Judges

Barry is the Taxation Partner at George Hay Chartered Accountants and currently serving as President of the Association of Tax Technicians (ATT). He is a Chartered Accountant, Chartered Tax Adviser and member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners.

He was also one of the first accountants in the country to pass the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales’ probate qualification.

He advises on the complete range of taxes, with a particular interest in Capital Gains Tax, Inheritance Tax, and property and land transactions. He is an expert in Share and Business Valuations and has appeared in both the High and County Courts as an expert witness.

Barry lectures widely on taxation on behalf of Taxation Institutes who are providing training for other professionals and is the co-author of two publications; Tax planning, a joint publication between the UK200 Group and the Daily Telegraph, and the Innovation Handbook, endorsed by the Intellectual Property Office.

As well as his services to clients, Barry offers a tax consultancy service for smaller practices throughout the UK, as well as advising on one off tax problems for other accountants and taxpayers.

A seasoned in-house Tax Manager, Chloe has extensive tax experience advising some of the UK’s largest businesses, including Balfour Beatty, Asda, and Drax Group plc. Over the past decade, she has developed specialisms in corporate and employment tax compliance, development and management of tax processes and governance, and IR35. She is an active member of the Association of Taxation Technicians, hosting technical webinars on large corporate topics. Chloe has previously been Chair of the ATT & CIOT Leeds Branch since May 2025 and also sits on the ATT Membership & Business Development Steering Group.

Chloe is passionate about promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace, with a particular focus on living with disability and promoting social mobility across the profession. She is a qualified Mental Health First Aider and offers career mentoring via the ATT Mentor Match programme.

A keen runner and gym-goer, Chloe also spends her spare time playing music, and is a season ticket holder for the rugby league team, Hull FC.

Details coming soon…

Joan Ballantine BA, MSc, PhD, FCCA is an accounting graduate and Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA). After working in industry and gaining her professional qualification, she moved into academia: working at Warwick Business School (where she gained a PhD) and Queen’s University Belfast.

She is currently a Professor of Accounting, Ulster University (since 2008). She has experience of teaching a range of subjects, including strategic management accounting, at both undergraduate and Masters level. Joan is an active researcher and is passionate about accounting education and gender equality (including gender budgeting and gender in senior management). She has secured circa £600k in research funding as principal investigator and is currently leading on a work package for a £4.8m EPIC Futures NI Local Policy Innovation Partnership (funded by UKRI, ESRC, AHRC and Innovate UK) to support those considered economically inactive back into work. She has examined numerous doctorates, is widely published and is on the editorial board of several journals.

Joan holds/has held a number of board positions and is an Independent Assessor for the Commissioner for Public Appointments in Northern Ireland. She is actively involved in organising the Irish Accounting and Finance Association Doctoral Colloquium and was the joint convenor of the annual British Accounting and Finance Association (BAFA) Doctoral Masterclasses for a number of years.

Joan recently won the BAFA Outstanding Contribution to Accounting & Finance Education Award (2023) and was appointed Vice-President of BAFA in April 2024. She has been involved for several years in the review and revision of the UK Quality Assurance Agency’s Accounting Benchmark Statement, most recently serving as Chair for its substantial revision.

Dr. Kim Johnston is Regional Director for the Institute of Chartered Accountants England and Wales (ICAEW) supporting members across the North East, Yorkshire, and Humber. Prior to this Kim held leadership roles in telecommunications, including Chief Commercial Officer at MS3 Networks and Regional Partnership Director at CityFibre.

Kim is also Non-Executive Director for both Bolton Cares, a Local Authority Trading Company providing adult social care and also Future Transformation, providing awareness and opportunities for communities in tech.

With a PhD researching the impact of the integration of teams within the English health and social care system, Kim has an excellent understanding of partnership working and enjoys engaging with a diverse range of stakeholders, including local and regional policymakers, to achieve shared goals.

Konstantinos Bozos is Professor of International Accounting and Finance and Head of the Accounting and Finance Department at Leeds University Business School. Prior to joining Leeds, Konstantinos worked for several years in asset management, equity markets and financial consulting. His work sits at the interface between academic accounting and professional practice. As Head of Department he is responsible for the department’s strategy, staff development and international profile, and has led programme and departmental accreditation exercises alongside the design of professionally accredited accounting modules.

His teaching has been recognised with the Business School’s award for teaching excellence. His research on corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions and financial reporting is published in leading international journals, and he co-founded the Financial Management Special Interest Group of the British Academy of Management. He has held international visiting positions (Georgia State University in the US, Vienna University of Economics and Business in Austria, the University of Piraeus and the International Hellenic University in Greece) and has acted as a Non-Executive Director in the financial services sector. He has served as external examiner for the University of Oxford and King’s College London and on national accreditation panels across Europe.

Details coming soon…