Public Interest Representation

John Sutherland (Chair)

Following a career largely spent in banking, John has recently developed a wide and varied portfolio of non-executive appointments. He has been a member of the Audit and Risk Committee of the European Investment Bank (EIB) since 2014, including a period as Chair in 2019/20. He is Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee at the Darlington Building Society and has recently been appointed as a Senior Technical Expert for the International Monetary Fund (IMF). As Chair of the Board, John is also a Public Interest Member on the ICAS Council.

Bruce Beveridge

A qualified solicitor Bruce is an experienced general counsel, senior executive, CEO, 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. Bruce is also a Public Interest Member on the ICAS Council.

Liz Breckenridge

Liz is the Head of Commercial at Glasgow Kelvin College, based at the college’s Easterhouse Campus, having previously been a marketing director at Highland Spring. She was appointed to the Board having completed six years as a lay member of ICAS’ Investigation Committee. In addition to her work with ICAS, Liz has had other non-executive roles which a key focus on consumer protection, including appointments with the Food Standards Agency and Consumer Focus Scotland.

Bruce Minto OBE FRSE

Bruce qualified as a solicitor and in 1985 co-founded Dickson Minto W S, a law firm specialising solely in corporate law. He managed that firm for over 30 years and remains a practising solicitor and notary public.

For seven years, Bruce chaired the Stewart Ivory Foundation, a charity dedicated to the provision and enhancement of financial education in Scotland. He was Chairman of the Campaign Board, which raised the costs of refurbishing the Royal Museum, Edinburgh and completed two terms of office as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the National Museums of Scotland fulfilling over 10 years as a Trustee of that Board. He was also a Trustee of its Charitable Trust Board and a Director of its Enterprises Board. He has recently become a member of the Royal Botanical Gardens of Edinburgh Foundation Board.

Previously a member of the ICAS Disciplinary Committee, he is currently the Convenor of the ICAS Investigation Committee.

Bruce is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland, a Regent of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

He was awarded an OBE in 2015 for services to culture in Scotland.

Bruce is a member of the Regulation Board on account of being the Convener of the Investigation Committee

Brian Redford

Brian has retired from a career spent in various roles in HMRC. His recent roles include: (i) Large Business, Scotland & Northern Ireland – leading a team across three locations in Scotland and Northern Ireland who manage the tax affairs of a proportion of the largest corporate groups in the UK, (ii) Interim Director Large Business – managing the tax affairs of the top 2,000 corporates operating in and from the UK, and (iii) Transformation and Change – leading two projects to achieve transformational change in the way we understand and respond to tax and duties risk in the UK tax system and globally.

William (Bill) Braes, BSc (Hons), PgD in Health and Safety Management, CIPP/E

Bill was appointed to the Authorisation Committee in January 2024. He is a Data Protection Professional with extensive experience in project management, most recently having worked for W.L Gore & Associates (UK) Ltd between 1999 and May 2024. He has also acted in a regulatory capacity for a number of  trade associations.

He is currently a member of the Law Society of Scotland’s Complaints and Oversight Sub-Committee and its Regulatory Committee (as Vice-Convener), and a former member of its Professional Conduct Sub-Committee and its Client Relations Sub-Committee.

Dale Hughes, LLB (Hons), Dip.LP.

Dale was appointed to the Authorisation Committee of ICAS in 2019. He has been a practising member of the Faculty of Advocates in Scotland since 1993 and a member of Optimum Advocates. He specialises in cases in all areas of criminal defence including cases of murder, rape, firearms, road traffic, drugs, trafficking, sexual offences and health and safety. He also has expertise in cases involving financial crime, complex fraud and proceeds of crime, and has acted in a number of high profile criminal appeals.

He is currently a legal member of the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission and holds other regulatory positions with the General Medical Council and General Teaching Council for Scotland. He has held a number of other positions, including acting as a Procurator Fiscal Depute and ad hoc Advocate Depute, as well as a university tutor and lecturer.

Ian Jackson MBE

Ian was appointed to the Authorisation Committee of ICAS in January 2023. He has wide ranging professional experience in stakeholder management, sales and marketing. He is a former Director for Scotland of the General Dental Council, where he worked with a range of public and private sector stakeholders on matters including public engagement, patient protection and healthcare delivery and policy, as well as acting as a trustee for the GDC pension scheme. Prior to that, he had a long and distinguished career working in a range of senior management positions for BT between 1982 and 2009 and, before that, in various marketing roles.

Ian has held a number of positions including member of the Investigation Committee of ICAS, Board Member of Perth College, Auditor for the QAA for Higher Education, Lay Member of Inspectorate for Education Scotland (HMIE) and the following positions for the General Teaching Council for Scotland: Ministerial Nominee, Convener of the Professional Conduct Committee, Convener of the Finance and Corporate Services Committee, Executive Committee Member, Appointed Lay Member and Education Panel member. He was awarded an MBE in 2005 for services to education in Scotland.

Dr Amy Lawton LLB (Hons), LLM, ATT, SFHEA

Amy was appointed to the Authorisation Committee of ICAS in January 2024. She is a specialist in tax law, currently holding the post of Senior Lecturer in Tax Law at the University of Edinburgh and is a member of the Association of Taxation Technicians. She has previously lectured in law and acted as an external examiner in tax law at a number of other UK universities. She has also been a visiting academic at both the University of New South Wales, Australia and Singapore Management University, Singapore. Amy is a 24-25 Fulbright Scholar where she will continue her work supporting low-income taxpayers at Villanova University, USA.

She holds a number of positions, including as a Member of the Tax Law Review Committee of the Institute of Fiscal Studies and a Member of the Research Committee of the Tax Research Network.

Roy Roxburgh

Roy qualified as a solicitor in 1974 and became partner in Iain Smith & Co in 1977. He remained partner until the commercial department of Iain Smith & Co joined Maclay Murray Spens LLP in 2007. He retired in 2009 but remained a consultant until 2017.

Roy has held a number of positions including Convenor of the Law Society of Scotland’s Insolvency Committee; Vice Convenor of LSSs Company, Insolvency & Banking Committee; LSSs nominee on the Joint Insolvency Committee (until 2017); and moderator for Administration, Receivership & CVA exam paper of JIEB (position held for 10 years).

He was the recipient of the R3 Scotland Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016 and sat on the ICAS Investigation Committee until 2016.

Bruce Minto OBE FRSE - Convener

Bruce qualified as a solicitor and in 1985 co-founded Dickson Minto W S, a law firm specialising solely in corporate law. He managed that firm for over 30 years and remains a practising solicitor and notary public.

For seven years, Bruce chaired the Stewart Ivory Foundation, a charity dedicated to the provision and enhancement of financial education in Scotland. He was Chairman of the Campaign Board, which raised the costs of refurbishing the Royal Museum, Edinburgh and completed two terms of office as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the National Museums of Scotland fulfilling over 10 years as a Trustee of that Board. He was also a Trustee of its Charitable Trust Board and a Director of its Enterprises Board. He has recently become a member of the Royal Botanical Gardens of Edinburgh Foundation Board.

Previously a member of the ICAS Disciplinary Committee, he is currently the Convenor of the ICAS Investigation Committee.

Bruce is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland, a Regent of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

He was awarded an OBE in 2015 for services to culture in Scotland.

Carole Ford

Carole has a background in school education (mostly mathematics), having served as the Head Teacher of Kilmarnock Academy from 1997 to 2011.

She retains an ongoing involvement in education, teaching/tutoring on a part-time basis, and writing textbooks for mathematics. She serves as a Commissioner for the Queen Victoria School in Dunblane and is the Chair of the Scottish Secondary Mathematics Group.

From 2011 to 2018, Ms Ford was the Convener of the Law Society of Scotland’s Regulatory Committee (its first lay convener, having been elected by the other members of the Committee) She was also the Convener of the Disciplinary Sub-Committee of the General Teaching Council Scotland from 2009 to 2011.

Irene Grant

Irene worked as a senior leader in banking, primarily at HSBC, where her roles were highly international, leading Corporate Banking teams in UK, Europe and USA. Irene subsequently founded her own business as an Executive Coach, Mentor and Business Consultant, and supports leaders, aspiring leaders and pro bono clients at companies of all sizes, from start-up to complex global multinationals.

Irene also takes on Non-Executive Director roles and in 2018 was appointed a Non-Executive Director and Trustee of Edinburgh International Book Festival, the world’s largest festival celebrating words, literature and ideas.

Irene is a Fellow of the Chartered Banker Institute, a Committee member at the 2025 Foundation, and an active member of the Association of Coaching, Changing the Chemistry and the Institute of Directors.

Rachel Grant

Rachel has recently retired as the Head of the Corporate Recovery and Insolvency team at Brodies LLP, where she was also a partner. She has specialised in corporate recovery and insolvency law for over 25 years, with extensive experience in director disqualification work, and involvement in several high-profile insolvency cases.

Rachel has been involved with several insolvency committees, including R3’s General Technical Committee and the Scottish Technical Committee (which she chaired for over 10 years). She is a member of the Law Society of Scotland’s Corporate, Banking and Insolvency Committee and also chairs the Law Society Insolvency Accreditation Panel. In 2017, she was appointed by the Lord President of the Court of Session to the Advisory Council on Messengers-at-Arms and Sheriff Officers

She is also an accredited mediator.

Andrew Mackenzie

Andrew Mackenzie has been Chief Executive of the Scottish Arbitration Centre since its establishment in 2011. A solicitor on secondment to the Centre from the Scottish Government, Andrew previously worked as a policy lead in Justice and as a legal adviser to that Government. He sits on the Advisory Board of the International Bar Association (IBA) Section on Public and Professional Interest Council, having formerly been a Member of the Council. Andrew is also Co-Chair of the new IBA Government and Public Lawyers Committee. He also sits on the Advisory Board of the IBA Access to Justice and Legal Aid Committee, having formerly been Co-Chair of that Committee. An Associate Member of Chartered Institute of Arbitration, he also sits on the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service Arbitration Court Users Group and the Scottish Government Dispute Resolution Delivery Group.

Michael Scott

Michael is a qualified lawyer and member of the Law Society of Scotland  and  recently retired as the Head of Disciplinary Investigations with the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA).

Michael joined the IFoA in 1997 having formerly been the Head of Legal Services with Livingston New Town Development Corporation until its dissolution by government in 1997.  Latterly in that role he led a multi-skilled team in preparing a strategy for the sale of industrial and commercial assets valued in excess of £100 million and negotiated subsequent disposals over 18 months, meeting critical Scottish Office targets.

He was appointed by the IFoA in 1997 to develop a strong contribution to the key professional groups through which the actuaries in the UK pursued their objectives and to provide a full secretariat service to the Professional Affairs Board and its sub-committees. During this time Michael worked with a colleague from the Law Society of Scotland to conceive and  establish the Scottish Regulatory Forum in Scotland, which has grown into an active and successful forum for professional and regulatory bodies in Scotland to discuss and debate regulatory and disciplinary matters. He also established a similar forum for professional and regulatory bodies in England. Michael also represented the IFoA as a member the Pensions Law Working Party of the Law Society of Scotland for a period of 6 years.

In 2006 with the introduction of new disciplinary processes by the IFoA Michael was appointed to lead and manage the team responsible for the investigation of complaints against members and to develop a strong working relationship with the IFoA’s oversight body, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC).

In 2009 and again in 2022 he worked with the Disciplinary Board and led the teams which researched good practice and then drafted detailed changes to the Disciplinary Scheme rules and regulations.

Judith Sischy OBE

Judith is a languages graduate of the University of Bristol and the University of Toronto where she began her teaching career. On moving to Edinburgh, she taught French and moved into education management. In 1990 she became the first Chief Executive of the Scottish Council of Independent Schools (SCIS) and oversaw its successful development until she stepped down in 2010.

She played a key role in Scottish education, holding appointments on the Scottish Qualifications Authority Advisory Board, the General Teaching Council for Scotland, the Government’s Curriculum for Excellence Management Board and other such bodies.

Judith has since qualified as a tutor of adult literacy and numeracy, has worked in disadvantaged Edinburgh communities and for the homeless. She is a trained mentor for ACOSVO and works for several charities.

She was appointed to the Carnegie Trust for the Universities in Scotland (until 2020), the Court of Queen Margaret University (until 2016) and is currently on the Board of Edinburgh College. She has also served as a public interest member on the ICAS Council (until 2017). She previously served on the Sick Children’s Trust, Common Purpose, the Chamber of Commerce, is a past President of Edinburgh Rotary and is involved with interfaith work in Edinburgh and the middle east.

She was awarded an OBE for services to education and the voluntary sector.

Matt Smith OBE DL

Matt is the former Scottish Secretary of UNISON and has held a range of non-executive appointments. He is presently a Member of the Employment Appeal Tribunal; the Central Arbitration Committee and the CIPFA Investigations Committee. Matt recently completed 2 terms on ICAS's Regulation Board. He is a Depute Lieutenant for Ayrshire and Arran and an Honorary Fellow of the Scottish Council for Development and Industry. He served for over 30 years as a JP and JPAC member for North Strathclyde.

Matt is a former member of the Board of Scottish Water and of the Scottish Police Authority. He served as a Scottish Human Rights Commissioner and a member of the Scottish Standards Commission. Other posts held include membership of the Broadcasting Council for Scotland; Irvine Bay Regeneration Company; the Church of Scotland Church and Nation Committee;  the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh; and UNITY Enterprise.

Matt served on the Commission for Scottish Devolution (Calman) and the Commission on Local Government and a Scottish Parliament (McIntosh).He was a councillor in the former burgh of Stevenston.