The Chartered Institue of Taxation

The Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) is the leading body in the UK for taxation professionals dealing with all aspects of taxation. Their primary purpose as a charity is to promote education in taxation. One of their key aims is to achieve a more efficient and less complex tax system for all. It works closely with a second charity called the Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT). 

Membership of both CIOT and ATT is by examination; nationally recognised as the gold standard of UK taxation education. Together both charities support over 26,000 members and 9,000 students throughout their tax careers, providing assistance through their London-based head office and worldwide network of 40 branches. 

We were first introduced to the CIOT in 2017 when its then CFO, Paul Davies identified the need for experienced IT and programme leadership to develop a governance structure and processes for the IT Department. 

One of our team, David Webb, joined CIOT to oversee all IT, systems and digital leadership. David assisted with the development of an IT Strategy for the two charities which included new membership, finance and education systems.  He subsequently led them through scoping and tendering for the new systems and put together a programme plan to deliver the new systems.  

David’s role was to reduce systems cost through better integration and use of the cloud; to facilitate the introduction of new flexible ways of working; reduce the costs of some internal administrative functions and improve management information. In addition, the new IT and systems reduce business continuity risk. 

CIOT’s new systems are focussed on providing better experiences for members, students  and volunteers when interacting with the charity and enable “self service” which reduces the central overhead.  

CIOT and ATT are now completely cloud-based which will give them a totally flexible working environment. When needed they can work from home, on the move, or remotely without interruption or reduction in their effectiveness. 

Helen Whiteman, CEO of CIOT, added:  

“There has been no better time to test the effectiveness of our IT capabilities than through the sudden arrival of a global pandemic.  All teams were able to work remotely in a matter of days enabling us to continue to deliver our business as usual as seamlessly as possible.  That was certainly a huge relief!  David led and supported us through our IT systems transformation ensuring we now have the right platforms in place to engage with all our stakeholders in a more dynamic, digital environment.”