RICS Governing Council

Stephen is a Chartered Quantity Surveyor and a Chartered Facilities Management (FM) Surveyor with over 40 years of professional consulting experience across the property, construction and facilities industry. Stephen is the founder of In-Touch Advisory. His technical expertise includes project delivery, quantity surveying, cost prediction, due diligence, asset/facilities management, risk assessment, value engineering, life cycle analysis and sustainability. He has contributed to multiple publications for the RICS and regularly presents at industry conferences internationally. 

Stephen is a member of the RICS Australasian Regional Advisory Board. 

Since 2012, he has been a member of the Standards Australia MB-022 committee, and an Australian delegate to ISO/TC 267 developing the ISO 41000 series and liaising on the ISO 55000 series. Also since 2021, he served as the Regional Director for Australasia & Southeast Asia for IFMA's FM Consultant Council. 

In addition to being FRICS, he also holds FAIQS and IFMA Fellow designations and is an FMA Australia Life Member (fellow). Stephen has served on multiple built environment industry boards over an extended period holding various leadership positions with the Australian Government FM Action Agenda, FMA Australia, Property Council of Australia, IFMA Foundation, IFMA, and the ISO.

Victoria Clapp is the Cost, Commercial and Quantity Surveying Technical Director at Mott MacDonald, a global engineering, management and development consultancy. She is a Fellow of the Royal Institute for Chartered Surveyors (RICS), and member of the RICS Matrics UK Board. A finalist in the RICS Young Surveyor of the Year (2022), she strives to shape best practice and has a unquenching passion for promoting our profession and supporting the next generation of surveyors. With lived experience of neurodiversity, she co-leads the RICS Matrics UK board strategy for equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI).

Alison Cosa (formerly Westwood) graduated from Nottingham Trent University in 2010 having gained a Master’s degree in Property Investment and Management before becoming a Graduate Property Surveyor at Pendragon PLC, where she undertook a sabbatical at Innes England to broaden her experience. In 2014, following a move to London, she joined GVA (now Avison Young) as Assistant Surveyor gaining experience managing prime retail estate in Mayfair and Knightsbridge including retail, office and residential assets. She  undertook the APC whilst at GVA and became a Chartered Surveyor (MRICS) in 2015 having completed rotations in Property Management, Leasing, Rating and Valuation. In late 2015, Alison joined JLL as Senior Surveyor in the PAM (Property and Asset Management) department and was promoted to Associate Director in 2017 having gained experience as lead PM for a prestigious Property Unit Trust portfolio consisting prime office, retail and industrial assets. A move client side followed, to Capital and Counties (Capco) now known as Shaftesbury Capital as a Senior Property Manager for the world class Covent Garden Estate.  

Today Alison is Director of Property Management for one of the world’s top REITS,  Realty Income (an S&P 500 Company – NYSE: O) and oversees the Property Management operations for the UK and EU portfolios totalling c. £ 10bn.  Alison is an RICS APC Assessor and also volunteers for two charities being a long standing Ambassador for LandAid (the property industry’s charity) for 10 years, and Ambassador for RICS LionHeart for the last 3 years.

Vanessa Curtis is a Fellow of the RICS and a Senior Director at CBRE with 16 years of industry experience working with corporate occupiers of real estate.  Currently she advises clients in the Technology, Media and Telecoms sectors on portfolio strategy, portfolio transformation and risk mitigation.  Vanessa also Chairs CBRE’s Ability Network and sits on CBRE’s UK DEI Steer Co.

Vanessa is passionate about all things DEI, outside of work she is Founder and Chair of AbilityRE, a non-profit organisation set up to drive awareness & inclusion and generate opportunities within the real estate and built environment sectors for people with disability, neurodiversity, mental ill-health, and long-term health conditions.  She is also the CoreNet Global UK Chapter DEI Ambassador and involved in the RICS working groups on DEI.

Outside of work, Vanessa enjoys sport, coaches kids and ladies football, has two children and two dogs and a snake!

Johanna is a Chartered Surveyor and Registered Valuer. She has over 27 years’ experience working in Oxford, Birmingham, London and Dublin. She returned to Dublin in 2005 and worked for Cushman & Wakefield until July 2023. She was Deputy Head of the Valuation & Advisory team where she was responsible for building their Irish fund valuation business. In addition she advised banks and other financial institutions and corporates.

Johanna was heavily involved with the graduate training programme within Cushman & Wakefield, she is an APC Assessor and is a supporter of on-going professional development and often delivers CPD for the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland. During 2022/23 Johanna delivered a number of modules to both the Property Economics and Auctioneering students in TU Dublin. Johanna has beeninvolved as a mentor with both SCSI and IMI.

Having served on the Board of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland for 2 years, Johanna took on the role of President of SCSI in May 2019, and served her term until August 2020. She continues to be involved in SCSI as a member of the Sustainability Working Group and is on the RICS Ireland Board.

Jason is a London based Executive Director in CBRE’s Valuation and Advisory Services Department and Head of Loan and Advisory Valuation Services covering all property sectors. He is a member of CBRE’s UK Residential Board and the Valuation and Advisory Executive Group.

Between 2008 and May 2024, Jason focussed on the Living Sectors. Markets covered include build to rent, single family housing, large scale developments, strategic land, masterplans, prime central London and affordable housing. He led the growth of this part of CBRE’s business from a team of 6 to more than 70 professionals across the UK. 

Jason was the Chair and Technical Author of the RICS Red Book Professional Standard for Valuing Residential Property Purpose Built for Renting (2018). He has been actively involved with the British Property Federation for more than 10 years and is a member of the Living Sectors Board. He also serves on sector groups for the Association of Rental Living and Investment Property Forum. Jason is currently working with LandAid to support its BTR initiative to help source subsidised housing specifically for young people to combat homelessness.

As a Senior Director Research & Valuation Management, Birgit is responsible for the coordination and reporting of external valuations for the real estate assets and funds of Corestate Capital Group. For this, she collaborates with the Group's Asset Management, Fund and Portfolio Management, Risk Management, Controlling and Accounting teams. She is also responsible for the regular reporting to investors on current market developments.

Birgit has over 20 years of experience in real estate valuation and strategic management consulting. She is experienced in the valuation of international commercial and residential portfolios and single assets for national and international investors, such as institutional funds, banks, project developers for purchasing, accounting, or financing purposes. She gained her experience at various international real estate consultancies, including JLL, Cushman & Wakefield and Roedl & Partner.

David qualified as a chartered surveyor in Dublin, Ireland in 1994 under the mentorship of John Oliver Costello at Costello Commercial.  He has over fifteen years of industry experience in office agency, shopping centre asset management and commercial property valuations in both Ireland and the United Kingdom.  During this time, he worked with several leading real estate firms such as JLL and Colliers International and other firms which have since been subsumed into international firms such as CBRE and Deloitte.

In 2011 David became a full-time academic at the University College of Estate Management (UCEM) specialising in property investment, valuation, property asset management and property agency in the commercial property sector. He is the programme leader for the MSc Real Estate.  He is a knowledge expert at UCEM on the subject of ‘Ethics’ and a member of the institution’s EDI and apprenticeships working groups.  UCEM is the leading provider of supported online education for the built environment.

He is an APC assessor/chair for both the RICS and SCSI (Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland) and a member of the ‘Education and CPD’ standing committee at the SCSI.

Between 2017-2020 he was an External Examiner for the BSc Auctioneering, Valuation & Estate Agency degree programme at the Technological University Dublin and an External Adviser for the BSc (Hons) Real Estate and MSc Real Estate at Liverpool John Moores University in 2022.

David regularly runs a series of ‘Introduction to Office Investment’ webinars at Bayfield Training in which he and industry guest speakers review office investment dynamics in cities such as Budapest, Dublin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, London, Lyon and Paris.  He has also provided webinars for the École Supérieure des Professions Immobilières (ESPI), France and Northern Business School (NBS), Germany in 2021/2022.

Gordon is a Chartered Land Surveyor with over 30 year’s professional experience of Hydrographic and Land surveying and associated spatial data management. He is director of Venture Geomatics Limited a technical consultancy based in the United Kingdom providing support to the energy, engineering and telecoms sectors.

After graduating from the University of Glasgow he worked on projects worldwide becoming the global group Chief Surveyor of a large international survey company, before, in 2006, setting up an independent consultancy which continues today. His work involves many elements of spatial data across land, coastal and marine areas and Gordon is active in promoting and expanding the awareness and importance of marine natural capital and the blue economy.

Gordon is a vice chair of FIG Commission 4 – Hydrography; is an FIG member of the FIG/IHO/ICA International Board on Standards of Competence for Hydrographic Surveyors and Nautical Cartographers (IBSC) which oversees the Standards at an international level, an external examiner and industry advisor to several UK tertiary educational institutions and he is a board member and Fellow of the Hydrographic Society of UK & Ireland and is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Navigation.

Graham is a Chartered Surveyor of some 26 years standing, having originally qualified as a Chartered Quantity Surveyor in 1998; qualifying further as a Chartered Project Management Surveyor following completion of an MSc at The Bartlett, UCL in 2007. Graham was elected to Fellowship in 2014.

In terms of his role within the industry, Graham is a Director within the London Commercial Developer team at Turner & Townsend, delivering real estate project management for key industry clients, such as: UK Parliamentary Estate, Earls Court Development Company and The Crown Estate.

Graham has been actively engaged since first becoming Chartered, having acted as both APC Supervisor and Counsellor on several occasions and has gone on to serve the maximum two terms on the London Regional Board; firstly between 2013-16 and secondly between 2019-2023.

In November 2023, Graham was successful in joining the first cohort constituting the ‘Construction – Professional Group Panel’.

Further afield, Graham is also an active Member of The British Council for Offices, having recently joined their NextGen programme as mentor.

Jagath Keerthisooriya is a Chartered Quantity Surveyor with over 24 years of international experience in the construction industry, specializing in contract and commercial management, procurement, and quantity surveying. His career has seen him hold roles with semi-government organizations, international project managers and consultants, and leading contractors across Sri Lanka, the UAE, Qatar, and New Zealand. He has been a key player in delivering high-profile infrastructure and civil projects, making significant contributions to some of the region's most notable developments.

Currently, Jagath serves as Lead Cost Manager at Turner & Townsend in Abu Dhabi, where he provides expert cost consultancy, contract administration, and strategic advice on complex contractual issues. His deep expertise and leadership make him a trusted advisor in managing and resolving intricate project challenges.

Jagath is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb), and the Arbitrators' and Mediators' Institute of New Zealand (AMINZ). He is also a member of the New Zealand Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NZIQS) and holds a BSc (Hons) in Quantity Surveying from the University of Reading, UK. Currently, he is pursuing an LLM/MSc in Construction Law and Arbitration at Robert Gordon University, Scotland.

Beyond his professional work, Jagath is a dedicated CPD speaker and trainer, actively contributing to the development of aspiring Chartered Quantity Surveyors in the region. He is also a trained RICS Counsellor and Chairperson, providing mentorship and assessments to guide and shape future professionals.

Jagath previously held the role of Secretary of the Sri Lankan Quantity Surveyors Forum in the UAE and currently serves as Chairman of the Sri Lankan Professionals Association in the UAE. This diverse organization includes professionals from various fields, such as quantity surveying, IT, engineering, banking, hospitality, and business management.

With his leadership, technical expertise, and commitment to professional development, Jagath remains a key figure in shaping the future of quantity surveying and the broader construction industry globally.

Kenneth is the Chairman of Rider Levett Bucknall North Asia Region and is also one of the ten Global Board Directors of the group.  He has over 37 year experience in the quantity surveying field.  He has been involved in different types of projects in both public and private sectors in Hong Kong, and projects in Macau, Mainland China and a few other countries involving international clients and consultants.  He specializes in holistic cost management and quantity surveying skills including cost planning, value engineering, procurement strategy and dispute resolution.

Kenneth has been a former Board Member of RICS Asia Pacific World Regional Board from 2017 to 2023, a former Chairman of the Asia QS Professional Group Board of the RICS from 2012 to 2016 and also a former Chairman of the RICS Hong Kong Board from 2011 to 2013.

Steven has been a member of Governing Council since July 2023.

Steven has worked in the built environment for more than 25 years and, for the last ten years in academia developing and delivering RICS accredited programmes.

As well as being a chartered surveyor Steven is qualified as a solicitor in Scotland and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Building. He holds degrees in Land Economics, Law, Local Economic Development and in Oil & Gas Law and has published around the area of land use in the oil and gas industry.

Steven has been active within the RICS in various roles before coming to the Governing Council and has a particular interest in the global expansion of RICS and the development of educational pathways to membership internationally.

Jonathan is a Chartered Surveyor and RICS Registered Valuer with over 20 year’s extensive professional experience in residential survey and valuation. Formerly, employed as area and regional surveyor with e.surv, Valunation and Broadbent and Co. He is Technical Director for Syderek Survey Solutions and The Moving Portal and non-executive director of Paisley Surveyors consultancy based in the United Kingdom. His main area of responsibility is within survey and valuation risk and compliance.

Jonathan is passionate about promoting sustainability and ED&I within the property industry.

Jonathan holds a BSc in Urban Land Economics from Sheffield Hallam University and sits as Co-optee on his Local authority scrutiny panel for Economy and Neighbourhoods, as well as being a SAVA assessor alongside holding various charitable trustee roles.

Uche is the Chief Valuation Officer, Cayman Islands Government, responsible for formulating and implementing Real Estate policies and procedures. Previously, employed as the Business Development Manager for the Caribbean Region with DDL, a full-service real estate practice based in the Cayman Islands. Uche has over 25 years real estate experience gained in the UK and Caribbean within the private and public sector.

He serves as the RICS Cayman Chapter Chair, is a member of the RICS Caribbean Advisory Group and previously served on the RICS Americas World Region Board. He is a Fellow of RICS, a registered valuer, a Licensed Assessor Trainer and an APC Assessor. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Estate Management, a Masters degree in Property Valuation and Law and a post-graduate diploma in Business Systems Analysis and Design from the City University Business School in London, England.

Sunny is a dedicated member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), having demonstrated unwavering commitment to the profession for over a decade. With a Bachelor's degree in Building Surveying, he became a chartered surveyor in 2021, marking a significant milestone in his career.

Over the course of his career, Sunny has accumulated over 8 years of experience in the residential and commercial sectors within the UK. Initially, worked as a Client-side Project Manager for Registered Providers, overseeing the procurement of affordable housing stock, and working on large-scale estate regeneration projects ranging from £10-30 million. Sunny showcased his project management skills and ability to successfully navigate complex projects by collaborating with various disciplines and prominent housebuilders. He also served as a Building Surveyor and Project Manager during his time at BNP Paribas Real Estate, further displaying his versatility and expertise in the field.

Whilst at BNP Paribas Real Estate Sunny also co-chaired the Multicultural Network within the BNP Paribas UK group. This employee network, boasting over 800+ members, became a vessel for promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion, resonating with Sunny's core values of fostering an inclusive workplace culture.

In September 2023, Sunny transitioned to Hart Dixon, specialising in construction delivery for fit-out and refurbishment projects in the commercial and high-end residential sectors as a senior surveyor. His involvement in high-value projects, some exceeding £80 million, illustrates his adeptness in project management, contract administration for CAT B refurbishments, and risk and stakeholder management. Sunny is also on the path to becoming an RICS Assessor for Project Management, reflecting his continual pursuit of professional development.

Beyond his professional realm, Sunny is a passionate advocate for inclusivity and youth empowerment. He serves as a STEM and RICS Inspire Ambassador, encouraging schoolchildren to explore careers in surveying. Additionally, Sunny supports a housing charity for homeless youth, actively engaging in fundraising initiatives.

As a member of the Governing Council, Sunny aims to promote robust engagement across all communities, supporting ongoing improvements within RICS. Throughout his term, collaboration with the president and other council members to leverage his expertise and passion is at the forefront, aiming to foster positive change within the organisation, especially in the realms of technology, sustainability, diversity, and inclusion in the property industry.

Blane is a chartered FRICS Quantity Surveyor and a chartered member of the Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors. He is the Founder and Managing Director of surveying practice Pride Consulting IMS Limited. His work involves independent monitoring surveying, acting as professional advisor to numerous banks and financial institutions.

He is at the forefront of the Independent Monitoring Surveying (IMS) profession, having supported RICS in the potential establishment of an IMS pathway, volunteering his time and expertise to support the review and development of new pathways and competencies.

After graduating from the University of Reading with a BSc Hons Degree in surveying he has gone on to hold Executive Board Positions in numerous surveying practices including founding his own firm, which is still active today. He is a huge advocate for the future of the profession and the next generation of surveyors, acting as an industry ambassador speaking at schools and universities on the surveying profession.

In 2019, Blane won the honour and accolade of RICS Matrics Surveyor of the Year Award.

Blane also holds a current position as RICS UK delegate on The European Council of Construction Economics (CEEC).

As Chief Executive, Simon oversees the Lothbury Investment Management team, business operations and management functions. Simon is a member of the LIM Board and the LIM Risk Committee.

Simon also has executive responsibility for all LIM funds, although each fund has an independent Board that is responsible for corporate governance and approval of the fund’s annual investment strategy.

Simon has 40 years’ experience in both direct and indirect property investment. He was previously a Director with NatWest Investment Management and Gartmore Investment Management. He is responsible for developing the LIM core/active investment strategy to provide investors with exposure to the UK and European property through the launch of Lothbury Property Trust in 2000, the European Property Fund in 2006 and the Secure Income Fund in 2011.

Simon is a past chair of the RICS London branch and Director of The Association of Real Estate Funds (AREF).

Lynda Rawsthorne was appointed Government Head of Property Profession and Director, Property Capability, Sponsorship & Standards, in August 2023.

Lynda is head of the Government Property Profession, the community of property professionals across government. She provides professional leadership across a diverse range of government departments and arms-length bodies which deliver the government’s property ambitions.

Lynda is responsible for the Government Property Strategy and the Government Property Functional Standard. The strategy sets out the government’s plans for a public sector estate for public benefit, ensuring it enables the best possible public services, is efficient and sustainable and supports the government’s levelling up ambitions. The Functional Standard sets expectations for how government property is acquired, managed and disposed of.

Lynda has over 25 years’ professional experience across the property lifecycle including valuation, managing estates as well as delivering transformational and construction-based programmes. A Fellow of both the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Association of Project Management, Lynda is a graduate of the Major Project Leadership Academy at the University of Oxford.

Lynda joined the Cabinet Office from the Department of Transport where she was Director of Programme Integration within High Speed Rail Group, leading the land and property interface. Her previous roles include Prison Infrastructure Director at Ministry of Justice, leading delivery of the 15,000 additional places construction and transformation programme, and Programme Director of the £4.4bn Priority School Building Programme at the Department for Education. Starting her career in Local Government, she then worked predominantly in the Valuation Office Agency which she joined on the graduate programme, serving as a Valuation Officer, Head of Customer Services and Chief of Staff.

Lynda grew up in Milton Keynes but as a military wife has travelled extensively, with married quarters in four countries. She juggled three children and a variety of working patterns while continuing her career.

Nicholas Maclean is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and is currently RICS President Elect. He has previously served as an elected member, then interim Chair, of the RICS Governing Council, and as an interim RICS Board Member and Chair of RICS Membership Services Committee. Prior to taking up his previous position on Governing Council he was a member, then Chair, of the RICS MENA Market Advisory Panel.

He lives and works in the United Arab Emirates and was Co-Chairman & Managing Director of CBRE Middle East Region which he established in 2004 before leaving that business (after 37 years) at the end of 2024 to concentrate on the ‘President Elect’ role.

He is a GlobalScot; the Scottish Government’s Trade & Investment Envoy to the United Arab Emirates; and received the First Ministers award for Services to Trade and Bilateral Relations in 2023. He was made OBE in the King’s Birthday Honours list in 2024. He is also a member of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) and whilst in the UK, a member of the Institute of Revenue, Rating & Valuation and is the former chair of the Lillian Sutton (SoC) Endowment Charitable Trust. He holds the Reserve Decoration and was named by Arabian Business as one of the 100 most influential people in the UAE and in 2023 as one of the Top 100 Executives in UAE. 

Maureen Ehrenberg is President of the Commercial Division of Lessen, a tech-enabled IFM operating platform and Chief Executive Officer of Blue Skyre IBE, an ESG and sustainability advisory for operationalizing ESG into a business's operating model. Lessen was recently named the fastest-growing private software company in the U.S. by Inc. Magazine and ranked number three in Deloitte's Technology Fast 500. Lessen conducted the biggest property tech merger in history. 

Before joining Lessen, she was the Global Head of Strategic Real Estate Operations for WeWork, an International Director and Global President of JLL Integrated Facilities Management Services, the Global Head of Integrated Facility Management at CBRE, the Executive Vice President of Grubb & Ellis Company and the President and CEO of Grubb and Ellis Management Services, Inc.

Maureen served on the Americas Board of RICS from 2019-2024 and currently serves on the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Overseas Building Operations, Industry Advisory Group (IAG). She is a management trustee for the International Union of Operating Engineers and a Real Estate Advisory Committee member for the New York State Teachers Retirement System (NYSTRS). Maureen has also served on the Global Boards of CoreNet Global, OSCRE, and IFMA and was the Global Chair of the Board for IFMA. She is a founding member of Executive Women in Corporate Real Estate (EWCRE) and was a member of the National Advisory Council (NAC) of the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA).

A frequent speaker and published author, Maureen Ehrenberg has been recognized as an industry thought leader. In 2024, she was the CoreNet Global Distinguished Leaders Circle Recipient for industry pioneers, thought leaders & trailblazers. Previous recognitions include the Innovator of the Year Award from CoreNet Global, the Chair’s Citation Award from IFMA, The Julie Devine Digital Impact and Lifetime Achievement Awards for Vision in Technology from RealComm, Top Women of Influence Hall of Fame by Real Estate Forum and has received several industry and client awards and recognition for service excellence, innovation, leadership, mentorship and service. Ehrenberg was named a 2021 Woman of Influence CRE Consultant/Advisor by GlobeSt.com.

Liz has had a somewhat unusual career which has spanned both the public and private sectors. She spent her early career in Government in the Ministry of Defence, eventually becoming a key player in the creation of QinetiQ plc in 2001. She then moved into the private sector, becoming Chief Executive of the British Property Federation where she played a significant role in the creation of the UK’s Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) structure. She was awarded a CBE in 2008 for services to the property industry. 

Liz now has a non-executive portfolio career primarily focussed on real estate including NED roles at Howard de Walden Estates, Greencore Homes, AEW UK REIT and the Connected Places Catapult. She is Chairman of the GLA’s Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation and of the University of Cambridge Property Board. She is  also chair of  the Churches Conservation Trust, a secular organisation looking after 358 redundant Church of England churches, and of Real Estate Balance, a campaigning organisation working to improve diversity and inclusion in the real estate industry.

Gurpreet has pursued a portfolio career since 2014, with non executive roles in Higher Education, multi-academy trusts, financial services (including advising government on access to dormant assets), infrastructure and health.

He is currently Chair at the University of Derby and an Honorary Fellow at the University of Birmingham, with previous experience as a regulator of Higher Education in England as a Board Member with the Office for Students.  He also has extensive experience as an independent Board Member with the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (also sitting on the Defence wide Audit and Risk assurance committee) and with the London Legacy Development Corporation.

Gurpreet’s prior executive career was in financial risk management and investment banking global operations, with senior leadership positions at Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse from 2006 to 2014.

Rosalyn Schofield is a solicitor with experience in property, sustainability and governance.

She is former member of the Adaptation Committee, an advisory Non-Departmental Public Body created under the Climate Change Act (2008) as part of the Climate Change Committee. She also chaired the Audit and Risk Committee for 8 years until 2025.

She was Director of Company Secretariat at Associated British Foods plc for many years where she had global responsibility for its corporate governance and led and reported on the environmental sustainability and impact of its businesses including Primark.

Rosalyn is also a Council Member and SID of the University of Hull and Chair of its Audit and Risk Committee and a member of The Law Society.

She previously worked as Legal Director at JD Wetherspoon plc and was a commercial property lawyer in private practice.

Darina Armstrong qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1992 whilst working for KPMG. She then moved into the financial services sector with a career spanning more than thirty years in the sector. She recently retired from the role of Chief Executive of Progressive Building Society after serving in that role for 13 years. Prior to that she was Finance Director. Progressive Building Society is Northern Ireland’s largest locally owned financial institution which specialises in providing a range of savings and mortgage products. Its purpose is to encourage savings and home ownership whilst providing excellent service to its members. She has extensive experience of driving performance and delivering organisation wide improvements during a period of unprecedented challenges in a complex dynamic market.

She has served on the Council of the Building Societies Association. The Building Societies Association is the body that represents all 42 UK Building Societies as well as 7 credit unions and is actively involved with political lobbying and liaison with regulatory bodies.

She is a member of Chartered Accountants Ireland Ethics and Governance Committee which meets in Dublin. She is a Board member and Chair of the Audit and Risk committee of Catalyst. Catalyst is a science and technology hub focused on fostering innovation and entrepreneurship, it owns an extensive commercial property footprint providing workspace and amenities.

She holds a degree and a postgraduate diploma in Accounting and a MSc in Executive Leadership. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, a Fellow of the Institute of Banking and a Certified Bank Director. Darina was awarded a MBE, in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2020, for services to economic development.