Chairman

James Normand was appointed to the Board of AAA in 2019, becoming chairman in 2020.

James qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1978, having trained with Spicer and Pegler (now part of Deloitte). Following a secondment to 3i plc, James specialised for the next 15 years in the provision of advice to management buy-out and buy-in teams and on corporate acquisitions, disposals and capital raisings.

On leaving professional practice, James filled management and finance officer roles for a number of different commercial and charitable organisations. From 2009 to 2016, he was Finance Director of Pathfinder Minerals Plc, an AIM-traded minerals company.

In an unremunerated extra-curricular capacity, James is chairman of the trustees of AtaLoss, a charity providing support to the bereaved and furthering the profile of bereavement as an issue of public health.

Executive Director

Colin McQuade joined the Board of AAA in December 2022.

Colin is a senior technology executive with over two decades of experience working for global blue-chip companies. Prior to joining AAA, Colin was Chief Technology Officer of BGL Group (the owner of comparethemarket.com); and, before that, Head of Technology Change at Barclays International, leading a global team responsible for technology services across multiple sectors and markets. This followed senior roles at Sky Group, AOL, Orange and Yahoo! Europe.

Colin is also the Chairman of Sentiance NV (AAA’s principal investment) and is a non-executive member of the Board of Directors of AMINA Bank AG, a FINMA-regulated crypto investment bank, headquartered in Switzerland.

Non-executive director

John Hardbattle joined the Board of AAA in April 2024.

John qualified as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG in 1972. Moving to Grant Thornton in 1974, he became successively Managing Partner of its Leicester office, then of its Birmingham office, and then of the Midlands Region. Simultaneous with fulfilling these roles, John also advised a number of significant family businesses, contributing to their growth and development.

On retiring from Grant Thornton in 2009, John set up his own accounting and advisory practice, which he continues to run with other family members.

Non-executive director

After achieving an honours degree in Commerce from the University of Liverpool, Steven qualified as a Chartered Accountant at BDO and subsequently as a Chartered Tax Adviser whilst at KPMG.

He lectured in Taxation at FTC for four years and then held a number of senior financial positions at large public and private groups, culminating in him becoming CFO of a FTSE 250 company.

For the last 24 years, Steven has been a close adviser to Nick Candy and he currently runs Candy Ventures Sarl from its base in Luxembourg.