Kathryn Cearns (OBE) joins NDA Board as a Non-Executive Board Member

This appointment has been made by Kwasi Kwarteng, the Secretary of State for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, in consultation with Scottish Ministers.

Dr Ros Rivaz, the Chair of the NDA, said:

I am delighted that Kathryn is joining us to support the important and complex work we do to decommission the UK’s 17 earliest nuclear sites. Kathryn has extensive experience in financial reporting and corporate governance, including the reporting and auditing aspects of company law and risk management. She will bring a valuable perspective not just to ensure the effectiveness of the risk assurance control framework established by the Board, but also to help us shape our strategy and deliver transformational change.

Kathryn Cearns said:

This is a hugely exciting, challenging and rewarding opportunity. The work the NDA does is world-leading and its mission is of vital importance to the UK. I feel privileged to be able to contribute to decisions over the coming years which will carry weight for the next generation and beyond.

Kathryn is a chartered accountant with extensive senior level experience in both the public and private sectors. She was Chair of the Financial Reporting Advisory Board to HM Treasury from 2010 to 2016 and Chair of the ICAEW Financial Reporting Committee for 10 years. Her past roles include project director at the UK Accounting Standards Board (now the Financial Reporting Council) and consultant accountant for an international law firm. Kathryn has held a number of non-executive, trustee and advisory appointments, including at the Office of Tax Simplification, the Property Ombudsman, Crossrail, and National Highways.

At the NDA, her role on the NDA Board will see her chair the important Audit, Risk and Assurance Board Committee which oversees effective risk management, control and governance of the NDA’s annual budget of over £3 billion.