Our Trustees

Norman is a Chartered Accountant and a ICAS Past President. He previously served on the ICAS Research Committee and was chair of the ICAS Ethics Board until 2020.  He was Chairman of premium international spirits company The Edrington Group, as well as Chairman of FTSE 100 companies Petrofac Limited and Cairn Energy plc. Norman is a graduate of both Heriot-Watt University, where he was an Honorary Professor, and of the Harvard Business School, and was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2015.

Norman is also a trustee of the Air Cadet Charity which awards grants to the c.46000 RAF air cadets in the UK helping to provide them with youth development and adventurous activities. He is also chairman of the George Watsons Endowment Trust which manages the funds gifted in perpetuity for foundation places at the school

Norman’s interest in the arts led to his being appointed Chairman of Scottish Ballet and a director of Scottish Ballet Endowment Fund from 2013 - 2020, receiving a CBE for his services to the Arts in January 2022, and he is a current patron of National Museums Scotland and Pitlochry Festival Theatre.

Norman was delighted to be invited to become a Trustee following many other ICAS involvements. He saw this as an opportunity to bring his business and personal experience from a long international career to helping able and ambitious young people from disadvantaged communities pursue university studies in accountancy or finance. The ability to help make a positive difference to deserving people’s lives has always been high on Norman’s personal agenda - the Foundation’s record of successful outcomes and its future plans are a key motivator for Norman’s ongoing commitment.

Read Norman's interview in the April 2022 ICAS CA Magazine.

Jann Brown is a Chartered Accountant and spent the first ten years of her career in the profession, working for both KPMG and Deloitte.   Jann moved into industry in 1998 and was CFO and Managing Director of Cairn Energy when she stepped down in 2014.  She was co-founder and CFO of Private Equity backed Magna Energy Limited until 2017, when she joined Pharos Energy where she is now CEO.

Jann also has extensive Non Executive Director experience with fund management, manufacturing , engineering and not for profit companies. She is a Past President of ICAS, the third woman to hold that role.

"My own career in accountancy was only made possible by a grant from the Carnegie Foundation to pay the university fees for a Masters Diploma, a qualification which was essential at that time to be taken on as a CA trainee. My CA qualification has opened up opportunities for me that would never have been possible without the generosity of that grant.  I know first hand what a difference can be made with help and support at the right point in time, and I am delighted that I am now in a position to support the ICAS Foundation in doing exactly that."

Chris was appointed Chief Financial Offer of ICAS in April 2022 joining from Peter Vardy Automotive Group where he was Group Finance Director and was responsible for Financial Control, Financial Planning & Reporting, Tax, Treasury, IT and Compliance.

Prior to joining Peter Vardy, Chris worked at J Sainsbury’s plc in a number of Senior Finance positions. He led the Financial Planning & Transformation team for Sainsbury’s during a period of significant change in the Grocery market, he was Finance Director for Netto Limited, a joint venture with Salling Group A/S (Denmark’s Largest Retailer) to set up a new discount supermarket chain in the UK and he led the Efficiency Transformation Programme to improve productivity & efficiency at Sainsbury’s Bank.

Chris qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2004. Starting at Arthur Andersen, he then moved to Deloitte where he worked for 9 years across Audit & Assurance and Corporate Finance. He specialised in Advertising & Media and spent the majority of his time working on a FTSE 100 Multinational Advertising, PR & Communications company headquartered in London.

Chris qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2011, and is currently the Audit Director for RSM UK, a leading provider of audit, tax and consulting services to middle market leaders, globally. Based in the Glasgow office, he manages a portfolio of clients including Corporate, Registered Social Landlords and Pension Schemes.

Chris is passionate about the work of the ICAS Foundation and has mentored a number of Foundation students during their university studies, ensuring that he has an excellent understanding of the challenges faced by current university students.

As a Trustee, Chris is keen to share his experience of navigating the leap from university to professional CA - he admits to making a lot of unnecessary mistakes along the way, but quickly learned from these. He feels incredibly lucky to have found an employer which has provided him with every opportunity to learn, to be challenged and to progress, and hopes that by sharing his experience, he can help others in similar circumstances to achieve positive outcomes too.

Find out more about why Chris supports the ICAS Foundation in his Trustee and Mentor profile.

Shonagh is a Chartered Accountant and one of two ICAS nominated trustees of the ICAS Foundation. Having originally qualified with ICAS whilst working in practice with KPMG, Shonagh has over 15 years’ experience in the Education sector.  She is now a Principal Lecturer for Academic Development and Student Experience at Aberdeen Business School at the Robert Gordon University.   Within this role, she continues to teach undergraduate accounting students and will bring these experiences and expertise to the ICAS Foundation. Shonagh is also a trustee for the Association for Learning Technology, the leading body for learning technology in the UK.

“As someone who works regularly with undergraduate accountancy students, I can really understand the positive impact both financial support and mentoring can make to those from disadvantaged backgrounds who want to pursue a career as an accountant.  I am delighted to be part of the ICAS Foundation which makes a real contribution in this area.”

Kate has over 20 years' experience raising funds for cultural, children and young people's, and international development charities. She is current Director of Development for the Royal High School Preservation Trust leading a fundraising campaign to deliver a £69m project which will redevelop a Grade A listed building into a new cultural venue and gardens in the heart of Edinburgh.

Kate has previously led multi-million-pound capital fundraising campaigns for the King’s Theatre in Edinburgh, and Seamab care and education. She was formerly Director of Fundraising and Communications for Children 1st, Scotland’s national children’s charity and Head of Fundraising for the Prince’s Trust in Scotland.

Kate is very excited at the prospect of bringing her wealth of knowledge and experience to the ICAS Foundation

"Throughout my career I've been driven by creating opportunities for people to access wide ranging experiences so that they can develop to their full potential. I firmly believe in supporting young people so that they can pursue their talents and have the opportunity to develop a career regardless of their background.  I am delighted to join the ICAS Foundation to help support how they promote social mobility and diversity for young people pursuing accountancy and finance careers."

Ryan graduated from Glasgow Caledonian University in 2019, with a First Class Honours degree in Accountancy. He joined the ICAS Foundation programme in 2016 as a second-year student and benefited from the Foundation’s mentoring and bursary support while completing his studies. On graduation, he accepted a CA graduate training contract with Grant Thornton in their Glasgow office. He is currently working as a Financial Accounting Manager for SSE. Ryan is passionate about removing barriers to social mobility and increasing diversity in the accounting profession.

"I was fortunate enough to receive help and support from the ICAS Foundation whilst at university. As a Trustee, I can share first hand experience of the challenges that students like myself face on a daily basis. There is a risk that the accountancy profession could lose out on key talent moving forward and to me, this is where the work of the ICAS Foundation becomes ever more important. The opportunity to work with a fantastic board of trustees on tackling modern day issues is one that hugely motivates me."

Find out more about how Ryan benefited from ICAS Foundation support in his Alumni profile and read his Trustee interview in the April 2022 ICAS CA Magazine.

Jonathan began his career as a BBC news and current affairs journalist before working in senior communications, public affairs and corporate affairs roles for listed and private equity backed businesses in the industrials and energy sectors, as well as working for a number of years as Executive Director of Membership & Marketing at ICAS.

“I worked at ICAS at the time when the idea to launch the ICAS Foundation was taking shape, but was not yet a reality. To now have the opportunity to join as a Trustee, it’s an incredible privilege to be involved with an organisation that is developing and nurturing future leaders. The work, and the message of the Foundation, is incredibly important as we continue to ensure that we support the breadth and diversity of talent that business and the profession needs now and in the future.”

Alex Smith is a Chartered Accountant and a member of the ICAS Business Policy Panel.  She spent the first 16 years of her career in the profession working for PricewaterhouseCoopers in a variety of different roles. Following a brief spell on secondment to the Scottish Government, she moved into industry as the Group Financial Controller of the Forth Ports Group, subsequently expanding that role to take on Risk and Insurance responsibilities.She is currently the Finance Director of Dickson Minto whom she joined in March 2021 and is also a non-executive director and Chair of the Audit & Risk Committee of the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult.  She was formerly the Chair of the Finance, Audit & Risk Committee of the Rock Trust, a charity aiming to eliminate youth homelessness across Scotland.Having been a mentor of the ICAS Foundation for nearly ten years, Alex recognises first-hand how much of an impact the ICAS Foundation has on the lives of the young talent looking to enter the world of accountancy and finance."Growing up in a low-income single parent household, I was the first person in my family to go to university, a fact that was only made possible due to having access to grants and broader support including some wonderful personal and professional mentors.  Whilst at university studying International Business and Modern Languages, I studied alongside accountancy and finance students, who made me aware of the ICAS CA qualification and led me to my own career in the world of accountancy and finance.  I am now delighted to be able to join the board of the Foundation so that I can further support others to do the same."