Press release: Jane Ashton appointed as new Executive Director of Association of Taxation Technicians

Jane’s career in tax has spanned over 30 years.  Jane became a member of the ATT in 1993 and has served on the ATT Council for 10 years, the Member Steering Group (previously known as the Member and Student Services Committee) for over 18 years and is a former chairman of its Business Development Steering Group.

Jane has had a role in significant change projects, including the introduction of the first Self-Assessment and of Corporation Tax online services, and more recently she was a senior leader in the Strategic Design Authority Team in HMRC.

As well as being a Fellow of ATT, Jane is also a member of the Association of Project Managers (APM) and an associate member of the British Computer Society (BCS).

Jane starts as Executive Director today (March 1) and will replace Andrew Pickering, who is retiring after more than 22 years with the ATT.  The Executive Director is the senior member of the ATT staff, overseeing its work and providing strategic guidance to the Leadership Team.

Jane Ashton said:

“I am looking forward to joining the ATT as Executive Director and helping to lead it through the next few years in which we will see an unprecedented amount of change in the tax world.  I will be working with the President and the Council to make sure that we continue to provide first class qualifications for our students and support for our members to enable them to thrive in this time of change.  I will be looking for ways in which we can improve knowledge of, and debate about, the tax system so that the ATT continues to be the leading professional body for those providing UK tax compliance services.”

Michael Steed, President of the ATT, said:

"I am delighted that Jane is joining us as our new Executive Director.  She brings with her a wealth of relevant experience and understands our organisation, its aims and its values.

“I would also like to pay tribute to Andrew Pickering, our outgoing Executive Director, who will be taking a well-earned retirement after more than 22 years with us. The ATT has changed enormously during Andy’s time at the helm – we have five times as many members as when he arrived and our technical and other activity has grown massively. Andy’s steady hand and wise counsel has been a real asset guiding us through this time of transformation. In many ways he was the ATT and I hope that he can now retire happily, knowing that our organisation is in such safe hands."