was set up to recommend developments as a result
of the Covid-19 pandemic
• A Company Vaccination policy was shared with all staff and staff may take time off
from work to receive vaccinations
• We are actively working to address gender balance across our teams with a particular
focus on new recruits
• We set pay and reward by role on a gender blind basis
• All staff were required to complete an online training course covering Equality & Diversity
• We provide fair rates of pay and reward for all our staff across the four markets we
operate in
• All staff are part of the Company bonus scheme which covers everyone from the
CEO downwards with the exception of sales staff who have separate schemes
• We have a zero tolerance of bribery and corruption. All our staff undertake mandatory
online training covering bribery and corruption on an annual basis and must successfully
complete the post course assessment
• We have a long established whistle-blowing policy and any staff member may talk
confidentially to one of our Directors if they have any concerns
• We require all contracted suppliers to adhere to the terms of the UK Bribery Act
Sustainability/ESG continued
Social impact: People and culture We have continued to work extremely hard to communicate
and bring our teams together while they have been working
2021 continued to be challenging for our staff as we entered
remotely or in a hybrid model and have maintained the
a second year of Covid-19 restrictions which tested the
increased frequency of our Company Town Hall meetings with
resilience and mental wellbeing of all our staff. As in 2020 we
an aim to hold them on average every two weeks. We have also
are enormously proud that our people rose to the challenge
continued to engage with staff on their physical and mental
and continued to service our customers and maintained tight
wellbeing and have three staff trained mental health first aiders
working relationships within their teams and across our offices.
who are available to talk confidentially to staff and point them
As vaccines became available across the world we ensured in the appropriate direction to receive further help if required.
that our staff were able to take time off from work in order to
During 2021 we also continued our focus on raising awareness
attend vaccination appointments. We also rolled out enhanced
around diversity and inclusion (“D&I”), specifically the concept
medical coverage for our staff in India and China to ensure that
that we as a Company are better with a broad range of people,
concerns about healthcare were mitigated.
demographics and perspectives, and that success includes
During the year we created hybrid working models for each an inclusive culture where people are comfortable and
of our offices which vary based on the needs of staff and the encouraged to be themselves and share their ideas. In 2021
ability to run our business. In general our staff in China and our leadership team attended a three-part course covering
India have expressed a preference to work from our offices issues related to D&I and a further 13 managers attended
for the majority of the time whereas staff in the UK and the US a multi-part management training course which included a
have a preference for a hybrid pattern where we will aim to specific D&I module. Our HR Manager then delivered an online
have 50% of their time spent in the office over each two week training session to all other staff covering similar material while
period. Changes in rules in all of our operating territories have we included a mandatory online training module addressing
meant that the business has had to be agile in responding Equality & Diversity. We remain committed to creating a
the developments and we will continue to review our ways single progressive and cohesive culture across our operating
of working over 2022. bases and to constantly assess our structure and resourcing
to ensure we allocate the right people to the right roles in the
right geographies.
45–49 9%
The Mirriad team
130
50–54 5%
55+ 7%
people
We asked our team to self-report their ethnicity as this
We have been focusing on improving female participation in is not data we have routinely gathered historically.
our team and are pleased to report that there has been a 7%
increase in the percentage of our team who are female in 2021 Across the business we have a very wide balance of
compared to 2020. This should also be viewed alongside the ethnicities reflecting our different operating bases:
5+4710137u
fact that female participation in the Indian workforce in the
formal employment sector is very low at 20.3% (World Bank Black 5%
data 2019). Given that 35% of our team is based in Mumbai
this is a substantial achievement.
White 37%
6436+u
64+
Whole team
Female 36%
Asian 47%
+7%
year-on-year
Hispanic, Latino or
Spanish origin 1%
61+39+u
61
Management Female 21% 30% +9%
+5%
year-on-year
Asian (Pakistani/
Indian/Chinese) 19% 24% +5.5%
Black 3% — -3%
improvement in
gender balance
During the year 2022 we plan to further increase the gender
diversity at our Board level and continue to emphasise the
Male 61% importance of cultural inclusion through initiatives like the
Values review and its subsequent roll-out.
Sustainability/ESG continued
We use a wide variety of methods to engage with our team: • Overall satisfaction was 92%, an increase of 1% on 2020,
which is a significant result given the continuing impact of
• We hold Town Hall meetings for the whole team twice a
Covid-19 on the way we work
month on average. This allows us to share updates with
the whole Company and to answer any questions which • The highest levels of satisfaction were for the same areas
the team can send confidentially as in 2020 and all were slight increases year on year:
The engagement survey had a high response rate, albeit • The lowest levels of satisfaction were also similar to 2020
slightly lower than the prior year, with 78% of staff participating with three of the four statements in the same position
in 2021, a reduction of 9% over 2020. last year:
– My performance is measured against outcome and
metrics that are clearly explained (78% agreeing or
Our strengths strongly agreeing)
Percentage of team who agree or strongly agree: – The mission, vision and values of the organisation are
clearly defined and fulfilment of my job counts towards
Proud factor
97%
achieving them (82% agreeing or strongly agreeing)
– In my role there are ongoing opportunities to learn
and grow (85% agreeing or strongly agreeing)
Colleagues committed to quality work – I am valued for my contribution (87% agreeing or
97%
strongly agreeing)
We are continuing to consider more innovative ways to
measure performance and set individual goals for staff and
Happy relationship with manager have reviewed our short-term Company bonus scheme
97%
with the Remuneration Committee to increase the focus
on departmental goals in the reward calculations. This is
discussed further in the Remuneration policy and we anticipate
it will increase morale through an increased perception of
Inspired and motivated by my manager potential employee impact on outcomes and individual bonus.
96%
We have also taken steps to restate our Mission and Vision to
all staff in Company Town Hall meetings and will roll out new
material on Company values during 2022. All staff have been
asked to complete Personal Development Plans as part of their
annual appraisals and we will use these to focus on areas for
individual learning and development.
CHAIRMAN’S
INTRODUCTION
On behalf of the Board, I am pleased to present our Corporate Mirriad is a wonderfully diverse Company and we have also
Governance Statement for the year ended 31 December 2021. provided details on just how diverse our Company is in the
Strategic Report.
As previously reported the Company fully complies with the
Quoted Companies Alliance Corporate Governance Code (the We have stated before that all of the Directors consider it
“QCA Code”). We have continued to work on the application essential that stakeholders continue to trust the way the Group
of specific parts of the Code and have continued to monitor operates and that we maintain a reputation for ethical business
best practice developments in applying the Code. For 2021 practices and high standards of integrity. Governance, training
we have also particularly focused on Environmental, Social of our teams and raising awareness of what constitutes
and Governance (“ESG”) areas and how they impact on good governance are vital to doing this. We have continued
the Company. to require mandatory training for all staff covering business
ethics, fraud prevention and corruption whatever their location
A key part of my role is to ensure that the Company operates
and require all our teams to adhere to UK statutory rules. It
to high standards of governance and that we instil a sound
remains critical that senior managers are actively involved
attitude to governance throughout the Group, reacting
in ensuring our culture and ethical values are shared by all
to changes and making recommendations to improve
employees. Using online training also allows the Company
governance. My Board colleagues and I continue to recognise
to monitor completion of that training across the Group and
the value and importance of high standards of corporate
address any areas of concern. In 2021 for the first time we also
governance. Following the publication of the Company’s ESG
included mandatory training on Equality & Diversity for all staff
Framework in November 2020 I am pleased that the Company
to build on the awareness raising we started in 2020.
has made significant progress in a number of areas. More
detail on the Company’s work in the environmental and social
areas is covered in the Strategic Report set out on pages 32 to
39 of this Annual Report.
John Pearson
My role as Chairman Non-executive Chairman
My role is to ensure that the Board operates effectively in 10 May 2022
delivering the long-term success of the Company. In fulfilling
this role, I seek to ensure that Board meetings are conducted
to allow all Directors to have the opportunity to express
their views openly and that, in particular, the Non-executive
Directors are able to provide constructive support and
challenge to the Executive Leadership Team.
COMPOSITION
OF THE BOARD
1783+u
17+
Board skills and experience Board members by gender
Technology Female 1
100%
Chair/CEO/CFO
67%
Financial
67%
Regulatory/risk
50%
Remuneration/HR Male 5
33%
3367+u 17
33+ 17+17+66u
Balance of the Board Board members by nationality
American 1
Executive 2
German 1
Non-executive 4 British 4
17+83+u
17
Directors’ tenure
1–2 years 1
2–5 years 5
EXPERIENCE
AND INSIGHT
Sector experience
Advertising, media and digital agencies,
technology, business strategy and M&A.
External appointments
None.
42 Mirriad Advertising plc
A Audit Committee member
Committee Chair
A R R A R
Areas where the Board is working less well? The roles of Chairman and Chief Executive are separate, and there
1. Diversity of the Board remains a key concern for the Board is a clear division of responsibility at the head of the Group. The
to address in 2022. Chairman is responsible for running the business of the Board and
for ensuring appropriate strategic focus and direction. The Chief
2. Covid-19 has continued to impact the Board’s engagement Executive Officer is responsible for proposing business strategy
as a Board and with staff. and plans to the Board, implementing them once approved and
3. The Board’s agenda should be refined and to include overseeing the management of the Group with the Group’s other
wider business reporting (operations/IP/cyber security/ senior executives.
technology development).
Board independence, appointment and re-election
4. Understanding of the wider business operations and The Board considers both the Chairman and Bob Head, a
reporting from senior leadership to be enhanced. Non-executive Director, to be independent. Both the Chairman
and Bob Head have existing options to purchase shares in the
Actions for 2022 Company. In addition, all Directors hold shareholdings in the
1. Involving more of the Board in stakeholder engagement. Company reflecting their belief in the Company and to ensure
2. Refining Board agenda and splitting into operational and their interests align with those of the wider investor base (see
strategic matters with periodic deeper evaluations of key Directors’ holdings in the Company in the Directors’ Report).
areas of the business. The Board is satisfied that both John Pearson and Bob Head
are independent in character and judgement, and that there
3. Board agenda to be widened to include reporting from are no relationships or circumstances that would materially
more senior leaders and the wider business. affect or interfere with the exercise of their independent
4. Consider opportunities for the Board to engage with staff judgement including the options held.
more as the Covid-19 situation improves. The Directors’ interests in shares and options of the Company
are shown in the Remuneration Committee Report (options)
and the Directors’ Report (shares).
The Board has reviewed its composition and remains satisfied Meeting attendance
with the balance between Executive and Non-executive Number of meetings and attendance while in post
Directors. The Board believes that the current composition Audit Remuneration
allows it to exercise objectivity in decision making and properly Member Board * Committee Committee
control the Group’s business activities and risks. The Board John Pearson 10/10 — —
recognises that it could move further in improving diversity
and intends to appoint an additional Non-executive Director Stephan Beringer 10/10 — —
during 2022. David Dorans 10/10 — —
The Board notes the recommendations in the QCA Code Bob Head 10/10 5/5 5/5
that a company should have at least two independent non-
Kelsey Lynn
executive directors and should not be dominated by one
Skinner 8/8 5/5 4/4
person or a group of people. The Board believes it meets this
recommendation, except in respect to the holding of Ordinary Mark Reilly 2/2 — 1/1
Shares in the Company by the Directors. As Alastair Kilgour Alastair Kilgour 10/10 — 5/5
and Kelsey Lynn Skinner are substantively employed by
Parkwalk Advisors Limited and IP Group plc respectively, they * These were the formally scheduled Board meetings. In addition to these there
are not regarded as independent but bring significant skills to were a further 4 strategic Board meetings held during the year which were
attended by all Board members
the Board as set out on page 43.
Each of the Directors is subject to retirement by rotation and Development, information and support
re-election in accordance with the articles of association of the The Directors have unrestricted access to the Group’s
Company. All Directors appointed by the Board are subject to management and advisers. When new Directors are
election by shareholders at the first Annual General Meeting appointed, they receive an induction facilitated by the Chief
after their appointment and generally serve terms of three Financial Officer. This induction includes meetings with
years. John Pearson and David Dorans were re-appointed key members of management and briefings on the Group’s
as Directors at the last Annual General Meeting. As Kelsey business, its industry and public company duties generally.
Lynn Skinner was appointed as a Director by the Board on Directors are generally able to visit the Group’s operations
24 February 2021 she was also subject to a shareholder vote overseas on request although this has not been possible
at the last Annual General Meeting. In accordance with the during most of 2021. The Directors have continuous access
Company’s Articles Alastair Kilgour and Stephan Beringer to the knowledge and expertise of senior management, are
will also offer themselves up for re-election at the forthcoming free to meet with them at any time and can attend Executive
Annual General Meeting of the Company. management strategy and planning sessions. Directors are
also able to get external advice at the expense of the Company
Conflicts of interest should they feel this is necessary.
In accordance with an established procedure, all Directors The Directors have a wide variety of expertise drawn from
are required to notify the Board of any conflicts of interest at different industries and business functions. This diversity adds
the start of each Board meeting. This is formally recorded value to the Board as the Directors can draw on their deep and
in the minutes by the Company Secretary, and any Director wide range of experiences in other international businesses
disclosing a conflict is required to excuse themselves from the and publicly listed companies. This means that, collectively,
matter on which they have a conflict. Any planned changes to the Directors are able to bring significant expertise to the
their interests, including directorships outside the Group, are table, enabling them to make high quality, diverse and relevant
officially disclosed to the Board. There were no relationships contributions to Board discussions. This enriches debate
declared in 2021 that were considered to conflict with the and allows carefully considered judgements to be reached,
Company’s business and therefore there was nothing that consensus to be arrived at, and informed decisions to be
was deemed to affect the independence of the Directors. made. The Non-executive Directors provide both support and
constructive challenge to senior management when reviewing
proposals. They then monitor performance against agreed
strategy and plans over both the short and longer term.
Annual report and accounts 2021 45
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Development, information and support continued The Audit Committee has responsibility for, among other
All Non-executive Directors are appointed for an initial term things, monitoring the financial integrity of the financial
of three years subject to satisfactory performance. Their statements of the Group and the involvement of the Group’s
contracts can be renewed for additional three-year terms auditors in that process. It focuses on compliance with
following review by the Board and approval by shareholders at accounting policies and ensuring that an effective system of
the next Annual General Meeting. All Non-executive Directors audit and financial control is maintained, including considering
are expected to devote as much time as necessary for the the scope of the annual audit, the extent of the non-audit
proper performance of their duties, which is anticipated to be work undertaken by the external auditors and advising on the
a minimum of two days per month on work for the Company for appointment of the external auditors. The ultimate responsibility
most Non-executive Directors and approximately five days per for reviewing and approving the Annual Report and Accounts
month for the Chairman. Directors are expected to attend all and the half-yearly reports remains with the Board.
Board meetings and meetings of Committees of which they are The Audit Committee meets at appropriate times in the
members and any additional meetings as required. financial reporting and audit cycle, and at least three times
Neither the Board nor any of its Committees felt it necessary a year. The terms of reference of the Audit Committee cover
to commission specific external advice on any areas during the issues such as membership and the frequency of meetings,
year. The Board and Committees do place reliance on external together with requirements of any quorum for, and the right to
advice commissioned directly by the Company and have attend, meetings. The responsibilities of the Audit Committee
direct access to it and the Company’s advisers including the include the following: external audit, financial reporting,
Company’s NOMAD, who is available to all Directors to provide internal controls and risk management. The terms of reference
regulatory and other guidance. Specific advice has been also set out the authority of the Audit Committee to carry out
received during the year on fundraising activities and strategic its responsibilities.
development of the business. Any non-audit services that are to be provided by the external
auditors are reviewed in order to safeguard auditor objectivity
Succession planning and independence.
The Board continues to review its composition and debated
it during 2021. The lack of diversity among Board members The external auditors have the opportunity during Audit
has been consistently flagged in the Board evaluation work. Committee meetings to meet privately with Committee
The Board have therefore determined that it is appropriate to members in the absence of Executive management.
appoint an additional Non-executive Director during 2022 with The Group continued to update its risk register during 2021,
the aim of adding to the Board’s diversity as well as bringing with the most recent register being compiled in Q4 2021. This
appropriate sector experience to the Board. register was presented for consideration, review and amendment
The whole Board acts as the Company’s Nomination at the Audit Committee. Not all risks can be mitigated or would
Committee and the Company does not have a separate be expensive to do so. The approach is very much one to
Nomination Committee. The appointment of any new Non- optimise the net risk. Following approval, the risk register was
executive Directors is therefore subject to discussion and recommended to and adopted by the full Board.
ratification by the full Board. The Company will continue to During 2021, the Audit Committee reviewed and debated
monitor whether it would be useful and helpful to create a the report of the Company’s external auditors and requested
separate Nomination Committee. appropriate follow-up by the Chief Financial Officer. The
At the end of March 2022 Will Crompton resigned as Company Committee also reviewed the terms of appointment of the
Secretary. The Board would like to extend a vote of thanks external auditors and their proposed audit approach for the
to Will for all his hard work for the Company. Will has been 2021 audit (undertaken in 2022).
replaced by Jamie Allen, the Company’s Financial Controller At each meeting the Audit Committee reviews the progress to
and a qualified Chartered Accountant. Jamie took up his post clear items noted by the auditors in their management letters.
in April 2022.
The Committee has discussed the risk management model. At
this stage of development the Committee considers the three
Board Committees
lines of defence model premature. However, this will be kept
The Board has two Committees: the Audit Committee and the
under review.
Remuneration Committee.
Remuneration Committee
Audit Committee
During the year the Remuneration Committee had three
During the year the Audit Committee had two Non-executive
Non‑executive Director members. It is chaired by Bob Head
Director members: Bob Head (Chairman) and Kelsey Lynn
and the other Committee members were Alastair Kilgour and
Skinner. The Group’s external auditors, the Chief Financial
Kelsey Lynn Skinner.
Officer and Financial Controller are invited to attend Audit
Committee meetings.
MONITORING
RISK AND
REPORTING
The Committee’s responsibilities cover a range of areas.
In summary, the Committee is responsible for:
1. Monitoring the integrity of the Group’s financial
statements, including its annual and half-yearly
reports, ensuring that accounting policies have
been fairly and consistently applied; that estimates
and judgements used are reasonable; that, taken as
whole, the Group’s financial reports are clear and
complete; and that all material information presented
with the financial statements, such as the Business
Review and the Corporate Governance Statements,
are accurate.
2. Considering and approving the Group’s risk register
and discussing and agreeing the optimisation of risk
with management.
Number of meetings
and attendance 3. Considering and making recommendations to the
Member while in post
Board about the appointment, re-appointment
Bob Head (Chair) 5/5 and removal of the Group’s external auditors and
Dr Mark Reilly ensuring that at least once every 10 years the audit
(until 24 February 2021) — services contract is put out to tender; overseeing
the relationship with the external auditors, including
Kelsey Lynn Skinner making recommendations on their fees; approving
(from 24 February 2021) 5/5 their terms of engagement, including the engagement
letter and the scope of the audit; assessing their
independence and objectivity, including the provision
I am pleased to present the report for the Audit Committee of any non-audit services; meeting regularly with
for the year ended 31 December 2021. the external auditors, including once at the planning
The Company announced the resignation of Mark Reilly on stage before the audit and once at the reporting
24 February 2021 and I would like to thank him for the help stage after the audit, and at least once a year and as
and support since I have been chair of the Audit Committee. required at other times, without management being
present, to discuss the auditors’ remit and any issues
I am pleased to welcome Kelsey to the Audit Committee. It is arising from the audit; and reviewing the findings of
always good to have a new perspective on the various issues the audit with the external auditors.
confronting any audit committee and so it has proved.
The Group’s Executive Directors attend meetings by invitation The Directors have prepared financial forecasts including cash
and other senior management are asked to attend meetings flow forecasts for the period until 31 December 2024 for the
when relevant. The Committee meets a minimum of three times Group and the Company and these indicate that they will have
per year and at least twice a year with the external auditors sufficient cash available to meet their debts and liabilities as
present. We had five formal meetings during the year with they fall due. The base case forecast indicates that the Group
100% attendance. The reason for more meetings is that we and Company will require additional funds within 16 months of
split the meetings with some focusing on risk and the others on the date of approval of the financial statements. The Directors
reporting. We also had a number of informal meetings dealing have the ability to control costs, which principally relate to staff,
with audit issues, the financial statements and similar matters. by slowing expected hiring or flexing staff numbers. Although
the Directors believe it is unlikely, based on management’s
base case estimates, that the Group will require additional
Internal controls and risk management
cash within 12 months of the date of signing of these financial
The Board has overall responsibility for the system of internal
statements should there be unexpected incremental costs
controls and risk management. As a relatively small Group
within the next 12 months then there is a risk that the Group
there is not the scope for the level of internal control that larger
and Company may require cash sooner than 16 months and
organisations facilitate. Much of the control environment relies
potentially within the next 12 months.
on close supervision of subsidiary units and strict control of cash
resources from the central finance team under the direction of The Directors are confident the funding required by the
the Chief Financial Officer. The Audit Committee, on behalf of Company and Group to continue as a going concern will be
the Board, has again reviewed the effectiveness of the internal secured within a period of 16 months from the date of approval
controls and risk management. The Committee also discussed the of the financial statements and have therefore prepared the
internal control framework with the Group’s external auditors and financial statements on a going concern basis. However, as at
risks relating to fraud that the Group faces. the date of approval of the financial statements no additional
funding is committed. Should additional funding not be
In time and as the Group becomes larger we will consider the
secured, most likely through new equity debt or customer
need for an internal audit function and a dedicated risk function.
contracts, within 16 months from the date of approval of these
The Committee also received and considered reports from financial statements the Group would not be a going concern.
the external auditors, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, which
As such, these conditions indicate the existence of a material
included control findings relevant to their audit. The proper
uncertainty that may cast significant doubt on the Group’s
clearance of matters raised is monitored by the Committee.
ability to continue as a going concern. The financial statements
There is an ongoing process to identify, evaluate and manage do not include the adjustments that would arise if the Group
the risks faced by the Group. Each business unit or function were unable to continue as a going concern.
reports quarterly on key risks identified and measures being
taken to optimise those risks. These are summarised and The Committee is satisfied this is an appropriate basis of
reported to the Committee by the CFO before being passed preparation and appropriately disclosed in the financial statements.
to the full Board by the Committee.
Annual report and accounts 2021 49
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Significant reporting issues and judgements being recognised over a shorter time period. The Committee
With the exception of Covid-19, the areas the Audit Committee was in agreement with this assessment.
has been concerned about are similar to prior years and are • The application of IFRS 15 on revenue recognition. The
listed a little later in the report. Committee has reviewed the application of the IFRS for both
Covid-19 has had a significant impact both on the Group interim and final financial statements and is content with the
and its counterparties during 2021 as outlined earlier in this application as applied by management.
Annual Report. • The capitalisation of development costs and intangible
Key Group issues included: assets as required under IAS 38 with a specific view to
understand how management determined whether to
• The amount of new business that could be generated, the capitalise internally developed software. Management
investment in the US sales team (ie planned increased costs) reviewed whether there was any change in the financial
and whether these impacted our going concern assessment. circumstances of the business which warranted
• With the offices closed for much of 2021 the Group capitalisation of these costs. Given the continued uncertainty
successfully continued with home working. Particular attention over future cash flows, management has determined that
has been paid to cyber risks as well as operational resilience it would not be appropriate to capitalise any internally
to deliver what we have promised our clients and customers. developed software. This was reviewed for both the interim
accounts as at 30 June 2021 and for this set of financial
• Attention has been applied to our counterparties to ensure statements for the year ended 31 December 2021. The
we do not suffer financial loss or an operational failure. Committee was in agreement with the assessment.
The Committee reviewed the following significant reporting
matters and areas where judgement had been applied during External audit
the year: The Committee considered a number of areas when
reviewing the external auditors’ appointment, specifically their
• The recoverability of R&D tax credits. During the year the performance in undertaking the audit, the scope of the audit
company reviewed its approach to claiming R&D tax credits and terms of engagement, their independence and objectivity,
and re-opened the previously submitted 2019 and 2020 R&D and their re-appointment and remuneration.
claims. The revised 2019 claim was submitted to HMRC late
in 2021 and payment for this was received in January 2022. The external auditors report to the Committee on actions taken
On the basis of the successful submission of the revised to comply with professional and regulatory requirements.
2019 R&D claim management have assumed this basis of The Group has not used PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP for any
R&D cost calculations for tax purposes will continue for the non-audit services.
revised 2020 claim and the 2021 claim. The Committee was
in agreement with the assessment. The Committee is satisfied with the independence, objectivity
and effectiveness of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and has
• The application of IFRS 2 for measurement of the share- recommended to the Board that the auditors be re-appointed.
based payment charge. For option-based share-based There will be a resolution to this effect at the forthcoming
payments management estimates certain factors used in Annual General Meeting.
the option pricing model, including volatility, vesting date
of options and number of options likely to vest. If these
estimates vary from actual occurrence, this will impact
the value of the equity carried in reserves. The main area
of judgement related to the estimated vesting period over Bob Head
which to spread the share based payment charge for the Non-executive Director
market performance options issued in the prior year. After 10 May 2022
reviewing data from Binomial modelling and uncertainty over
whether price triggers for the vesting of the options would
be met it was decided to spread the share based payment
charge for these options over their full 10 year lifespan
with true-ups when bands of options actually vested. An
estimated vesting period of less than 10 years would have
led to the share based payment charge for these options
SETTING AND
REVIEWING
REMUNERATION
The Committee’s main responsibilities are to:
1. Set the remuneration policy for all Executive Directors
and the Company’s Chair, including pension rights
and any compensation payments. None of the
Directors or senior managers are involved in any
decision about their own remuneration.
2. Recommend and monitor the level and structure
of remuneration for senior management. We have
defined “senior management” as someone earning
more than £100,000 per annum.
3. Review the ongoing appropriateness and relevance
of overall remuneration policy.
4. Determine the individual remuneration packages
of Executive Directors and other senior executives,
Number of meetings
and attendance
including bonuses and incentive payments
Member while in post in consultation with the Chair and/or CEO,
Bob Head (Chair) 5/5 as appropriate.
Basic pay Recruit, retain and Monthly pay into a The Remuneration Performance in line
motivate. It therefore bank account. Committee fix with the contract
has to be competitive. the amount. and the expectations
of the Board. If the
individual persistently
fails to deliver then
the contract will be
terminated.
Annual bonus The Executive Metrics are set in The maximum amount See opposite under
Directors’ annual advance by the payable to the CEO Executive bonuses.
bonus is set out below Remuneration and CFO for 2021 are
and is designed to Committee for all £211,750 and £63,525.
support the short- employees.
term achievements
The Executive Directors
of our targets.
have a similar bonus
scheme to other
employees except
they also have ESG
objectives as well.
Long-term The current long-term The options are The number of shares For the CEO the bigger
incentive incentive payments explained below. are fixed as explained share of his option
payments are share options. The below. The total amount package vests only
better the performance that could be earned when certain share
of the Company under the scheme price trigger points
then the better the is dependent on the are met. The exercise
share price. share price. price of these options
was set at market price
on the date they were
awarded. For the CFO
options were granted
at market price on the
date of award and
there are no further
performance metrics.
The performance metrics of the annual bonus will change over time as the stage of development of the Company changes.
For now the annual bonus focuses on establishing the business. As time moves on we will migrate to a mix of annual financial
performance and indicators that measure the creation of value in future years. We will wish to create a balance between building
a valuable business while at the same time meeting short-term targets. We believe that simple short-term financial targets are
insufficient unless there are clear “business building” targets. There is a difference in the annual bonus targets between the
Executive Directors and other employees. This is explained below. In addition designated sales staff have targets based on sales.
The share options are of standard construction though in the case of the CEO the number of options available is driven by
targeted increases in the share price. In the short term we believe this is appropriate. In the longer term we will review the
form of the long-term incentive. The current arrangements run until H1 2023.
The difference between the arrangements for Executive Directors and other employees essentially relates to the scale of the
long-term incentive element which is greater than for other employees. Both the CEO and CFO are part of the Company-wide
short-term incentive scheme. This scheme applies to all staff other than designated sales staff who have separate commission
arrangements. The CEO’s and CFO’s KPIs are similar to the broader company scheme with the exception that they have an ESG
related target. In all cases maximum awards are defined as a percentage of salary which generally varies by level of seniority.
In the case of the CEO the maximum award is 50% of base salary and 30% in the case of the CFO.
It is not envisioned there will be a material change in fees Total 100% 52.5%
of the Directors in the coming 12 months.
For 2021 the CEO and CFO were awarded bonuses totalling
No other decisions are considered material. £111,169 and £33,350 respectively. These were triggered by
meeting the above performance criteria in the financial year ended
Directors’ service contracts 31 December 2021. These payments are normally made in March
Under the terms of the service agreements in place with of the following financial year.
Executive Directors, either party must give six months’ written For 2022 we will be keeping the same broad shape of the bonus
notice to terminate those service agreements. Under the scheme and tailoring the measures more specifically to reflect
terms of the service agreements in place with Non-executive the differing roles of the CEO and CFO. We will also explicitly
Directors, either party must give three months’ written notice include a discretionary element for the Remuneration Committee to
to terminate that appointment. assess the personal contributions to building the business of each
Executive Director. We are also introducing a departmental element
Compensation for early termination for Executive Directors for other staff.
is generally limited to six months’ base salary and benefits.
Any entitlements under incentive plans would ordinarily lapse Pensions
in accordance with the terms of the relevant plan, unless the The Company operates a defined contribution pension scheme
Remuneration Committee exercises its discretion as provided open to all UK Executive Directors and employees. The Company
under the incentive scheme rules. also operates a 401k scheme for its US staff. Arrangements in
other markets are based on statutory requirements.
Staff and Director bonuses
The Company operates a performance related bonus Non-executive Directors
scheme for all staff, including Executive Directors, other than Remuneration of the Non-executive Directors is determined
by the Executive Directors with the exception of the Chair
designated sales staff. For 2021 the measures, their weighting
whose remuneration is determined by the other Non-executive
and achievement were as follows for staff:
Directors. The Non-executive Directors did not receive an
Measure % bonus pool % achieved increase in their remuneration.
Sales 40% — As noted last year, the Remuneration Committee reviewed
Cost 20% 20% the role of the Chairman and CEO as it was concerned that
Production efficiency 20% 20% the CEO spends a significant portion of his time managing
investor relations, both existing shareholders and potential
Supply pipeline 10% —
new investors. We attach great importance to having excellent
Demand pipeline 10% 10% relations with existing shareholders and potential investors and
Total 100% 50% to that end it was agreed that the Chair would take on a larger
role with respect to investor relations to allow the CEO to focus
The bonus expense excluding Executive Directors under the more on growing the business. We envision the Chairman’s new
Company scheme and sales bonus arrangements for 2021 and existing roles will take approximately 60 days per annum.
was £552,869. Non-executive Directors are not entitled to pensions, annual
Designated sales staff, of which the Company currently has bonuses or employee benefits. They are entitled to participate
11, have bespoke short-term bonus arrangements that are in share option arrangements relating to the Company’s
linked entirely to Company revenue performance. These shares, and both the Chairman and I have share option
arrangements are discussed and reviewed at least annually arrangements that were explained in the 2019 report and are
disclosed elsewhere. The Board does not consider that this
by the Remuneration Committee. The bonus is not a simple
compromises the independence of either Director.
percentage of revenue but rather based on revenue targets.
The Non-executive Directors have also invested personally
We expect to have a similar bonus structure for 2022 although in the Company. The Board is very aware of its obligations to
we have decided that there will be an increased percentage all stakeholders under s172. The Board does not believe their
for staff (excluding the Executive Directors) based on investment has compromised their independence.
departmental goals. Each of the Non-executive Directors has a contract stating
The Executive Directors had a slightly different mix of measures their annual fee and that their appointment is initially for a term
to the other employees as they have specific ESG objectives of three years from the date of admission, subject to re-election
accounting for a maximum of 5% of their bonus eligibility with at the Company’s Annual General Meeting.
other measures proportionately reduced as follows:
Executive
Stephan Beringer 2,102,454 1 Oct 2019/20/21 £0.00001
5,500,000 Perfomance dependent * £0.15
David Dorans 394,210 12 Nov 2019/20/21 £0.195
1,660,800 18 May 2023 £0.15
Non-executive
John Pearson 225,000 16 Oct 2018/19/20 £0.62
1,250,600 2 Apr 2020/1 Oct 2020/21 £0.00001
1,349,400 Perfomance dependent * £0.15
Bob Head 400,000 13 Jun 2020/21/22 £0.00001
400,000 Perfomance dependent * £0.15
Dr Mark Reilly (until 24 February 2021) — — —
Kelsey Lynn Skinner (from 24 February 2021) — — —
Alastair Kilgour — — —
* These options will only vest if certain share price targets are achieved. Two of the targets were met in 2020 and none in 2021
Directors’ remuneration
Employer’s Other Share-based
Salary/fees Bonus pension benefits payment Total 2021 Total 2020
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
Executive
Stephan Beringer 424 111 25 — 118 678 703
David Dorans 212 33 11 1 88 345 312
Non-executive
John Pearson 75 — — — 24 99 176
Dr Mark Reilly 3 — — — — 3 20
Kelsey Lynn Skinner 17 — — — — 17 —
Alastair Kilgour 20 — — — — 20 20
Bob Head 40 — — — 10 50 70
791 144 36 1 240 1,212 1,301
54 Mirriad Advertising plc
There are no long-term employment benefit or incentive schemes in place other than share options. See note 20 to the financial
statements to see the basis of calculation of this charge.
Following annual pay reviews and appraisals the CEO and CFO’s salaries were increased by 4.5% effective 1 January 2022
to £442,500 and £221,250 respectively.
Shareholder consultations were held on the CEO’s long-term incentives last year as reported in the 2019 accounts. There have
been no other consultations this year.
There were no payments for loss of office.
We are required to disclose how Directors’ shareholdings at the end of the reported financial year compare to any shareholding
guidelines in place. The Company does not have any shareholding guidelines in place. That said we believe that the existing
shareholdings motivate the right performance and are aligned to the interests of shareholders.
We have included a line graph which shows the total shareholder return of the Company since the Company’s admittance to AIM
and compared this to a benchmark of AIM technology stocks above £10 million market cap and less than £500 million market cap
over the same period.
300
250
200
150
100
Appointment of
Stephan Beringer as Appointment of
CEO: 1 Oct 2018
Chairman: 20 Apr 2019
50
0
Dec 17 Jun 18 Dec 18 Jun 19 Dec 19 Jun 20 Dec 20 Jun 21 Dec 21
Stephan Beringer
Chief Executive Officer single figure (£000) 703 678
Annual bonus (% of max) 30% 52.5%
LTIP performance options vesting (% of max) 22% 0%
There are no plans to alter materially the remuneration policy or practice in the coming year.
No external consultants have been used to advise the Remuneration Committee during 2021 although we do review pay studies
that are freely available.
Bob Head
Non-executive Director
10 May 2022
Annual report and accounts 2021 55
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Directors’ report
Financial instruments
Significant shareholders Full details of the Group’s risk management policies and
The Company is informed that, at 31 March 2022, individual
its exposure to financial risk are set out in note 3 to the
registered shareholdings of more than 3% of the Company’s
financial statements.
issued share capital were as follows:
Number of Percentage of Directors’ indemnities and Directors’
Ordinary issued Ordinary
Shares held Share capital and officers’ liability insurance
M&G Investments 36,616,666 13.1% The Company’s articles of association permit the Company
Parkwalk Advisors 35,977,908 12.9% to indemnify Directors of the Company in accordance with
the Companies Act 2006. Directors’ and officers’ liability
IP Group* 34,393,570 12.3%
insurance, which constitutes a qualifying third-party indemnity
Investec Wealth & Investment 25,616,056 9.2%
provision as defined by section 234 of the Companies Act
Chelverton Asset Management 14,000,000 5.0%
2006, was in place during the financial year and also at the
Hargreaves Lansdown 12,760,542 4.6% date of approval of these financial statements.
Ninety One 12,270,369 4.4%
Janus Henderson Investors 10,978,777 3.9% Annual General Meeting
Columbia Threadneedle The Annual General Meeting of the Group is to be held on
Investments 8,466,924 3.0% 13 June 2022. The notice of meeting appears on page 96
of these financial statements.
* Held by its subsidiary IP2IPO Portfolio LP acting by its general partner IP2IPO
(GP) Limited
Strategic Report
Pursuant to section 414c of the Companies Act 2006 the
Strategic Report on pages 2 to 39 contains disclosures
in relation to dividends, R&D activity and post balance
sheet events.
Independent auditors
In accordance with section 489 of the Companies Act, a
resolution for the re-appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers
LLP as auditors of the Company is to be proposed at the
forthcoming Annual General Meeting.
On behalf of the Board
David Dorans
Director
10 May 2022
The directors are responsible for preparing the Annual report The directors are also responsible for keeping adequate
and the financial statements in accordance with applicable accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain
law and regulation. the group’s and company’s transactions and disclose with
reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of
Company law requires the directors to prepare financial
the group and company and enable them to ensure that the
statements for each financial year. Under that law the directors
financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006.
have prepared the group and the company financial statements in
accordance with UK-adopted international accounting standards. The directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity
of the company’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom
Under company law, directors must not approve the financial
governing the preparation and dissemination of financial
statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and
statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.
fair view of the state of affairs of the group and company and
of the profit or loss of the group for that period. In preparing
the financial statements, the directors are required to: Directors’ confirmations
The directors consider that the Annual report and accounts,
• select suitable accounting policies and then apply taken as a whole, is fair, balanced and understandable and
them consistently; provides the information necessary for shareholders to assess
• state whether applicable UK-adopted international the group’s and company’s position and performance,
accounting standards have been followed, subject to business model and strategy.
any material departures disclosed and explained in In the case of each director in office at the date the directors’
the financial statements; report is approved:
• make judgements and accounting estimates that are • so far as the director is aware, there is no relevant audit
reasonable and prudent; and information of which the group’s and company’s auditors
• prepare the financial statements on the going concern are unaware; and
basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the group • they have taken all the steps that they ought to have taken as
and company will continue in business. a director in order to make themselves aware of any relevant
The directors are responsible for safeguarding the assets audit information and to establish that the group’s and
of the group and company and hence for taking reasonable company’s auditors are aware of that information.
steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and
other irregularities.
Independence
We remained independent of the group in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial
statements in the UK, which includes the FRC’s Ethical Standard, as applicable to listed entities, and we have fulfilled our other
ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements.
Materiality
• Overall group materiality: £573,500 (2020: £454,500) based on 4.8% of loss before tax.
• Overall company materiality: £516,200 (2020: £408,000) based on 5% of Loss before Tax.
• Performance materiality: £430,100 (2020: £340,800) (group) and £387,100 (2020: £306,000) (company).
Fraud in revenue recognition (group and parent) We understood how management recognise and process
Fraud in revenue recognition is considered a key audit matter revenue. We have assessed the accounting for revenue in
given the inherent nature of the business, as a listed accordance with IFRS 15 including the significant contract
Technology company, with the primary objective to grow recognised on a ‘stand ready’ basis. We have obtained
revenue and become profitable. The majority of revenue is detailed revenue listings for the UK, US and China entities and
recognised once the Native In Video Advertising (“NIVA”) agreed these to the general ledger; We obtained 90%
service (inserting advertising into content) has been provided coverage over revenues by performing the following: 1) testing
to the customer. The timing of when the service is delivered, a sample of revenue transactions to sales invoices and also to
and therefore when revenue is recognised, is not complex or customer buy (purchase) orders and/or contracts and/or
judgemental. The key risk is considered to be in relation to the written communications; 2) agreeing all sampled revenue
occurrence of revenue – that a customer exists and the service transactions to subsequent customer cash receipts; 3) testing
has been provided. There is one large customer contract that the one off customer contract recognised overtime on a ‘stand
is recognised ‘over time’ because of the requirement for ready’ basis, and, 4) testing unusual journal entries which
Mirriad to maintain a ‘stand ready’ team to deliver the insertion increase revenue and corroborated the validity of those
service over the term of the arrangement for which Mirriad are transactions to supporting documentations. We found no
paid a fixed fee. Please refer to notes 2.5 and 4 in the material misstatements from our testing.
consolidated financial statements.
Materiality
The scope of our audit was influenced by our application of materiality. We set certain quantitative thresholds for materiality.
These, together with qualitative considerations, helped us to determine the scope of our audit and the nature, timing and extent
of our audit procedures on the individual financial statement line items and disclosures and in evaluating the effect of
misstatements, both individually and in aggregate on the financial statements as a whole.
Based on our professional judgement, we determined materiality for the financial statements as a whole as follows:
Financial statements – group Financial statements – company
For each component in the scope of our group audit, we allocated a materiality that is less than our overall group materiality.
The range of materiality allocated across components was £200,000–£300,000. Certain components were audited to a local
statutory audit materiality that was also less than our overall group materiality.
We use performance materiality to reduce to an appropriately low level the probability that the aggregate of uncorrected and
undetected misstatements exceeds overall materiality. Specifically, we use performance materiality in determining the scope
of our audit and the nature and extent of our testing of account balances, classes of transactions and disclosures, for example
in determining sample sizes. Our performance materiality was 75% (2020: 75%%) of overall materiality, amounting to £430,100
(2020: £340,800) for the group financial statements and £387,100 (2020: £306,000) for the company financial statements.
In determining the performance materiality, we considered a number of factors – the history of misstatements, risk assessment
and aggregation risk and the effectiveness of controls – and concluded that an amount at the upper end of our normal range
was appropriate.
We agreed with those charged with governance that we would report to them misstatements identified during our audit above
£28,675 (group audit) (2020: £19,750) and £25,808 (company audit) (2020: £17,775) as well as misstatements below those
amounts that, in our view, warranted reporting for qualitative reasons.
Items in the statement above are disclosed net of tax. The income tax relating to each component of other comprehensive income
is disclosed in note 10.
Group Company
As at As at As at As at
31 December 31 December 31 December 31 December
2021 2020 2021 2020
Note £ £ £ £
Assets
Non-current assets
Property, plant and equipment 12 767,396 636,543 644,219 465,626
Intangible assets 13 — — — —
Investments 9 — — 420,907 420,907
Trade and other receivables 14 162,962 186,021 162,962 162,962
930,358 822,564 1,228,088 1,049,495
Current assets
Trade and other receivables 14 1,892,152 1,475,785 435,519 485,475
Other current assets 1,116,320 72,993 1,116,320 72,993
Cash and cash equivalents 24,501,214 35,421,396 23,720,249 34,727,579
27,509,686 36,970,174 25,272,088 35,286,047
Total assets 28,440,044 37,792,738 26,500,176 36,335,542
Liabilities
Non-current liabilities
Lease liabilities 24 411,993 204,437 411,993 152,340
411,993 204,437 411,993 152,340
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables 15 2,866,773 1,913,845 1,674,265 1,190,257
Current tax liabilities 15 2,481 13,361 — —
Lease liabilities 24 217,825 390,220 158,433 271,600
3,087,079 2,317,426 1,832,698 1,461,857
Total liabilities 3,499,072 2,521,863 2,244,691 1,614,197
Net assets 24,940,972 35,270,875 24,255,485 34,721,345
Equity and liabilities
Equity attributable to owners of the parent
Share capital 17 52,690 52,688 52,690 52,688
Share premium 17 65,754,666 65,710,297 65,754,666 65,710,297
Share-based payment reserve 18 3,665,525 2,850,571 3,665,525 2,850,571
Retranslation reserve 19 (360,054) (143,298) — —
Accumulated losses (44,171,855) (33,199,383) (45,217,396) (33,892,211)
Total equity 24,940,972 35,270,875 24,255,485 34,721,345
The Company loss for the year is £11,325,185 (2020: £9,115,731). The financial statements on pages 65 to 95 were approved by
the Board of Directors on 10 May 2022 and signed on its behalf by:
David Dorans
Chief Financial Officer
Group Company
2021 2020 2021 2020
Note £ £ £ £
2. Accounting policies
2.1 Changes in accounting policy and disclosures
(a) New standards, amendments and interpretations
The Group has applied the following standards and amendments for the first time for the annual reporting period commencing
1 January 2021:
• Interest Rate Benchmark Reform Phase 2 – Amendments to IFRS 9, IAS 39, IFRS 7 and IFRS 16;
• Covid-19 related rent concessions beyond 30 June 2021 – Amendments to IFRS 16.
The amendments listed above did not have any impact on the amounts recognised in prior periods and are not expected
to significantly affect the current or future periods.
2.3 Consolidation
The Group consolidated financial statements include the financial statements of the Company and all of its subsidiary
undertakings made up to 31 December 2021, and the prior year to 31 December 2020.
A subsidiary is an entity controlled by the Group. Control is the power to govern the financial and operating policies of an
entity so as to obtain benefits from its activities.
Any subsidiary undertakings or associates sold or acquired during the year are included up to, or from, the dates of change
of control or change of significant influence respectively.
Where control of a subsidiary is lost, the gain or loss is recognised in the consolidated income statement. The cumulative
amounts of any exchange differences on translation, recognised in equity, are not included in the gain or loss on disposal and
are transferred to retained earnings. The gain or loss also includes amounts included in other comprehensive income that are
required to be reclassified to profit or loss but excludes those amounts that are not required to be reclassified.
All intra-group transactions, balances, income and expenses are eliminated on consolidation. Adjustments are made to eliminate
the profit or loss arising on transactions with associates to the extent of the Group’s interest in the entity.
2.11 Leases
The Group leases offices in the countries where it operates, and rental contracts are typically made for fixed periods of 1 to
10 years but may be extended in some cases. Lease terms are negotiated on an individual basis and contain a wide range of
different terms and conditions.
From 1 January 2019, leases are recognised as a right-of-use asset and a corresponding liability at the date at which the leased
asset is available for use by the Group. Each lease payment is allocated between the liability and finance cost. The finance cost
is charged to profit or loss over the lease period so as to produce a constant periodic rate of interest on the remaining balance
of the liability for each period. The right-of-use asset is depreciated over the shorter of the asset’s useful life and the lease term
on a straight line basis.
Assets and liabilities arising from a lease are initially measured on a present value basis. Lease liabilities include the net present
value of the following lease payments:
• fixed payments (including in-substance fixed payments), less any lease incentives receivable;
• variable lease payments that are based on an index or a rate;
• amounts expected to be payable by the lessee under residual value guarantees;
• the exercise price of a purchase option if the lessee is reasonably certain to exercise that option; and
• payments of penalties for terminating the lease, if the lease term reflects the lessee exercising that option.
The lease payments are discounted using the interest rate implicit in the lease. If that rate cannot be determined, the lessee’s
incremental borrowing rate is used, being the rate that the lessee would have to pay to borrow the funds necessary to obtain an
asset of similar value in a similar economic environment with similar terms, security and conditions. The incremental interest rates
used for office lease agreements which were in effect during the current year were as follows:
• UK – 4% until 24 December 2021 then 3.19% (2020: 4%).
• China – 4.75% (2020: 4.75%).
• India – 10% (2020: 10%).
Right-of-use assets are measured at cost comprising the following:
• the amount of the initial measurement of lease liability;
• any lease payments made at or before the commencement date less any lease incentives received;
• any initial direct costs; and
• restoration costs.
As all the right-of-use assets held by the Group are property leases these are depreciated over the non-cancellable portion
of the lease term.
Payments associated with short-term leases and leases of low-value assets are recognised on a straight line basis as an expense
in profit or loss. Short-term leases are leases with a lease term of 12 months or less. Low-value assets comprise IT equipment.
The depreciation charge related to right-of-use lease assets, additions to right-of-use assets and the carrying amount of right-of-use
assets at the end of the reporting period are all presented in note 12. The interest expense on lease liabilities is shown in note 8.
Derecognition
Tangible assets are derecognised on disposal or when no future economic benefits are expected. On disposal, the difference
between the net disposal proceeds and the carrying amount is recognised in profit or loss and included in “Administrative expenses”.
As at 31 December 2021
Trade and other payables 904,770 271,600 158,433 —
As at 31 December 2020
Trade and other payables 865,810 211,604 — —
5. Segment information
Management mainly considers the business from a geographic perspective since the same services are effectively being sold in
every Group entity. Therefore regions considered for segmental reporting are where the Company and subsidiaries are based,
namely the UK, the USA, India and China. The revenue is classified by where the sales were booked not by the geographic
location of the customer. For this reporting purpose the Singapore and China entities are considered together.
The only income outside of the primary business activity relates to income received from grants which is recognised in other
operating income.
Operating segments are reported in a manner consistent with the internal reporting provided to the chief operating decision
maker. The chief operating decision maker, which is responsible for allocating resources and assessing performance of the
operating segments, has been identified as the steering committee that makes strategic decisions. The steering committee is
made up of the Board of Directors. There are no sales between segments. The revenue from external parties reported to the
strategic steering committee is measured in a manner consistent with that in the income statement.
The parent company is domiciled in the United Kingdom. The amount of revenue from external customers by location of the
Group billing entity is shown in the tables below.
2021 2020
Revenue £ £
Turnover by geography
China 981,164 1,765,196
USA 884,248 313,967
UK 144,309 100,756
Total 2,009,721 2,179,919
2021 2020
£ £
Turnover by category
Rendering of services 2,009,721 2,179,919
Total 2,009,721 2,179,919
2021 2020
Revenues from external customers by country, based on the destination of the customer £ £
Revenues of £981,164 (2020: £1,765,196) are derived from a single external customer. These revenues are generated in China.
The next largest customer, based in the USA, had revenues of £224,382 (2020: £72,145). Of the total revenue recognised for the
year £981,164 was recognised over time (2020: £1,765,196) and £1,028,557 was recognised at a point in time (2020: £414,723).
UK (11,108,631) (6,683,801)
USA (19,812) (1,412,955)
India (572,662) (649,208)
China and Singapore 122,113 119,615
Total EBITDA (11,578,992) (8,626,349)
Depreciation (440,390) (466,097)
Finance (costs)/income net (861) 3,637
Loss before tax (12,020,243) (9,088,809)
Finance
Income tax income/
Depreciation credit/(charge) (charge) net
2021 £ £ £
2021 2020
Non-current assets £ £
UK 807,181 628,588
USA 4,278 2,327
India 63,516 31,531
China and Singapore 55,383 160,118
Total 930,358 822,564
The main non-current asset balances in the UK relate to right-of-use assets and leasehold improvements.
2021 2020
Total assets £ £
UK 25,978,164 35,729,924
USA 1,133,619 826,715
India 623,967 334,328
China and Singapore 704,294 901,771
Total 28,440,044 37,792,738
UK 2,245,892 1,540,359
USA 679,983 380,314
India 372,197 260,544
China and Singapore 201,000 340,646
Total 3,499,072 2,521,863
6. Operating loss
The Group operating loss is stated after charging/(crediting):
2021 2020
Note £ £
Other operating income includes income received from government grants and research and development expenditure credits.
The Group has complied with all the conditions attached to these grant awards.
During the years indicated the Group obtained the services from and paid the fees of the Group’s auditors as detailed below:
2021 2020
£ £
7. Employees
7.1 Employee benefit expense
Group Company
2021 2020 2021 2020
£ £ £ £
Finance costs
Interest and finance charges paid for lease liabilities (10,768) (30,702)
Finance costs (10,768) (30,702)
Net finance (costs)/income (861) 3,637
9. Investments
The amounts recognised in the Company balance sheet are as follows:
2021 2020
£ £
During the year the Company had interests in the following investments, all of which are consolidated in the Group historical
financial information. There are no capital contributions related to share-based payments. The subsidiaries as listed below
have share capital consisting solely of Ordinary Shares, which are held directly by the Group; the country of incorporation
or registration is also their principal place of business.
9. Investments continued
Proportion of
Country of nominal value of
Name of subsidiary registration and shares and voting
or Group undertaking Registered address Nature of business operation rights held
Mirriad Advertising Offices Nos. 401 & 402 Provision of embedded India 100%
Private Limited Palm Spring Centre, Link Road, above advertising into video
Croma, Malad (w), Mumbai-400 064
Mirriad Inc. 4th Floor Provision of embedded USA 100%
19 W24th Street, advertising into video
New York, NY 10001
Mirriad Software Science and Rm 1328, 2nd Floor, No.148, Lane 999, Provision of embedded China 100%
Technology (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. Xin Er Road, Shanghai advertising into video
Mirriad Limited 6th Floor, One London Wall, London EC2Y Dormant UK 100%
5EB, United Kingdom
Current tax
Research and development tax credit for the year (463,786) (62,983)
Tax charge on research and development expenditure credit 5,142 2,348
Adjustment in respect of prior years (616,898) 5,426
Foreign tax payable 27,771 22,780
Adjustment in respect of prior years – foreign tax — —
Total current tax (1,047,771) (32,429)
Deferred tax
Origination and reversal of timing differences — —
Total deferred tax — —
Tax on loss (1,047,771) (32,429)
UK corporation tax credit relates to R&D tax credits receivable by the Group.
2020
Tax (charge)/
Before tax credit After tax
£ £ £
Deferred tax
The following tables represent deferred tax balances recognised in the consolidated balance sheet, and the movements in
both the deferred tax asset and the deferred tax liability.
There is a deferred tax liability of £346,910 (2020: £346,910) in respect of the intangible asset acquired on acquisition of the
trade and assets of Mirriad Limited in 2015, which has been immediately offset against the acquired unrecognised deferred
tax asset in relation to trading losses carried forward.
2021 2020
£ £
There is an unrecognised deferred tax asset of £17,737,565 (2020: £12,443,360) in relation to the trading losses carried forward,
provisions and future exercisable shares.
Unrecognised deferred tax has been calculated at 25% (2020: 19%), reflecting the latest enacted rate for UK deferred tax
balances and the prevailing domestic tax rate in each country for the deferred tax balances of the foreign subsidiaries.
The unrecognised deferred tax asset would be recovered against future Company taxable profits. In the opinion of the Directors,
there is insufficient evidence that the asset will be recovered; as such the deferred tax asset has not been recognised in the
financial statements.
The loss per share for the year was 4p (2020: 4p).
No dividends were paid during the year (2020: £nil).
(b) Diluted
Potential Ordinary Shares are not treated as dilutive as the Group is loss making and such shares would be anti-dilutive.
At 1 January 2020
Cost or valuation 353,457 950,330 357,510 1,661,297
Accumulated depreciation (242,382) (330,257) (175,675) (748,314)
Net book amount 111,075 620,073 181,835 912,983
Year ended 31 December 2020
Opening net book amount 111,075 620,073 181,835 912,983
Additions 25,202 164,455 — 189,657
Disposals (9,067) — — (9,067)
Depreciation charge (71,275) (315,852) (78,970) (466,097)
Depreciation on disposals 9,067 — — 9,067
Closing net book amount 65,002 468,676 102,865 636,543
At 31 December 2020
Cost or valuation 369,592 1,114,785 357,510 1,841,887
Accumulated depreciation (304,590) (646,109) (254,645) (1,205,344)
Net book amount 65,002 468,676 102,865 636,543
Year ended 31 December 2021
Opening net book amount 65,002 468,676 102,865 636,543
Additions 159,250 411,993 — 571,243
Disposals (899) — — (899)
Depreciation charge (68,588) (299,931) (71,871) (440,390)
Depreciation on disposals 899 — — 899
Closing net book amount 155,664 580,738 30,994 767,396
At 31 December 2021
Cost or valuation 527,943 1,526,778 357,510 2,412,231
Accumulated depreciation (372,279) (946,040) (326,516) (1,644,835)
Net book amount 155,664 580,738 30,994 767,396
As at 31 December 2021 there were no contractual commitments to purchase any further property, plant and equipment
(2020: none).
At 1 January 2020
Cost or valuation 301,253 721,888 355,442 1,378,583
Accumulated depreciation (235,709) (201,457) (171,908) (609,074)
Net book amount 65,544 520,431 183,534 769,509
Year ended 31 December 2020
Opening net book amount 65,544 520,431 183,534 769,509
Additions 18,561 — — 18,561
Disposals (1,108) — — (1,108)
Depreciation charge (43,125) (201,457) (77,861) (322,443)
Depreciation on disposals 1,107 — — 1,107
Closing net book amount 40,979 318,974 105,673 465,626
At 31 December 2020
Cost or valuation 318,706 721,888 355,442 1,396,036
Accumulated depreciation (277,727) (402,914) (249,769) (930,410)
Net book amount 40,979 318,974 105,673 465,626
Year ended 31 December 2021
Opening net book amount 40,979 318,974 105,673 465,626
Additions 79,271 411,993 — 491,264
Disposals (899) — — (899)
Depreciation charge (39,343) (201,457) (71,871) (312,671)
Depreciation on disposals 899 — — 899
Closing net book amount 80,907 529,510 33,802 644,219
At 31 December 2021
Cost or valuation 397,078 1,133,881 355,442 1,886,401
Accumulated depreciation (316,171) (604,371) (321,640) (1,242,182)
Net book amount 80,907 529,510 33,802 644,219
Cost
At 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2021 1,688,712 2,240,884 351,935 4,281,531
Accumulated amortisation and impairment
At 1 January 2020 and 1 January 2021 (1,688,712) (2,240,884) (351,935) (4,281,531)
Amortisation charge — — — —
At 31 December 2021 (1,688,712) (2,240,884) (351,935) (4,281,531)
Net book value
Cost 1,688,712 2,240,884 351,935 4,281,531
Accumulated amortisation and impairment (1,688,712) (2,240,884) (351,935) (4,281,531)
At 31 December 2020 — — — —
Cost 1,688,712 2,240,884 351,935 4,281,531
Accumulated amortisation and impairment (1,688,712) (2,240,884) (351,935) (4,281,531)
At 31 December 2021 — — — —
Intangible assets comprise two patents acquired from Mirriad Limited in 2015 which were amortised on a straight line basis over
four years.
Other intangibles above include the technology acquired from Mirriad Limited, which has a carrying net book value of £nil (2020: £nil)
and the Mirriad brand acquired as part of the same transaction, which has a carrying value of £nil (2020: £nil). These items were
amortised on a straight line basis over four years.
The internally generated software costs reflect staff time incurred on two main products for internal use which underpin the
business processes. These development costs have been offset by grant income received for the same staff costs over the year.
To the extent that work on the products reflects research or maintenance activities, such related costs have not been capitalised.
The capitalised software development costs are being amortised on a straight line basis over three years.
In 2018 management determined that the lower than expected revenue growth and the decline in market capitalisation
constituted triggering events in accordance with IAS 36, and hence an impairment of the internally generated software costs
was required. While management believes the software remains critical to the future success of the business and the software
continues to be used with the Group’s clients, the uncertainty over future cash flows resulting from slower than anticipated
revenue growth meant that in 2018 management believed it was appropriate to take an impairment charge against the asset
and write the carrying value down to zero. For the current year management maintains the above view and as a result has taken
the decision to not capitalise any development costs in 2021. Accordingly the income statement includes £3,091,021 (2020:
£2,433,957) related to research and development (“R&D”) activity.
Neither the patents nor the other intangible assets were deemed to be impaired as part of the review mentioned above and were
fully written down in 2019.
As at 31 December 2021 the total accrued revenue balance related to contract assets was £155,713 (2020: £168,501). Trade
receivables are stated after an expected credit loss reserve, as required by IFRS 9, of £46,981 (2020: £45,952). As of 31
December 2021, trade receivables of £432,713 (2020: £55,451) were past due but not impaired. These relate to five customers,
none of which have a recent history of default. The ageing history of these trade receivables is as follows:
2021 2020
£ £
As at 31 December 2021 £82,220 of the total deferred revenue balance (contract liabilities) related to Tencent (2020: £160,666).
This will all be recognised in 2022.
2021 2020
£ £
Trade receivables
Counterparties without external credit rating:
Group 1 648,738 292,504
Group 2 306,994 511,823
Group 3 — —
Total unimpaired trade receivables 955,732 804,327
Cash at bank and short-term bank deposits:
A1 13,720,249 34,727,567
A2 10,073,062 —
A3 — 394,826
Baa3 707,645 298,929
24,500,956 35,421,322
Cash in hand 258 74
Total cash and cash equivalents 24,501,214 35,421,396
The deferred shares do not have any voting rights attached and no entitlement to receive any dividend or other distribution. On
a return of assets in a winding-up or otherwise the holders of deferred shares will only be entitled to repayment of the amounts
paid up on such shares after repayment of £10 million per Ordinary Share. The Company may, subject to appropriate shareholder
approval, elect to buy back the deferred shares at a later date for an aggregate amount of £0.01 for each holder’s total holding of
deferred shares.
The share capital reserve consists of shares issued to the Group’s investors.
The number of authorised shares is uncapped.
The share premium reserve consists of amounts paid in addition to the nominal value of the Ordinary Shares, less any direct
costs and fees incurred during the investment.
The profit and loss account consists of accumulated losses.
The cost of equity-settled share-based payments are recognised in the income statement, together with a corresponding increase
in equity in this share-based payment reserve during the vesting period. Note 20 explains the employee option schemes in more detail.
The other reserve contains the translation losses for the year which result from the revaluation of subsidiary opening net assets
and reserves. Such translation movements are recorded in the statement of comprehensive income and this reserve.
Unapproved Scheme
Under the Unapproved Scheme, options are granted to non-UK-based employees or UK-based employees who have exceeded
their EMI limits, usually at an exercise price deemed to be market value of the shares at the date of grant. The vesting conditions
for the options in issue during the year are as follows:
• 2,928,371 options at market value with one-third exercisable on the first anniversary of the grant, a further third exercisable
on the second anniversary of the grant and the remainder exercisable three years after the date of grant.
• 1,269,121 options at nominal value with one-third exercisable on the first anniversary of the grant, a further third exercisable
on the second anniversary of the grant and the remainder exercisable three years after the date of grant.
• 3,802,453 options at market value which are exercisable three years from the date of grant. These new options were authorised
in May 2020 by the Company’s Remuneration Committee and granted to a number of the Company’s senior staff. Unlike most
of the options issued historically these options vest monthly over the 36 months of the scheme and are only capable of exercise
at the end of that 36-month period.
• 7,249,400 options at market value which only vest if specified market performance conditions are met. The Binomial model
was used initially to estimate when these options were likely to vest based on the share price targets specified in the option
agreements. Due to a low share price at the date the options were granted and a high historic share price volatility the Binomial
model predicted that the options would never vest. However, management believed that there was a value attached to these
options and a corresponding share-based payment charge should be recognised, and subsequently took the decision to
spread the cost over the full 10-year lifespan of the options.
• 400,000 options at nominal value with one-third exercisable three months after the grant date, a further third exercisable
15 months after grant date and the remainder exercisable 27 months after the date of grant.
• 1,250,600 options at nominal value with one-third vesting immediately upon grant, a further third exercisable six months after
grant date and the remainder exercisable 18 months after the date of grant.
• 750,000 options at market value with one-half exercisable on the first anniversary of the grant and the remainder exercisable
two years after the date of grant. 125,000 of these options were exercised during the year (2020: none).
EMI Scheme
Under the EMI Scheme options are granted to UK-based employees at a fair value. Historically, for options granted, one-third
are exercisable on the first anniversary of the grant, a further third are exercisable on the second anniversary of the grant and
the remainder are exercisable three years after the date of grant. All vested options expire 10 years after the date of grant.
The options issued in 2015 vested immediately.
In May 2020 the Company’s Remuneration Committee authorised the grant of new options to a number of the Company’s senior
staff. Unlike the options issued historically these options vest monthly over the 36 months of the scheme and are only capable
of exercise at the end of that 36-month period.
In November 2021 new options were issued to two members of Senior staff. These options vest monthly over the 18-month period
of the scheme and can only be exercised at the end of the 18-month period.
In November 2021 the Company decided to issue options to widen share option participation among its staff to incentivise and
retain a broader group of employees. One-third of these options are exercisable on the second anniversary of the grant, a further
third are exercisable on the third anniversary of the grant and the remainder are exercisable four years after the date of grant.
Employees are not entitled to dividends until the share options are exercised. Vesting of the options is subject to continued
employment within the Group.
In the year ended 31 December 2021, the Company granted 4,967,393 (2020: 6,135,982) share options under the EMI Scheme.
63,917 EMI options were exercised during the year (2020: 410,000).
1,863,917 EMI options lapsed during the year (2020: nil).
Movements in the number of share options outstanding and their related weighted average exercise prices are as follows:
2021 2020
Weighted average Weighted average
exercise price in Share options exercise price in Share options
£ per share option Number £ per share option Number
EMI Scheme
Outstanding at 1 January 0.14 8,042,442 0.12 2,316,460
Granted 0.34 4,967,393 0.15 6,135,982
Exercised (0.35) (63,917) (0.16) (410,000)
Forfeited (0.14) (1,863,917) — —
At 31 December 0.23 11,082,001 0.14 8,042,442
Unapproved Scheme
Outstanding at 1 January 0.17 17,649,945 0.35 7,698,972
Granted 0.36 1,714,008 0.13 13,452,453
Exercised (0.20) (125,000) (0.30) (253,576)
Forfeited — — (0.43) (3,247,904)
At 31 December 0.18 19,238,953 0.17 17,649,945
Share options
Exercise price in
Grant-vest Scheme Expiry date £ per share options 2021 2020
* These options will only vest if certain market performance conditions are met
The fair values for the EMI options and the non-performance related Unapproved options were estimated using the Black-Scholes
option pricing model. The fair values for the Unapproved options with market performance conditions were estimated using the
Monte Carlo pricing model. Expected volatility is based on the historic volatility of Mirriad shares over a 4 year period based over
the life of the options. The weighted average fair value of the options granted under the EMI Scheme during the year under this
model was £0.34 per option (2020: £0.14). The weighted average fair value of the options granted under the Unapproved Scheme
during the year under this model was £0.36 per option (2020: £0.09). The principal assumptions underlying the valuation of the
options granted during the year at the date of grant are as follows:
EMI Scheme
Weighted average share price at grant date £0.34 £0.15
Weighted average exercise price at grant date £0.34 £0.15
Expected volatility 152.2% 185.9%
Expected life 6.5 years 6.5 years
Risk-free rate 1.20% 0.65%
Unapproved Scheme – non-performance options
Weighted average share price at grant date £0.36 £0.10
Weighted average exercise price at grant date £0.36 £0.10
Expected volatility 153.0% 185.8%
Expected life 6.5 years 7 years
Risk-free rate 1.21% 0.71%
Lease liabilities
Group Company
2021 2020 2021 2020
£ £ £ £
Notice of the Annual General Meeting of Mirriad Advertising plc (the “Company”) to be held at the offices of Osborne Clarke LLP,
6th Floor, One London Wall, London EC2Y 5EB at 10.00 a.m. on 13 June 2022 is set out in this document.
At the time of writing, there are no UK government restrictions on public gatherings and therefore we are inviting shareholders
to attend the meeting in person. For those shareholders intending to attend in person, please be mindful of any government
guidance in place prior to the meeting. You may be required to wear a mask when entering the building and socially distance
when seated.
We will continue to monitor the Covid-19 related restrictions on public gatherings and the public health guidance issued by
the UK government. We are optimistic shareholders will be able to attend in person, but given the continued uncertainty, there
is a possibility that the government may make changes to their current guidance which could impact this. A decision that
shareholders are unable to attend the Annual General Meeting in person, and any other necessary changes, will only be made
if the Directors believe this is the most reasonable course of action when considering the current UK government guidance
at the time of the Annual General Meeting. Any changes to Annual General Meeting arrangements will be communicated to
shareholders before the meeting through the Company’s website and, where appropriate, by RIS announcement.
Whether or not you propose to attend the Annual General Meeting, please complete and submit a proxy form in accordance
with the instructions printed on the enclosed form. The proxy form must be received not less than 48 hours before the time of
the holding of the Annual General Meeting.
Ordinary business
1. To receive and consider the Directors’ Report, the audited Financial Statements and Independent Auditors’ Report for the year
ended 31 December 2021.
2. To receive and approve the Remuneration Report contained within the report and accounts for the year ended 31 December 2021.
3. To re-appoint PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as auditors of the Company to hold office from the conclusion of this Annual General
Meeting until the conclusion of the next Annual General Meeting of the Company at which accounts are laid before the members
of the Company.
4. To authorise the Directors of the Company (the “Directors”) to fix the remuneration of the auditors.
5. To re-elect Mr. Stephan Beringer as a Director of the Company in accordance with the articles of association of the Company.
6. To re-elect Mr. Alastair Kilgour as a Director of the Company who retires in accordance with the articles of association of
the Company.
Special business
7. That, in substitution for any equivalent authorities and powers granted to the Directors prior to the passing of this resolution,
the Directors be and are hereby generally and unconditionally authorised for the purposes of Section 551 of the Companies
Act 2006 (“Act”) to exercise all the powers of the Company to:
(a) allot shares in the Company and to grant rights to subscribe for or to convert any security into such shares in the
Company (such shares, and rights to subscribe for or to convert any security into shares of the Company being “relevant
securities”) up to an aggregate nominal amount of £930.60 (such amount to be reduced by the nominal amount of any
allotment or grants made under paragraph (b) below that are in excess of £930.60); and further.
(b) allot equity securities of the Company (as defined in Section 560 of the Act) up to an aggregate nominal amount of
£1,861.21 (such amount to be reduced by the nominal amount of any allotment or grants made under paragraph (a)
above) in connection with an offer by way of a rights issue:
(i) in favour of holders of Ordinary Shares in the capital of the Company, where the equity securities respectively
attributable to the interests of all such holders are proportionate (as nearly as practicable) to the respective number
of Ordinary Shares in the capital of the Company held by them; and
(ii) to holders of any other equity securities as required by the rights of those securities or as the Directors otherwise
consider necessary,
but subject to such exclusions or other arrangements as the Directors may deem necessary or expedient in relation to
fractions of such securities, the issue, transfer and/or holding of any securities in certificated form or in uncertificated
form, the use of one or more currencies for making payments in respect of such offer, any such shares or other securities
being represented by depositary receipts, treasury shares or any legal, regulatory or practical problems arising under the
laws of, or the requirements of any regulatory body or any stock exchange in, any territory or any other matter whatsoever,
provided that (i) unless previously revoked, varied or extended, such authorities shall expire on the earlier of the conclusion
of the Company’s next Annual General Meeting and the date falling 15 months after the date of the passing of this resolution,
and (ii) before such expiry the Company may make any offer or agreement which would or might require relevant securities to
be allotted after such expiry and the Directors may allot such relevant securities pursuant to any such offer or agreement as if
the authority conferred by this Resolution 7 had not expired.
Jamie Allen
Company Secretary
20 May 2022
Registered office
6th Floor
One London Wall
London
EC2Y 5EB
Registered in England and Wales No. 09550311
Company information
Registered office
6th Floor
One London Wall
London
EC2Y 5EB
mirriad.com
mirriadplc.com