Lab team

Phil Fitz-Gerald

Director

Phil became Director of the Financial Reporting Lab in 2017. He is a Chartered Accountant in the UK with over 20 years of experience in accounting and audit.

He has worked for the FRC since 2009 and was previously the Head of Case Examination and Enquiries where he led the first phase of the FRC's project on improving the quality of reporting at smaller listed and AIM quoted companies.

Phil started his career in the audit practice at a large audit firm where he spent ten years, the latter half of which he worked as a senior manager in the firm’s professional practice department. After leaving practice, he spent five years as a training consultant helping companies with their corporate reporting requirements before joining the FRC.

You can reach Phil on financialreportinglab@frc.org.uk

Thomas Toomse-Smith

Project Director

Thomas joined the Lab in late 2013. Thomas led the Lab’s ‘Towards Clear and Concise Reporting’ project and is now leading the ‘Corporate Reporting in a Digital World’ project looking at how the use of digital reporting might be optimised in the future.

Before joining the Lab, Thomas worked in the Corporate Reporting team at a FTSE 100 company for 2 years. Prior to this he worked in insurance audit for 10 years both in the UK and the US. Thomas is a UK chartered accountant.

You can reach Thomas on financialreportinglab@frc.org.uk

Hannah Armitage

Project Director

Hannah joined the lab in 2017. She moved from the FRC’s Corporate Governance Team, where she worked on reviews of the Stewardship Code and UK Corporate Governance Code.

Hannah is a qualified lawyer and prior to joining the FRC, worked in the Australian Department of the Treasury on corporations and corporate law policy.

You can contact Hannah at financialreportinglab@frc.org.uk

Marie Claire Tabone

Project Manager

Marie Claire joined Lab in June 2020 from PwC, where she was on secondment to the IASB and worked on their Management Commentary project since 2018. Previously, Marie Claire was a manager in PwC’s global investor engagement team, where she engaged with investors, standard setters and regulators on corporate reporting practices.

Marie Claire is a qualified accountant, and prior to working in investor engagement, worked in audit in PwC London, the Channel Islands and Malta.

Andrew Hyland

Project Manager

Andrew Hyland joined the Lab at the end of June 2020 from Deloitte where he was a Senior Manager in the technical corporate reporting and global learning teams. Previously, Andrew lectured financial reporting at the University of Cape Town and the LSE and was an Academic Fellow at the IASB.

You can reach Andrew at: financialreportinglab@frc.org.uk

Karlien Conings

Project Manager

Karlien Conings joined the Lab at the beginning of July 2021. She will be focusing on helping to deliver the innovation and digital strategy in the Lab team. Karlien joined from the IASB, where she worked on the IFRS Taxonomy and the Primary Financial Statements project since 2016. Previously, Karlien worked in group accounting for a listed Belgian retailer.

Michelle Cardwell

Project Manager

Michelle Cardwell joined the Lab in January 2022 from ICAEW, where she was a Technical Manager focusing on audit, assurance, and financial reporting issues. While at ICAEW she led on developing guidance on a range of issues from climate, COVID-19 and Brexit. Previously, Michelle was a Senior Manager in Deloitte’s Risk Advisory Practice, specialising in providing technical accounting and financial advisory services. Michelle is a chartered accountant.

Kefei Wu

Research Assistant

Kefei Wu joined the Lab as a Research Assistant in July 2021, taking some time out from her PhD at Alliance Manchester Business School. She will be assisting across the team's activities, but initially will be helping us with our ESG data research. Kefei's research interests include accounting, risk management and communication (focusing on the banking sector) and specific consulting projects.

Joan Hill

PA to the Lab

Joan Hill became the PA to the Lab team in 2017. She joined the Lab from PwC where she worked in the Insurance and Investment Management Assurance team. Joan supports the team across the full range of activities of the Lab. If you would like to contact her email her at financialreportinglab@frc.org.uk