AAT AGM 2023 round-up

Find out what your votes achieved.

AAT’s annual general meeting (AGM) happened in our office on Friday 15 September. The packed agenda included the presidential handover, announcing the winners of the Council nominations, the Past Presidents’ Award and an overview of our annual report.

Council nominee results were announced

Rita Patel and Francesca Tricarico were both re-elected for a three-year term, Sharon Burrows and Beverley Flanagan were newly elected with three-year terms and Wayne Cook was elected and will re-join Council for a one-year term.

Congratulations to each of them, and thank you to everyone who ran. Please keep submitting your applications in future rounds!

Annual report overview was presented

AAT introduced two significant developments in 2022-2023 with the new Qualifications 22 and Progression Pathways for members. Their impact can be seen in our performance compared to the previous year 2021-22.​

Professional and affiliate membership grew to its highest level since 2018-2019, with strong retention and new member performance. Customer satisfaction has dipped slightly but, for the eighth consecutive year, still exceeded our organisational target of 80, and remained above the all-sector industry average of 77.7.​

Looking ahead, the 2030 strategy is ambitious and gives us a blueprint to keep our profession relevant, drive up professional standards and build responsible business. The strategies that underpin these goals will ensure the interests of our students and members – our core communities – are at the heart of everything we do.

We said farewell to our previous President

Christina Earls wrapped up an eventful year. “I look back on this last 12 years of activity, and particularly as President, full of immense pride and admiration, representing our AAT members and students, who are the soul of this organisation, and reaching out to those who would like to develop a career in accounting whatever their characteristics or background.

“Thank you all for providing me with the opportunity, the honour and privilege of being your President.”

And welcomed our new one

A warm welcome to our new President, Kevin Bragg. “The theme for my time as President is employability. AAT is about accountants for the real world. That means upskilling our members to take on new opportunities and preparing accountants of the future for their workplace. AAT is committed to equipping our students and members with the practical skills to succeed and thrive in any workplace of today and tomorrow.

“I am looking forward to connecting with as many of the AAT community as possible over the coming year. I know I will meet so many inspiring people and already I can feel that we’re going to make great strides towards our goals outlined in our 2030 strategic plan”.

Past Presidents’ Award was given

One of Christina’s final tasks was to recognise the winner of the Past Presidents’ Award, Gemma Heard.

Gemma says, “AAT has been with me through my whole career as an accountant, and the qualification has been genuinely life-changing and given me so many opportunities. I am proud to be part of AAT and winning this award is the pinnacle of my career.”

Thank you for participating

Your contributions, be they nominating yourself for Council, voting for others, weighing in on important topics or turning up to the AGM, help us to understand and represent members’ needs better.

AAT Comment offers news and opinion on the world of business and finance from the Association of Accounting Technicians.