Key takeaways from the IR Society’s Best Practice in Practice course 2026

Read time: 7-9 mins

In today’s reporting landscape, clarity is becoming equally important as compliance – annual reporting is no longer a tick-box exercise.

As annual reports continue to expand in scope, companies face the challenge of balancing increasing disclosure requirements with the need to communicate a clear and compelling investment story. New sustainability standards, evolving stakeholder expectations and the growing influence of AI are transforming the way information is consumed, placing greater emphasis on accessibility, consistency and relevance.

These themes were at the centre of the IR Society’s 2026 Best Practice in Practice course that our Research Analyst, Robyn, attended. Words such as ‘challenging’, ‘complex’ and ‘exciting’ were thrown around the room, providing a glimpse into the reporting world’s mindset. Despite the breadth of topics discussed, one message remained consistent throughout the day – the most effective reports connect strategy to value creation and communicate it clearly.

From integrated sustainability reporting and stronger strategic narratives to AI-friendly content and enhanced digital experiences, the course highlighted how annual reports are evolving beyond compliance documents to become powerful communication tools. In this article, we explore some of the key themes and practical insights that emerged from the discussions.

Investors still want the basics done well

When you’re deep in the corporate reporting process, it’s easy to get caught up in the complexities and lose sight of the fundamentals. The annual report remains a crucial part of the investment case and, despite the ever-growing list of reporting requirements, investors are still focused on many of the same things – leadership messaging, strategy, remuneration, financial strength, risk and long-term performance. It’s all well and good having every disclosure requirement covered, but if investors can’t quickly understand who you are, what you do and where you’re heading, then something has gone wrong. Investors want a clear investment story, evidence of progress and confidence that the business can create value over the long term.

Format matters, as well as content. While digital-first reporting is now expected, downloadable and searchable PDFs remain the preferred format for many users. This means strong navigation, clear signposting and a logical structure are more important than ever. Something as simple as titling your markets section ‘Our markets’ can make a significant difference to the user experience as it can easily be picked up when searching.

As reporting requirements grow, the companies that stand out are those that communicate a clear investment case and prioritise usability.

The rise of the ‘Golden Thread’

A term that was revisited throughout the day was the ‘Golden Thread’ – the clear connection between a company’s purpose, strategy, business model, governance and sustainability. Rather than treating these as separate reporting requirements, leading companies are increasingly bringing them together to help investors understand how the business creates value.

Too often, annual reports can feel like a collection of standalone sections written in isolation. While each section may satisfy individual reporting requirements, the overall narrative can become fragmented, making it harder for investors to understand how the business operates and creates value.

Several strong examples of this approach were shown in practice. Endeavour Mining demonstrated how value creation, strategic priorities and competitive advantage can be linked throughout the report, providing a clear narrative for investors. Workspace Group was also highlighted for embedding sustainability across the report rather than housing it within a dedicated section. This was particularly relevant given the wider discussion around integrated reporting, with sustainability increasingly presented as part of business strategy rather than a standalone topic.

This is consistent with the approach Lyonsbennett takes with our clients. Rather than simply refreshing a report each year, we look for opportunities to rethink the narrative and structure, so it better reflects the company’s strategy and tells a stronger story. One example is our work with Care REIT, where we restructured the report around the company’s purpose instead of following a more conventional reporting format, moving less material regulated content into the appendix. The result was a clearer, more engaging report that went on to receive several industry awards before the company delisted in 2025, creating a more cohesive narrative and making it easier for investors to understand how the business fits together.

This demonstrates what can be achieved through close collaboration and a willingness to challenge convention, ensuring our clients’ reports continue to evolve, better tell their story and reflect emerging best practice each year.

Simplifying complexity through better storytelling

Another key theme throughout the day was simplifying complexity. Reporting requirements may continue to expand, but that doesn’t mean annual reports have to become increasingly lengthy and complicated.

Investors increasingly seek specific information rather than reading reports from cover to cover, making concise messaging and intuitive navigation more important than ever.

Several speakers highlighted the growing use of visual storytelling, data-rich dashboards and modular reporting suites. Rather than presenting pages of dense narrative, these approaches help break information down into more accessible and engaging formats.

There was also a strong focus on materiality. Just because something can be reported doesn’t necessarily mean it should be. The most effective reports are built around the issues that matter most to your business and stakeholders. By focusing on these priorities and communicating them clearly, companies can avoid overwhelming readers with unnecessary detail and report on the information that matters most.

Sustainability is becoming more integrated

Sustainability featured heavily throughout the day, with a key focus on how sustainability is reported and where it sits within the wider corporate narrative.

Investors increasingly assess sustainability alongside financial performance, strategy and risk. In response, many companies are embedding sustainability throughout their reporting rather than treating it as a standalone topic.

This shift could also be seen in discussions around governance, where sustainability is appearing more frequently as part of board oversight, decision-making and risk management. Reporting is increasingly expected to demonstrate how sustainability influences decision-making, operations and long-term value creation.

Unsurprisingly, UK SRS was another key topic. Many companies are already taking steps to prepare ahead of implementation, recognising the opportunity to demonstrate leadership, credibility and provide investors with greater confidence in their approach.

Keep an eye out for Lyonsbennett’s next virtual event on UK SRS preparation once the final standards are out in Autumn.

Lessons from SSE’s award-winning reporting journey

An insightful session from SSE shared the thinking behind its award-winning annual report, with several themes reinforcing trends we are seeing across the reporting landscape.

One key lesson was the importance of starting with a clear blueprint. Establishing guiding principles early helps shape decision-making throughout the reporting process, ensuring the final report remains focused, strategic and transparent.

The session also highlighted the value of simplifying the story. With six business units and a complex operating model, SSE refined its narrative to focus on the business holistically before exploring the detail, making it easier for investors to understand where value is created. One example that stood out was the company’s 12-page disclosure digest. Acting as a central reference point, it directs readers to relevant disclosures through cross-references, improving navigation while retaining comprehensive reporting.

A wider theme throughout the discussion was streamlining. While reporting requirements continue to grow, companies are finding ways to reduce duplication, improve navigation and create more focused reports. This is a trend we’ve seen across almost every client benchmark this year, with many organisations looking to present a clearer, more concise story. It’s also something we’ve successfully helped clients achieve in practice, including reducing THG’s annual report 2025 by 36 pages and McBride’s annual report 2024 by 40 pages – demonstrating that a shorter report doesn’t have to mean less meaningful reporting.

Reporting for both humans and AI

The final session of the day focused on AI – an increasingly difficult topic to ignore. As AI continues to change the way information is discovered and consumed, annual reports are being accessed in different ways. AI tools are now summarising, interpreting and surfacing corporate information, creating new considerations for reporting teams.

One of the discussions centred around discoverability. If companies want their key messages to be interpreted accurately, content must be structured clearly and consistently. Clear headings, logical page structures and schema mark-ups all play an important role in helping information surface more effectively for screen reader users, and they also improve understanding for AI readers. We explored these themes in our recent Bridging the communication gap thought piece.

The session also highlighted the growing importance of HTML content. While accessible PDFs remain valuable, HTML is generally easier for AI tools to crawl and interpret. As our thought piece explored, PDFs continue to have an important role as a trusted, point-in-time source of truth, but companies should also consider how digital-first content can improve accessibility and AI discoverability.

Another interesting point was that annual reports should not be viewed in isolation. Websites, social media channels, RNS announcements and other digital communications all contribute to a company’s digital presence and help reinforce key messages. As one speaker noted, the annual report can often be the starting point for a wider communications campaign.

While the role of AI in reporting continues to evolve, companies should consider how their content is interpreted across both AI-driven and traditional channels.

Conclusion

The annual report continues to evolve, but its core purpose remains helping stakeholders understand the business, its strategy and its prospects for long-term value creation.

Whether through integrated sustainability reporting, stronger strategic storytelling or AI-ready content, the companies leading the way are finding new ways to make increasingly complex information more useful and accessible. Organisations that prioritise clarity, consistency and usability will be best placed to stand out.

If you would like further guidance, contact research@lyonsbennett.com to discuss, and stay tuned for our regular roster of events which we’ll be inviting our contacts to join.