This is a hard one, at first I thought the EC rem was excessive...

This is a hard one, at first I thought the EC rem was excessive and not needed. However on reflection I just keep coming up with more questions than answers. Firstly researching the role of EC, this from source: http://investors.microfocus.com/corporate-governance/role-of-executive-chairman

Role of Executive Chairman

	Column 1	Column 2	Column 3	Column 4
0	A.	The Executive Chairman is responsible for:
1		1.	Leadership
2			1.1	Leadership of the board, ensuring the board’s effectiveness In all aspects of its role and setting of its agenda;
3			1.2	Leading the company in its relationships with shareholders, financial institutions and commentators;
4			1.3	Networking across current and prospective major customers, and providing contacts or introductions as appropriate.
5			1.4	Effectively positioning the company with customers and partners to facilitate domestic and international expansion.

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According to that summary the EC role is very much involved in "Networking across current and prospective major customers" and " Effectively positioning the company with customers and partners..."

It would appear from the NC email that GR is performing the roles 1.3 & 1.4 in Europe:
7. We haven’t hit Europe for a long time, but yes, Gavin is there as Europe has become a BIG client region for us. He lives a hop skip and a jump away so I sent him to manage costs."
Dated Oct 6 2016 he clearly states that they have not been active in Europe (I assume that means no sales force or other) and it's a BIG client region.

My understanding is that the EC is deeply embedded in all facets of the company and effectively takes final responsibility for the entire performance. I guess what you're saying is that GR is not so active and perhaps you're right. However the one snippet of info we have (no 7) would imply otherwise. He was certainly pretty active in the Spotlight presentation that I saw.

Again I'm playing Devil's Advocate, I really haven't decided yet exactly how to vote. But this is a very important issue, it gets to the heart of the company structure and strategy which will determine it's degree of success. We could really do with some clarification from the executive on what exactly the EC will be doing.