Executive Team

Jane Ashton
Jane Ashton
CEO

Jane was appointed Chief Executive in March 2016. She became a member of the Association in 1993 and a Fellow in 2011. She is a former member of Council. Jane was previously with HMRC where over a thirty year period she held various posts, gaining considerable experience both in tax and change programmes.

Vicky Nicholas 2024
Vicky Nicholas
Executive Officer

Vicky is secretary to the Association's Council along with various other committees, including: Finance Steering Group; Member and Business Development Steering Group; Audit and Risk Committee; and the Joint Officers and Senior Staff Forum.  Before joining ATT in 2023 Vicky spent 17 years at ICAEW in the UK Regions team. Initially as Executive for the Leicester & Northants network and later within the operations team as Programme Manager for the department.

Vicky Hilpert
Vicky Hilpert
Chief Financial Officer

Vicky is a Chartered Management Accountant and has a wealth of experience across a broad range of commercial, charitable, and professional body roles including most recently as Finance Director at charity POhWER and Chief Operating Officer at the Institute of Occupational Health and Safety (IOSH) alongside experience gained at FTSE 100s and SMEs.

Vicky Purtill
Vicky Purtill
Director of Education

After completing her LL.M in Public Law with UCL, Vicky taught undergraduate law subjects at a number of institutions, including the Open University. In 2011, Vicky moved into education policy for the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives and worked with both the professional body and the independent regulator for almost 12 years, during which time she reformed CPD requirements for the profession, contributed to the extension of rights to practise for Chartered Legal Executives, worked with employers and other stakeholders on the introduction of the new Trailblazer apprenticeships for the legal profession, recreated the education standards for CILEX members and introduced a range of operational improvements to qualifications delivery. Vicky joins ATT and CIOT from Bader College, part of Queen’s University, Canada, and is passionate about working with stakeholders to ensure that the qualifications offered remain attractive and relevant in a fast-changing world. 

Emma Rawson
Emma Rawson
Director of Public Policy

Emma was appointed Director of Public Policy in December 2024.  Prior to that, she served as an ATT Technical Officer for over seven years.  Her background is in business taxes.  She trained in the Big 4 and spent a short time working for a specialist consultancy firm before joining the ATT in 2017.  As Director of Public Policy, she has oversight of the Association’s tax technical and professional standards work.  Outside of work, she is also Chair of the Leeds Branch of the ATT and CIOT.

Helen Thornley
Helen Thornley
Technical Officer

Helen has a focus on personal and capital taxes. Initially qualifying as a Chartered Accountant before moving to tax, she worked in practice as a private client consultant in a mid-tier firm until her appointment as a technical officer in 2017. Helen also has an interest in the history of tax.

Steven Pinhey
Steven Pinhey
Technical Officer

Steven's particular emphasis is on management of taxes and tax disputes and resolution. He was a partner in a City firm of Chartered Accountants and then founded his own specialist tax investigations and enquiries company before his appointment as a technical officer in 2022. He is also a face-to-face adviser for the tax charity, TaxAid.

David Wright
David Wright
Technical Officer

David has a particular focus on personal taxes, including capital taxes and trusts. He trained as a Chartered Accountant whilst working in the private client team at a Big 4 firm. After a short spell in industry, he moved back into practice where he specialised in personal tax at regional and mid-tier firms before joining the ATT as a technical officer in 2023.