How Apex Group cut board pack production time by up to 60% with Board Intelligence

At a glance

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Oliver Norman - Head of Corporate Product Innovation, Capital Markets, Apex Group

The challenge

Manual processes that couldn't keep pace with growth

Apex Group’s corporate solutions business handles tens of thousands of board meetings every year. Before partnering with Board Intelligence, every part of that process, from tracking notice periods and quorum requirements to collecting documents and distributing board packs, was done manually.

Board packs were assembled by reformatting documents from multiple sources, compiling them into PDFs, and distributing them by email. When updates arrived late, the pack had to be rebuilt and resent, creating multiple versions in circulation. It was a time-consuming process that pulled company secretarial teams away from the higher value work their clients needed from them.

As Apex Group grew - both organically and through acquisition - the process became unsustainable. Different teams in different jurisdictions were using different processes and different technologies, making it near-impossible to deliver a consistent service globally.

The approach

One platform, one service standard, across every jurisdiction

Today, company secretaries across Apex Group's corporate solutions operation use Board Intelligence's board portal daily to collect documents, build board packs, and host board meetings for the clients they support and for Apex Group's own internal entities.

Rather than reformatting documents from multiple sources and building PDFs by hand, company secretaries now drag and drop materials into the platform and generate board packs in a few clicks. When a document is updated, it is replaced in the portal instantly with no need to rebuild and resend. Every director always has access to the latest version.

With a single platform in place across every jurisdiction, Apex Group's teams now work in the same way, wherever they are. Onboarding new staff is straightforward, and directors who sit on multiple boards across multiple jurisdictions can rely on a consistent, professional experience every time.

Impact

Up to 60% faster to produce a board pack

Today, Board Intelligence supports 540 Apex Group clients across 20+ countries, with more than 3,000 users on the platform. The time savings have been substantial. Across Apex Group's jurisdictions, board pack production is now 40–60% more efficient than before.

As Apex Group has won new clients and expanded through acquisition, company secretarial teams have been able to take on more board meetings without a corresponding increase in headcount.

Service level agreement performance has improved, and clients receive their board packs sooner. External directors can access packs, make annotations, and review historical meeting materials directly through the platform. As Predrag Maletic, Global Head of Product and Operations – Corporate Solutions, said:

As a close partner, Apex Group works directly with Board Intelligence to shape the development of the platform and gain early access to its latest innovations. One example is Board Intelligence's Minute Writer tool, currently being trialled by Apex Group. Early results suggest a 30% reduction in the time taken to produce a first draft of board minutes — a significant saving given the process previously consumed four to five hours after a standard meeting.

The relationship goes beyond technology.

“The turnaround is incredibly quick,” says Oliver. “Whenever any question is asked or issue is experienced, we have responses almost immediately. And Board Intelligence's support team listen to the feedback and implement it very quickly as well. This is the aspect of Board Intelligence that I'm most happy with.”

It's a partnership that Apex Group has been able to shape directly — feeding back on product development and seeing those suggestions implemented.

Oliver adds.

Board Intelligence also forms part of Apex Group's proposition to new clients. In a market where clients expect faster turnaround, higher quality, and lower costs, the bar is high. Being able to present Board Intelligence as part of its global technology stack helps Apex Group demonstrate it can deliver to the standard its clients expect, at scale.

Why this matters

Board Intelligence's Board Value Index found that board reporting costs the average company £2.4m a year, yet only 38% of directors describe their board processes as “very efficient.” For fund administrators and corporate service providers managing governance at scale, that gap between cost and performance is a commercial liability. Technology that removes the administrative burden doesn't just improve efficiency; it protects the business and frees teams to focus on the work that drives real value for clients.