Ali
Jones

Who I help

Group Executive Team. Senior leadership team. AAB clients. Internal team members.

How I help

Compliance & governance. Risk management. Policy development and assurance. Internal controls & quality standards. Regulatory engagement and liaison.

“Bringing together technology, people & processes.”

As Head of Risk & Compliance for Professional Services across AAB, Ali Jones brings strategic leadership, deep regulatory expertise, and a proactive approach to managing complex risk landscapes.

Ali draws on many years of experience working with clients as an external adviser and as an internal practitioner in managing the risk and regulatory complexities of professional services firms. She collaborates regularly with others across industry forums and associations.

PROTECTING OUR CLIENTS AND OUR FIRM

“At AAB, standards and expectations are high, and the regulatory landscape we operate in is complex. My role is to ensure our teams can navigate that environment with confidence. I work closely with professional bodies and regulators such as ICAEW, ICAS and CAI to maintain strong, collaborative relationships that underpin much of our professional activity.

Risk management touches every part of our business – from people, finance and technology to facilities, operations and client delivery – so I have the privilege of working with teams across AAB and our external partners to make sure the right experts are managing the right areas. With professional services firms being a prime target for financial crime, I also lead our focus on countering economic crime and ensuring our compliance framework remains robust and proactive.”

No growth without challenge

“As AAB grows, we’re working hard to ensure we embed robust risk and compliance systems and processes which can scale with us to support that growth and continue the enviable reputation AAB enjoys for quality client relationships and service delivery. We’re building out an experienced and enthusiastic risk and compliance team, and this is a great example of how growth brings opportunities for our people.

As an acquisitive group, AAB frequently has new businesses joining us, and I’m involved in the process from the due diligence phase and liaison with regulators right through to bringing the teams fully onboard with AAB. Of course, we want to identify and mitigate risks and ensure that all the compliance aspects are covered, but an important part of supporting the businesses that join AAB is giving them a dedicated risk and compliance resource, expertise and systems so that the client teams can focus even more time on looking after their clients.

Fostering our culture of professional integrity and client centricity across AAB (strengthened by robust systems and frameworks) is supporting us to achieve sustainable business growth.”

MOVING GOAL POSTS

“A traditional view of risk and compliance might see it as a predictable and steady area – the reality is very different in a fast-growing professional services firm.  Continually evolving and dynamic are better adjectives, particularly in the current era of AI. New regulations, new locations, new service lines, new client types, new technologies, new ways to use existing technologies, new ways of working – the goal posts move all the time and we need to be ahead of the game.”

CLIENT FOCUSED SOLUTIONS

“Supporting the wider AAB team through this rapidly changing environment is a critical part of my team’s role. It’s an inevitable part of life that sometimes, despite all best intentions, things can go wrong. In these circumstances, we keep a central focus on looking after our clients and work with the wider team to ensure that we understand the underlying reasons for any mistakes and respond to those. Improvements might lie in better identifying training needs, improving internal processes and controls or demanding changes from third-party suppliers, for example.”

No two days are the same

“Being able to segue from ‘big picture’ to a grasp of the detail, whether that’s across the risk landscape, operational processes, regulatory or commercial implications, is a key strength I bring to AAB.

And in a role where two days are never the same, fresh thinking, leadership skills, and effective problem solving are useful attributes.”

No boring accountants OR RISK & COMPLIANCE PROFESSIONALS HERE

“All the ‘boring’ accountants and risk and compliance professionals must work somewhere other than AAB! Our people are knowledgeable, always keen to learn, passionate about what they do and certainly don’t leave their personalities at home.”