Meet a Committee member: Ken Marland, member of the Standards, Ethics and Regulatory Liaison Committee and the Regulation and Conduct Committee
Other articles (Insolvency Practitioner, October 2020):
What is your career background?
My time in insolvency started in 1991 at Stoys, now BDO, followed by Deloitte and then the start of what became volume IVA when I joined Payplan in 1999.
Since 1999, I’ve also been a partner at Harrisons Business Rescue.
While at the corporate firms, I’ve been involved in running a range of businesses across a wide number of sectors as well reporting to banks on their chances of recovery. I’ve dealt with optimists, the unfortunate, repeat entrepreneurs and the odd crook.
Being in volume IVA created the very different challenges of dealing with large numbers of individuals and the issues they face, both financial and personal, and finding solutions that work for them. At the same time, I also need to balance that with the interests of creditors.
I can’t think of any other profession that gives such a wide variety of work that tests your problem-solving skills on a daily basis, where you can look back and see the tangible benefit you have created.
How did you join the Committees?
I was invited to join SERL when SIP 3 was being reviewed, which created different SIPs for IVAs and CVAs.
At the time, I was involved in volume IVAs, so could bring practical sector knowledge to the new SIPs.
I was previously a member of the old Investigations Committee, which the Regulation and Conduct Committee (R&CC) replaced, and I was co-opted from this Committee on to the R&CC.
Like most IPs, I didn’t know the work of the various Committees, but saw this as an opportunity to be involved in improving the reputation and standards of the IVA sector, and later the profession as a whole, so I jumped at the chance to join them.
What is the value to you of being on these Committees?
Having been in the profession for 30 years, I am proud of the work that IPs do and want to improve our reputation and standards, in what is a changing economic landscape. Being on the Committees allows me to be involved in that process rather than looking on from the sidelines.
Working with the other members, who are from a wide range of businesses and backgrounds, is rewarding in that it brings different perspectives to the issues we face as a profession, as well as in my daily work.
If you weren’t Partner at Harrisons Business Rescue, what would you be doing?
Rock star. Definitely a rock star. The only thing stopping me is a complete lack of musical ability and inability to write a song. I can’t really sing either.
Insolvency it is then, or professional ski bum.