Three years have passed since James Spenceley was put forward for the board of the National Australia Bank. It would have been a surprising level-up for the co-founder of telco Vocus. He then sat on four listed boards and had decidedly off-beat credentials for the blue-chip banker.

It took NAB getting some “investor feedback” that queried his applicability for the nomination to be withdrawn. But the episode clearly bruised him. He later used the media and a LinkedIn treatise to hit out at proxy houses for presumably scuttling his bid.