Helen Brand has been appointed ACCA chief executive, the institute said today.

Brand is currently the managing director for strategy and development.

She will start on 1 September, an advance on the previous timetable, since she is an internal candidate.

Brand has worked in the profession on the international development side since 1987, having worked for CIMA previously.

'My core competence in the profession has been development. I've worked extensively in Africa and Asia,' Brand told Accountancy Age today.

ACCA has the biggest global footprint of all the UK institutes, with current chief executive Allen Blewitt coming to the job after working in the Asia-Pacific region.

Brand is a politics graduate and does not have an ACCA qualification. 'Running a professional body isn't about being any type of accountant, but having the skills,' Brand said.

Asked about the friction there has been with other institutes in the UK, she said: 'There a role for healthy competition. I think we see that throughout the world, not just in the UK. When talking in the public interest accountancy bodies have shown themselves mature and sensible enough,' she said.

Brand said she hoped to 'build on [ACCA's] current success.'

The remuneration committee, led by Brendan Murtagh, was tasked with finding a successor to Blewitt.

‘Because we are global [we need] someone with an understanding of a global organisation,’ a spokesman said this week when asked about candidates for the role.

The post of chief executive was advertised in The Sunday Times earlier this year.

When asked at the recent AGM whether or not it would ensure the new boss would be an ACCA member, Murtagh said the body would be seeking the best person for the job.

Further Reading:

Institute homes in on Blewitt successor