Pearson Risk Management

Nov 1995 to Oct 2000

Head of Group Control- and its predecessor position,

Head of Group Risk Management

Reporting to the Director of Financial Operations and (independently) to the Audit Committee, I was responsible for ensuring that high quality control environments properly protected the plc’s businesses across the group.  I had a staff of 12 based in London and New York, consisting primarily highly qualified managers, and I managed considerable outsourced services.  I was initially based in London and then, from February 1999, based in New York.

Key Achievements:

• Re-engineered Pearson’s business risk control mechanisms including combining the traditional Internal Audit and Risk Management departments.
• Introduced general risk reporting into the existing mainstream routine reporting mechanisms.
• Reduced insurance spend by 32%, at the same time as broadening cover.
• Managed the investigation into a long-lived, £100m, complex fraud operating in the US, resulting in two convictions and material recoveries.
• Revitalised and strengthened the Internal Audit team that I inherited, improving their workload, their independence, their prioritisation, and their technical resource, e.g. bringing in self-assessment questionnaires and data mining.  This resulted in a dramatically improved contribution in a short timescale: our department gained a very positive reputation for instigating and supporting change.

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