ICAEW has picked Alan Vallance as its new Chief Executive, to take
over from current CEO Michael Izza from Spring 2024. Izza has been Chief
Executive of the Institute since 2006.
Izza announced his intention to retire from ICAEW by the end of this
year in March. He has agreed to stay in post until Vallance joins the
Institute to ensure a smooth transition.
Vallance, an ICAEW Chartered Accountant, is currently Chief Executive
of the Chartered Insurance Institute. He previously worked as Chief
Executive of the Royal Institute of British Architects and the Group
Chief Operating Officer at the Law Society.
Prior to this, Vallance was the Chief Operating Officer and Deputy
Head of Australian Bureau of Meteorology, the national weather agency
based in Melbourne, where he spent time participating in and leading
Australian delegations at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.
He qualified as a chartered accountant at Ernst & Whinney’s (now
EY) London office. He is a Fellow of ICAEW, Chartered Accountants
Australia and New Zealand and the Australian Institute of Company
Directors. He is also an Honorary Fellow of the Korean Institute of
Architects. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the
University of York.
Mark Rhys, ICAEW President and chair of the recruitment panel,
announced Vallance’s appointment as ICAEW Chief Executive after an open
and extensive recruitment process. The role attracted a strong field of
candidates, with Vallance the outstanding choice to take up the role as
Chief Executive.
The ICAEW Board was impressed with Vallance’s track record of leading
successful membership organisations and working alongside different
stakeholders, and with his vision for the Institute and for the
evolution of the profession. Vallance’s focus on values and the role
ICAEW can continue to play as it looks to its 150th anniversary in 2030
was also an important consideration.
“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Michael for his
leadership of the Institute and tremendous contribution to the wider
profession,” said Rhys. “The changes he has led to ICAEW’s strategy and
structure since he became Chief Executive in 2006 leave us well placed
for future success. I am grateful for his commitment to the organisation
and wish him well for the future.”
Peter Wyman, Chair of the ICAEW Board, added: “I am greatly looking
forward to working with Alan in the coming years as we address together
the challenges and opportunities facing our Institute in a fast-changing
world. I would also like to pay my own tribute to Michael for the quite
extraordinary contribution he has made to ICAEW and the accountancy
profession during his long and distinguished tenure as Chief Executive.”
Vallance said: “I am delighted to be joining ICAEW. As a chartered
accountant it is a genuine honour to have been asked to lead the
organisation of which I am a member and to succeed Michael Izza as Chief
Executive.”
He thanked Michael Izza for his leadership and the contribution he
has made to the Institute during his time as Chief Executive, and
pledged to build on the foundation that Izza created over the past 17
years.
“The accountancy profession today plays a vitally important
leadership role on the key issues facing society. I am determined to
make sure that ICAEW leads from the front and that this role continues,
indeed evolves in the future, with an unwavering focus on the public
interest so that our members play their rightful part in building a
world of sustainable economies.”
Michael Izza, ICAEW Chief Executive, said:
“It has been a huge
privilege to lead ICAEW through the last seventeen years of accelerating
change in business, the economy and society, and to see the Institute
grow and strengthen. Our touchstone has always been the public interest,
and I passionately believe in the accountancy profession as a force for
good in national life and the wider world. I am therefore delighted
that Alan has been appointed as my successor and I know that the vision
and the energy he brings to this role will ensure that ICAEW does not
rest on its laurels.”
.