ICAS Council – composition and current members

ICAS Council is composed of a mix of elected and co-opted CA members, non-CA (Public Interest) members and Office Bearers.
Members of Council (except Office Bearers) are elected or appointed for an initial three-year term after which they may be elected or appointed for a second three-year term.
According to ICAS General Regulations, Council must comprise of:
- twelve elected area representative Members
- six elected Members to open seats
- not more than seven co-opted Members
- not less than three Public Interest Members
- the Office Bearers, who shall be Members
The composition of Council is also based on the following ratios:
- at least 80% of ICAS Members
- at least 65% of ICAS Members who have been elected
- at least 10% of Public Interest Members
View profiles of the current members of Council and see who currently represents your Electoral Area and the Open seats.
Electoral Area and Open seat Members
Electoral Area and Open seat members are elected by the ICAS membership. The electoral areas and the number of representatives from each area are set out below. Members may only stand for election to an Electoral Area seat if they live or work in that Electoral Area.
Area | Number of seats |
---|---|
Scotland West | 2 |
Scotland East | 2 |
Scotland North Highland, Moray, Orkney Islands, Eilean Siar, Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Shetland Islands | 2 |
England, Wales and Northern Ireland | 6 |
Co-opted Members
Co-options are made by Council based on the skills, experience and knowledge required to ensure a balanced Council that reflects the employment sectors, geographic location and diversity of ICAS membership.
Public Interest Members (PIMs)
PIMs are independent of ICAS - they are not CAs. Their role is to ensure that ICAS’ public-interest responsibilities are met. They bring an external, independent perspective and challenge to the governance of ICAS, exercising oversight within the regulatory functions to encourage best practice and transparent governance.
PIMs report annually to the ICAS membership and their report is included in the ICAS annual review 2022. They are the only members of Council that receive an honorarium for their services.
Office Bearers
The Office Bearers are appointed annually by Council from the candidates recommended to it by the Presidential Nominations Committee. The Presidential Nominations Committee maintains a list of candidates who it believes meet the list of qualities that have been determined by Council as being those it expects of its Office Bearers. Members of ICAS may also apply for any of the Office Bearer positions when the nominations window opens each year. Members are notified when the nominations open and can submit an application which must be supported by 25 members. The Presidential Nominations Committee assesses all candidates and will invite shortlisted applicants for interview to assess whether they meet the qualities and have capacity to manage the time commitment. The Presidential Nominations Committee then decides on one candidate for each Office Bearer position to recommend to Council for approval. Each appointment must be supported by 75% of Council members before it can be confirmed. The new Office Bearers are announced at the AGM.
The qualities expected of an Office Bearer are:
- Has earned, or is capable of earning, the respect of Council and inspiring confidence in Members and stakeholders to include the public, private and not-for-profit sectors.
- Has a sound understanding of the emerging issues facing Members such as sustainability, diversity, fast moving technology and changes in the regulatory environment.
- Is a demonstrable leader, with management expertise, a role model, a strategic thinker, and a proven ability to promote the culture and values of ICAS.
- Has demonstrable experience in senior-level line management and coaching.
- Committed to equality, diversity and inclusion across the profession.
- Has an unblemished personal and professional reputation.
- Can demonstrate their commitment to ICAS. [Experience of Council membership is preferred but is not essential where an exceptional candidate can demonstrate other forms of engagement with ICAS].
- Is diplomatic, personable and capable of building and maintaining relationships.
- Is able to operate as part of a cohesive team with the other office bearers, standing in for each other if necessary, and recognising that they have complementary skills.
- Is an effective communicator and public speaker and willing to maintain a social media profile and engage in digital space.
- Has capacity and the flexibility to discharge the requirements of the role bearing in mind that the expectations of office bearers, in terms of time commitment, increase with the seniority of the role. For information about time commitment, please follow this link https://www.icas.com/governance/council .
- Has demonstrable crisis management skills and experience where needed, and the ability to respond quickly as the public face of ICAS during the term of office.
The President, Deputy President and a Vice President each hold office for one year from the conclusion of the AGM at which they are elected. The President serves for a one-year term, but the Deputy and Vice Presidents may serve three consecutive one-year terms in either role or a combination of both roles. They work closely together and have regular meetings because it is important that they function as a team because they share responsibilities and provide mutual support. More information about the role of Council and the Office Bearers can be found here.
ICAS Council code of conduct
ICAS is committed to the maintenance of ethical standards and high standards of professional conduct from all its members.
The specific Code of Conduct sets out the standards of behaviour that Council Members are expected to adhere to and includes the Register of Interests. The Code is sent to all Members of ICAS Council on an annual basis.
Office Bearers
Clive Bellingham CA, President
Clive Bellingham CA, retired in 2021 from his role as a Partner at PwC where his leadership roles took him to all parts of the world. As a member of PwC’s Global Board for 8 years, Clive contributed to the governance and oversight of a network that covers more than 150 countries. He chaired the Clients & Markets Committee for 4 years and retains a position on the PwC India Advisory Board.
Clive joined PwC in Glasgow in 1984 after qualifying as a CA with Bird Simpson & Co in Dundee. He has worked for PwC in Scotland, Saudi Arabia and Switzerland, where he has been resident since 1987.
Having benefited from a wide range of influences and experiences during his career, Clive is an advocate of diversity in business. In 2016 he joined the board of Advance, a non-profit association set up by leading Swiss-based companies to increase the representation of women at the executive level.
Clive was elected to Council in 2016 as the Europe seat member and has served on Members Board and the Audit & Risk Committee. Clive served as Vice President 2021/2022.
Alison Cornwell CA - Deputy President
Alison Cornwell is a highly experienced CFO having worked in senior international roles at The Walt Disney Company and then as CFO in three successive PE backed businesses in television broadcasting (Sparrowhawk Media Group), film distribution and production financing (Alliance Films) and most recently in film exhibition (Vue International).
Prior to pursuing a career in business Alison qualified as a CA with C&L Glasgow in 1990 and spent 5 years in PwC’s Corporate Finance practice in London.
Alison has held a number of non-executive positions; She is a former Governor and Audit Committee Chair of the British Film Institute and is currently a non-executive Director of Moonriver TV, producer of the upcoming Disney+ mini series Nautilus.
Alison became ICAS Vice President in 2022 having been an ICAS Council Member since 2018. In September 2022 she cycled 1000 miles in 9 days from Land’s End to John O‘Groats to raise over £25,000 for the ICAS Foundation.
Karen Scholes CA - Vice President
Karen qualified as a CA in 1988 with Whitelaw Wells, Edinburgh. After qualifying Karen returned home to manage Scholes, the accountancy practice started by her late father, she was the sole practitioner in the firm until it was incorporated in 2008. Since incorporation, the firm has seen steady growth, opening an office in Edinburgh in 2018 and most recently Aberdeen in 2022. Karen continues to retain a hands-on approach to management within the firm, working closely with colleagues to ensure the firm delivers the highest standard of professional support to their growing number of clients.
Karen is keen to enhance the engagement ICAS has with its member in practice and until 2020 was the Chair of Members in Practice Advisory Board, along with being a member of Council. Since September 2020 she has served as Convener on the Authorisations Committee and a member of the Regulation Board.
Karen is particularly passionate about supporting the next generation of entrepreneurs and enjoys nurturing young people in business through her work with Young Enterprise Orkney.
Council profiles
England, Wales and Northern Ireland - Electoral Area members
Dr Rimla Akhtar OBE CA
Rimla Akhtar OBE is that rare individual who has lived global business and elite sport. A Guinness World Record Holder who, in 2014, became the first Muslim and Asian woman on the FA Council and in 2021 was awarded an OBE for her contribution to sport, in addition to the MBE received in 2015.
She holds a portfolio of strategic and boardroom roles, including as an Independent Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee of Bettys and Taylors Group, home of our beloved Yorkshire Tea and famous Bettys Tea Rooms, Independent Non-Executive Director of the Rugby Football League, where she is also Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee as well as the Inclusion Board, and a member of ICAS Nominations Committee.
She recently added the role of Board member of Take Her Lead, a charity set up by ex-England cricketer Isa Guha that is focused on improving the experience of women and girls in cricket, and she is also an Advisory Board member of Inclusive Sportswear, a movement that is focused on creating rigorously inclusive sportswear policies.
Rimla has over 20 years’ experience in the sports industry across the UK, Middle East and Asia. She is a developer and strategist, known for her leadership and governance expertise, which led to her being ranked 14th in the 2018 Forbes global list of the Most Powerful Women in Sport. Whilst at the FA, Rimla was elected as Chair of the FA National Game Finance Committee and as a member of the FA National Game Board, overseeing the strategy and finances for the entire National League System and grassroots game.
Whilst carving out a successful career in the city at leading global professional services firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Rimla also captained Britain in Futsal competitions. She is Founder of the leading global sport development consultancy, RimJhim Consulting, and, as Chair of the Muslim Women’s Sport Foundation for 13 years until December 2018, she led the organisation to one with a distinct reputation nationally and internationally for its extensive work in the field of women’s sport, winning a plethora of awards and recognition along the way, including the 2013 Sky Sports and Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year Community Award. She is also founder of the global Muslim Women in Sport Network.
As a unique individual within the sports industry, she now shares her time between writing, speaking, mentoring, practical and strategic consultancy and campaigns. She independently advises and leads projects with governments, advocacy organisations, national and international sports bodies and community groups. Rimla is a sought-after speaker and commentator who communicates with quiet humility, practicality and passion.
Samantha Frost CA
SAMANTHA FROST CA
Samantha provides consultancy services on corporate wellbeing, leveraging over 20 years’ experience in audit and risk management. She works with companies of varying sizes, across diverse industries and geographical locations.
Samantha has lived and worked in Australia for 15 years and relocated with her husband and children back to the UK at the end of 2018. Since then, her work has increasingly focussed on helping organisations to enhance their understanding of what wellbeing should ‘look like’ and ‘how to get it right’.
Samantha is passionate about mental health. She sits as a school trustee, and is a mentor at Exeter University for current and recent graduates. She is also a mentor on the ICAS mentoring platform. These roles stem from a deep desire to have a good understanding of the issues facing the next generation, so we can best equip them to realise their full potential. Samantha has supplemented this personal interest by becoming an accredited adult and youth mental health first aider.
This underpins why Samantha has been so interested in following the work ICAS is doing in the wellbeing space. She believes there is a wonderful opportunity for ICAS to be a thought-leader and she is hugely excited to have the opportunity to help make that happen.
Samantha also sits on ICAS Members Board, the Presidential Nominations Committee, and the Constitution Panel.
Jason Harvie CA
After having studied mathematics at the University of St Andrews, Jason qualified as a CA in 2012 with energy investment bank Simmons & Company. After building up experience across a broad range of corporate transactions, he subsequently joined the then Aberdeen Asset Management (now abrdn) focused specifically on direct private equity co-investments.
In his current role Jason is an Investment Director at Penta Capital, a UK based private equity investor.
Jason is currently Chair of the ICAS London Area Network.
Michael Kay CA
Michael qualified with Arthur Andersen in Edinburgh, with secondments to London and Melbourne. He joined a sales promotion plc in London, before he and fellow directors established their own below-the-line agency backed by 3i.
The majority of his career was then spent in financial services, with senior regional and global finance and operational roles in Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and HSBC. Michael subsequently moved to the public sector with NHS Digital, leading the Commercial function through a period of significant transformation.
He is currently a senior Commercial Advisor to the Council of Health Insurance of Saudi Arabia.
Brought up in Ayr, Michael is a keen Burns enthusiast, winning the “Tam o’Shanter World Championship” in 2018. He is also an Honorary Steward at the Wimbledon Championships.
Suzy Kerton CA
Suzy qualified as a CA with Baker Tilly in 2012 and completed a secondment to the Buenos Aires office in Argentina shortly after qualifying. She became CFO of a cloud accounting software company at just 26 years of age which set her in good stead when starting her own cloud-based accountancy practice.
After a brief spell as Financial Accountant at the Cabinet Office, she embarked on a Full-Time MBA at Imperial College Business School. It was during the MBA that Suzy co founded Zyla Accountants, an accountancy practice offering a full range of accountancy services to start ups and small businesses from year-end accounts and VAT returns to R&D tax credits and SEIS compliance. She has built Zyla to a fully remote team of 9 with over 100 clients. During Covid Suzy found herself temporarily relocated to the Middle East and in March 2021 she opened Zyla Accountants Dubai growing a client portfolio of Dubai startups and SMEs. Suzy is passionate about helping businesses understand their finances and making their accounting processes easy and efficient using new technologies.
Suzy is also Chair of the Members in Practice Advisory Board. Beyond Accountant Life Suzy plays basketball and tennis, she speaks Spanish and Portuguese and is learning Arabic since spending time in the UAE...it goes without saying that she loves to travel and experience new cultures!
Jonathan Mills CA
Jonathan is an Assistant Director at Deloitte and serves a range of global clients, in particular international financial institutions. He graduated in Economics from Durham University in 2014 and qualified as a CA in 2017. He now sits in the Deloitte Equity Capital Markets practice, supporting clients preparing for and undergoing initial public offerings (IPOs) in various industries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Jonathan has held various non-executive roles including as a voluntary financial adviser to the Board of Trustees of a charity and to a start-up technology business. A passionate supporter of ICAS, Jonathan has been a member of the London Area Network since 2019 and served on the ICAS Young Leaders Network from 2017-2019.
Scotland North - Electoral Area members
Emily Kennedy CA

Emily Kennedy, CA is an Associate Director at KPMG within their Consulting department – DealConnect. DealConnect work with mid-market privately owned and Private Equity backed businesses to develop and execute their value creation and value protection plans. Emily brings together and leads multi-disciplinary teams from our Deal Advisory and Consulting practises to help clients solve problems and capitalise on opportunities. Experienced in identifying pragmatic business solutions, understanding markets and positioning companies, and growing businesses. Emily focuses on the ENR sector.
Emily also has experience in financial due diligence, vendor diligence, and strategic support on several high-profile transactions across the UK. Emily has been involved in deals across a wide range of sectors including oil & gas, food & drink, retail, healthcare, leisure and insurance.
Furthermore, Emily is the Chair of the KPMG Neurodiversity Network.
Emily has taken an active interest in ICAS, and is the Chair of the ICAS Grampian Area committee.
Emily graduated from the University of Aberdeen in 2014 with a first-class honour’s degree in Accountancy and Finance. Upon graduating, Emily joined AAB LLP in Aberdeen where she completed her CA training, qualifying in 2017. During her training contract, Emily managed a diverse client base having gained experience in Audit and Tax from small owner-managed businesses to large corporates..
Gavin MacKenzie
Gavin MacKenzie has considerable experience as a commercial CFO and director across several sectors with particular exposure to complex family businesses and their governance. He has a joint degree in Accountancy & Computer Science from Heriot-Watt and qualified with EY. He then moved internally to corporate recovery, gaining experience of a wide range of businesses. After a period of working in a legal firm he moved to a diverse London based group with interests in property development & investment, leisure operations and international investments.
In 2001, as FD, he led a buy-out of the Scottish cinema, restaurant and leisure businesses and remains involved to date. In 2012 he took on the CFO role at the Meallmore Group, Scotland’s largest independent care home operator and has been a key part of the growth story of that business.
Gavin has held several non-executive and advisory roles the including a UK and Ireland wide Digital Funding Partnership, a pension fund, a college, a software company and various charities. Current roles include membership of the audit committee and Scotland board of the Home Group (a housing association responsible for 55,000 homes) and a Family Office.
He has been involved with ICAS committees for over 20 years, having served on the Highland area committee (including as chair), members in business committee, technical policy board, member engagement board and ICAS council (2008-2014). Currently he is acting chair of the Highland area network.
Outside of work Gavin enjoys rugby, cycling, skiing and hill walking, for the last ten years he has led a week long activity and leadership course in the Cairngorms for 60+ young adults as part of Rotary’s RYLA programme and volunteers supporting vulnerable people in the late-night economy.
Scotland East - Electoral Area members
Margaret Bunyan CA
Margaret is an Associate Director at Drummond Laurie Chartered Accountants.
Margaret is responsible for a diverse portfolio of clients, predominately OMBs within the SME market; although specialises in advising clients within the agricultural sector.
As part of the Senior Management team she is involved in making key decisions within the practice. She is also the company’s ICAS Counselling Member and one of their Money Laundering Officers. She is a great ambassador for the firm.
Qualified in 2009 she has had a successful career to date in practice.
Margaret is a hardworking, driven individual who is passionate about her work. She is always willing to take on new challenges. She is the Treasurer for an agricultural show and has been for many years. She has held the Scotland East Electoral area seat since 2020 and is part of the ATO focus groups within ICAS.
Niall McCallum
Niall qualified as a CA with KPMG in 1999, having read Accountancy & Finance at Heriot Watt University. Following seven years in Corporate Finance with KPMG, in 2006 Niall joined the private equity team at a major bank which was subsequently spun out with investments across a range of sectors where he was an investment director. In 2013 Niall joined Capita plc as finance director of a large JV and then as divisional finance director of its high growth commercial division. Niall joined Element Materials Technology in 2017, a global testing business, as Group Finance Director and laterly as interim CFO. In 2020, Niall was appointed CFO at BrewDog PLC, leading the transformation of its finance / IT operations as the global brewer and bar operator continues to scale.
Scotland West - Electoral Area members
Bernard Dunn CA
Bernard Dunn CA is client director and Head of Office for T L Dallas in Glasgow and provides insurance and risk management advice to a wide network of corporate clients, including owner-managed, family and VC-backed companies. He also leads T L Dallas’s insurance due-diligence service in the UK.
He has advised family businesses for over 30 years on their risk and insurance programmes, and indeed T L Dallas Group was founded in 1919, and is now in its 4th generation, as one of the UK's leading independent insurance brokers.
Outwith the “day job”, and family, Bernard’s other interests include: Former chair, and current area committee member of ICAS, Chair of trustees of the Ethiopia Medical Project charity, and Volunteer on hospital radio for Hospital Broadcasting Service Glasgow (HBS).
Dalvir Singh Johal CA
Originally from London, Dalvir graduated with a 2:1 degree in Accountancy from the University of Dundee in 2002. He then went on to complete a master’s degree in Management, Economics and International Relations from the University of St. Andrews.
Dalvir commenced his chartered accountancy qualification in Glasgow at PwC within Audit and Assurance. Following qualification as a CA, he then joined the Financial Accounting & Advisory Services team at EY. During this time, he also undertook two client secondments that included finance operational support through the carve-out of TSB Retail Bank from Lloyds Banking Group; and then managing the statutory reporting process for the Upstream Division of Centrica. In 2013 Dalvir joined Johal & Co, his long-established London based family-run practice as a Director and also took on a number of consultancy roles. He then went on to successfully establish an office in Glasgow for Johal & Co. In 2020 the opportunity arose to merge the Glasgow office of Johal & Co with Ballantyne & Co, a Glasgow city centre practice that was originally established in 1967. Dalvir now leads Ballantyne & Co, working closely with clients across wide-ranging industry sectors to provide proactive accounting, audit, tax and advisory services. Furthermore, he currently sits on the Members in Practice Advisory Board at ICAS.
Outside of work, Dalvir has been a trustee of Impact Funding Partners since 2017, a charity fund manager that works with the public sector, private companies, and individual donors to create social, environmental and economic impact across Scotland. For over 38 years, Impact Funding Partners has managed 55 funds and invested £160m across 32 local authorities. Dalvir is married and a father of 2 young children. When not working, he enjoys spending time with his family and playing golf whenever possible.
Open seat members
Lyndsay Browne CA
Lyndsay was appointed to the Capita plc Board in 2019 as an Employee Non-Executive Director, following a highly competitive process to bring increased diversity to the Board and amplify the voice of the company’s 55,000 employees in decision making. Also serving on the Remuneration Committee and attending the Audit and Risk Committee, she has directly influenced strategic decisions, entity level risk management, corporate purpose and balancing the needs and interests of multiple stakeholders.
After qualifying as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG in Glasgow in 1996, Lyndsay spent 3 years with KPMG in Bermuda working in the insurance and reinsurance sector. She returned to the U.K. in 1999 and has held senior Finance roles in Airtours and Capita plc, based in the North-West of England. She has considerable experience delivering complex transformation, M&A, financial control assessment and improvement and client partnering.
An advocate for Board diversity, Lyndsay was invited to address the All-Parliamentary Group on Corporate Governance in the House of Lords in 2020 and was interviewed by the FRC to inform their S172 guidance.
With two grown up children, Lyndsay enjoys family holidays, long walks with the dog and is proud to have completed a Snowdon midnight challenge for The Alzheimers Society.
David Cruickshank CA
David developed his career with Deloitte serving mostly international corporate clients. He started in his firm’s Edinburgh office in 1979 after graduating from the University of Edinburgh. He qualified with ICAS in 1982 when he moved to the firm’s London office and became a partner in 1988. He led the Tax practice from 1998 – 2006 and was then elected as UK Chair between 2007 – 2015 and the Global Chair from 2015 – 2019. He retired from the firm in the summer of 2020 and now Chairs the Boards of Jupiter Fund Management Plc and McInroy & Wood Ltd.
David is also the Chair of the Trustees of Education & Employers, a charity providing opportunities for thousands of school students every year to see and experience different jobs and roles. In the US, he is Chair of the Board of Directors of the Social Progress Imperative, a not for profit which produces the country by country Social Progress Index. He also serves as a trustee of the ICAS Foundation.
Annie Graham CA
Annie started at EY in Glasgow as a summer intern in 1997, joining the firm a year later and qualifying as a chartered accountant with ICAS in 2002. She became the youngest EY partner in 2008 and was named ‘Accountant of the Year’ in the Scottish Accountancy Awards. A year later, Accountancy Age featured her as one of its rising stars and was placed in top spot by Accountancy Age Women in Finance 2019.
As an Audit Partner in Scotland, Annie has a real passion for what she does in helping clients achieve their goals. She is well-versed in dealing with challenges that accompany both FTSE100 business and fast-growth companies. In addition to her audit partner role, Annie is COO for EY’s UK&I Audit business.
Annie was a member of Sir Donald Brydon’s review committee considering how the audit process and product could be developed to better serve the needs of users and the wider public interest. She joined the ICAS council in 2016.
In her spare time Annie is mum to three little kids – and that is a handful for anyone!
Jonny Jacobs CA
Jonny is a purpose lead business leader and has been a Finance Director at Starbucks since 2020, where his role covers the diverse markets across the EMEA region. In addition to his core role, Jonny's passion for people development, diversity & inclusion and sustainability, results in him leading other areas such as being the EMEA wide Sponsor of Starbucks' Wellbeing Blend Network, an employee resource group.
Prior to Starbucks, Jonny was Head of Food Finance at M&S Foods, and before that he spent eight years at international snacking brand, pladis, with most recent roles including Strategy & Transformation Director and interim CFO for North America. He has a wealth of experience across commercial, operational and group roles where he has delivered significant value driving change and transformation programmes. He trained with KPMG and qualified as a CA in 2006.
His passion to drive broad positive societal change is championed through his many roles across non-exec platforms including a Trustee of the Mental Health Foundation, Non Exec of Mental Health at Work, One Young World Ambassador, Goalkeeper of the Bill & Malinda Gates Foundation, and One Young Chartered Accountant of the Year 2017. In 2022/23 he received a number of industry leading awards for his role as a senior leader driving positive change.
Louise Page CA
Louise trained and worked in practice for 9 years, training in a small firm which gave her exposure and experience in a wide range of activities and providing broad base of experience to her early on in my career. After practice, Louise moved to financial services where she gained experience in private equity, asset management, fund finance, governance, global operations, and marketing operations in small organisations as well as large global organisations.
After 15 years in financial services Louise chose to move to the not for profit sector and became Chief Financial Officer and Director of Corporate Services for the National Trust for Scotland, a Charity registered in Scotland ensuring the organisation was financially secure through the pandemic. She then became CFO of Aberdein Considine, a legal and financial services firm, from for 2 years and has just returned to Financial Services as CFO and Compliance Officer for a small private equity firm.
.
Jim Robertson B.Acc CA CTA FCMA
Jim is currently a member of the ICAS Qualifications Board and Devolved Taxes Committee. He was the inaugural chair of the ICAS Equality Diversity & Inclusion Committee and of the Scottish Tax Policy Forum, a joint venture between ICAS and the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT). He chairs the academic board of the Advanced Diploma in International Tax of CIOT and is a member of its Climate Change and Diversity & Inclusion groups. He is a non-executive director in the Scottish Government, Chair of the Government's Audit & Assurance Committee and member of its Global Climate Emergency Programme Board, Exchequer Board, People & Place Board and Information Governance Board.
Internationally, Jim is a Senior Fellow of the International Tax & Investment Center, an education foundation based in Washington DC. In that role he delivers capacity-building programs to tax officials in developing countries together with the IMF, World Bank, OECD and UN. He is a member of the UN Subcommittee on Extractive Industries Taxation Issues for Developing Countries, the UN Subcommittee on Environmental Taxation, the OECD Policy Dialogue on Natural Resource-Based Development and the advisory board of Crystol Energy. He is a ‘he for she’ partner of the G100 Group of 100 Global Women Leaders.
Historically, Jim qualified with PwC in 1981 and joined Shell the same year. He had nine different tax and finance roles in Shell and lived in London, The Hague, Kuala Lumpur, Aberdeen and Houston. He was a founder member of Shell’s Finance Social Investment Network which connected staff to voluntary organizations in need of finance skills and experience, personally acting as mentor/coach to the owner of a cooking stoves business in Ethiopia. In Shell Finance he had global responsibility for promoting professional qualifications and for communications on diversity & inclusion. He was global head of oil & gas tax in Shell for 11 years.
Co-opted members
Elizabeth Gammie CA
Elizabeth Gammie is a Professor of Accounting at the Robert Gordon University where she is Dean of the Aberdeen Business School. Under her leadership the School achieved AACSB accreditation and was named as the Times Higher Education 2020 Business School of the Year.
Elizabeth trained with Ernst and Whinney in the Aberdeen office and specialised in tax on qualification. She subsequently moved into academia and now has over 25 years’ experience in the Higher Education sector. Over the years she has developed her career by undertaking a part-time PhD, developing a very successful Accounting and Finance under-graduate degree, building a research portfolio, heading up the Department of Accounting and Finance and from 2016 taking on the role as Dean of School.
Her research interests have focused on gender issues within the profession and professional accounting education and she has undertaken various funded research projects for bodies such as ICAS, CIMA, ACCA and IAAER.
Elizabeth has been involved with many ICAS Boards and Committees, including various stints on the local Area Committee chairing this committee from 2017 to 2022, she previously sat on the TPE Exam Board, the Technical Policy Board, the Audit Committee, Members Board and Council. Elizabeth is also chair of the Qualification Board and a member of the Oversight Board . Elizabeth served as a member on the International Accounting Education Standards Board for nearly 6 years and during this time was involved with many Task Forces including chairing the IES1 Implementation Taskforce.
Elizabeth is currently a Trustee of the ICAS Foundation, a Trustee of the RDA Aberdeen group, a Governor of St Margaret’s School for Girls, and has chaired the TPE Examination Board since 2021.She was named as 2020 Business and Public Sector Woman of the year in the Women in Accounting and Finance Awards.
Robert Grome CA
Robert was a Financial Services Partner with PwC Hong Kong for 22 years, including nearly 4 years in Singapore, where he now resides. Robert led the Firm’s Asset Management practice in Asia Pacific and dealt extensively with Private Equity and Hedge funds as well as the more traditional large Fund Managers. He sat on PwC’s Global Leadership Team for the Asset Management Industry for nearly 18 years.
Since retiring from PwC in the summer of 2014 Robert has taken on various consulting and fiduciary roles mostly related to the Asset Management industry. He serves on the Boards of two US$3 billion- dollar Hedge Funds managed out of Hong Kong and in addition a EUR4 billion Global Private Equity Fund managed in Singapore.
Robert’s interests outside of work include travel, the education of his three young children (one of whom is autistic) and sports. Combining his love of football and travel, Robert has attended the last 10 FIFA World Cup tournaments. In addition, he is an avid reader of newspapers and books on history, economics and geo-political matters.
Graham Marjoribanks CA
Graham is the Head of Audit at Johnston Carmichael, his primary responsibility is to ensure quality audits are delivered consistently. Graham leads a practice of over 200 people and oversees numerous initiatives including implementation of International Standard on Quality Management (UK) 1. He has been actively involved in the FRC’s firmwide and engagement specific reviews at Johnston Carmichael and is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the findings of those reviews.
Prior to joining Johnston Carmichael, Graham was a Partner with BDO Canada LLP where he was the Assurance & Accounting Service Line Leader for Western Canada then the Greater Toronto Area.
In addition to assurance, Graham has extensive experience with financial reporting and was the National Head of Accounting Advisory for BDO Canada.
Graham also has significant not-for-profit board experience. He was the Chair of the Westside Regional Recreation Society and a director for the Alberta Scottish Business Association.
Graham has over 20 years’ experience in Audit and Financial Services, having worked in a variety of roles across the UK and Canada, including within Big 4 firms and investment banking. He oversaw BDO’s Assurance and Accounting practice for Greater Toronto Area (55 partners across 5 office locations) .Graham is also a Board member, contributing to Firm strategy, with particular focus on growth, efficiency and quality.
Tracey Rob Perera CA
Tracey is currently running a portfolio career focusing on NED, start up Board Advisory, pre-seed start-up Investor readiness, Business strategy and operations mentoring and Founder coaching.
Tracey has an extensive Audit background, 10 years leading audits as part of KPMG London in various sectors from scaleups to Aim to FTSE 100. She also led the Global FS Audit strategy for 5 years working on audit quality, regulation, audit rotation and lead partner succession planning.
Her career has always had a risk and regulatory focus as she led strategy and transformation programmes for KPMG as a former Director. One of the longer programmes she led for the UK firm was the UK Brexit readiness programme and plans were used for Covid lockdown allowing all 17000 to work from home simultaneously. Tracey has been Chair of the ICAS EDI committee since 2020.
Previously, Tracey was operating at C-suite level and led on strategy, growth and transformation programmes as well as implementing “Equality, Diversity and Inclusion” (ED&I) best practice in businesses of all sizes and sectors. Tracey had a particular focus in the Tech sector. As the Tech Talent Charter Ambassador and Thought leader, she led ED&I teams of senior business leaders and experts from various sectors and sizes of business to develop thinking and co-create valuable and practical ED&I Business Roadmaps.
Tracey is a Board Advisor member to a number of Tech startups from different sectors. Tracey is the strategic Board Advisor for the Global Tech Advocate Future of Work and a business advisor to Institute of productivity. She is also a member of the Board of Governors for a London secondary school and a member of the London Mayor’s Enterprise Advisor Network. Tracey is passionate about bridging the gap between education and entrepreneurship and advises, coaches and mentors young people and leaders in the education sector
Tracey is an experienced Strategic Transformation Director. She has successfully led commercial, regulatory and political change programmes for C-suite. Tracey has extensive UK, European and Global experience working within many industry sectors leading on business operations, finance, strategy, business development, people, risk, regulatory and crisis management.
Tracey qualified as a CA in 2001 and trained with KPMG in London where she spent a decade leading Audits of various corporate sectors from scale-ups right up to FTSE 100 companies whilst also doing transaction service projects. Tracey has served two tenures on the ICAS England and Wales Committee. In 2019, she was invited to be a fellow of the Chartered Management Institute.
Public interest members profiles
Bruce Beveridge
A qualified solicitor Bruce is an experienced general counsel, senior executive and ceo, and non-executive director and board chair. His wide-ranging career across the public, private and third sectors has included a number of roles within government, regulation, sme and global businesses and professional membership bodies. He has almost a decade of previous experience serving within ICAS’ regulatory structure.
Colin McClatchie CBE FRSE
Colin is Chairman of Prescient, his mentoring company and a member of the Global Irish Network. In 2022, Colin was appointed Lead Public Interest Member
Colin worked in the newspaper industry for more than 40 years with Thomson Regional and Mirror Group Newspapers and latterly as Managing Director (Scotland and Ireland) News International Newspapers Limited. He has been a Non-Executive Director of Scottish Enterprise, Dunfermline Press Group, Beattie Media, The Kemsley Agency and was Chairman of Scottish Opera (7 years), St Columba’s School Kilmacolm, Glasgow UNESCO City of Music and the Institute of Directors Scotland.
He is a Life-Vice President of the Newspaper Press Fund and a former Chairman of Saints and Sinners.
Ana Stewart
After graduating in 1991 Ana founded i-design, a consultancy aimed at servicing the emerging digital creative industry. The business grew over the next decade into a global innovator in self-service software-based solutions for financial institutions including Barclays and RBS. In 2004, she launched a second business atmAd, an aggregated ATM-based digital media channel enabling advertisers to reach consumers with targeted offers across retail locations including Tesco, ASDA and Sainsbury's.
As CEO, she led the AIM listing of the company on the London Stock Exchange in 2007. Over the next five years, the organisation expanded into Europe and North America with its software delivering over 1.6 billion transactions per annum. In 2013, she sold i-design to NASDAQ listed Cardtronics, the world's largest ATM services provider, joining their executive leadership team before leaving the organisation last year.
Ana recently joined the Board of the Scottish FA as an independent non-executive director, becoming the first female board member in the organisation's 144-year history.
Dame Lin Homer
Lin is a Public Interest Member of ICAS.
She is a qualified lawyer and has had a distinguished career as a leader of large, complex operational and political organisations in local and central government, including Suffolk County Council, Birmingham City Council, the Home Office, the Department for Transport and latterly, until 2016, as Chief Executive and First Permanent Secretary at HMRC.
Lin is also a Trustee of the Centre for Ageing Better. Lin is also a non-executive board member of Nuffield Health, Harwich Haven Authority and Community Action Suffolk. A board member of The Stefanou Foundation and a member of the University of Birmingham Council.