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Alan Kershaw confirmed as Chair of ARB

June 24, 2022 | News Release

We are pleased to announce that Alan Kershaw has been appointed as Chair of the Architects Registration Board (ARB) for a four-year period, starting Monday 20 June 2022.

Alan Kershaw

Alan has been serving as ARB Chair since 11 June 2020, initially in a temporary capacity. Through his leadership, the Board is responsible for maintaining the public’s trust and confidence in architects.

The Board is made up of 11 members all appointed by the Privy Council. This includes one independent, non-executive Chair and ten non-executive Board members made up of five members of the public and five architects. A Board member’s tenure cannot exceed eight years (whether consecutive or not).

More information on the role of ARB’s Board can be found here.

Hugh Simpson, Chief Executive and Registrar of ARB, said: “We are delighted that the Secretary of State has confirmed Alan Kershaw as Chair of our Board. In the time that I’ve worked with him at ARB he’s driven the development of an ambitious new five-year corporate strategy and sought to make ARB a more responsive and effective regulator. He has championed vital change in the way architects are trained and educated at the start of their careers, and the need for an effective statutory model of continuing professional development.  The ARB team is looking forward to continuing to work with him and benefit from his passion and leadership.”

Alan Kershaw, Chair of ARB, said: “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to chair the ARB Board for another four years. This will allow the Board and me to continue the important work we have been doing, to help architects and architecture be as good as they can be. As well as continuing professional development and regulation for architects, we are also focusing on a highly significant review of initial education and training. Through this we hope to make entry to the profession more accessible for everyone, creating new career paths for a wider cross section of the population.

Mark Bottomley, Senior Independent Board Member, said: “I warmly welcome Alan’s appointment as Chair. He continues to lead the ARB Board during an exciting and challenging time for the profession, using his experience to guide ARB’s ambitious corporate strategy. I’ve witnessed firsthand Alan’s wealth of experience in excellent professional regulation, and architects need a regulator that will make a positive contribution to education, training and continuous professional development. I’m looking forward to continuing to work with him and ARB’s dedicated team of staff.

NOTES TO EDITORS:

Please note that Members of ARB’s Board, including its chair, are appointed by the Privy Council after consultation with the Secretary of State and such other persons or bodies as the Privy Council thinks fit. Alan Kershaw’s appointment as Chair will run from 20 June 2022 until 19 June 2026.

Alan Kershaw: Alan has specialised in professional regulation since 1983. He has worked in both executive and non-executive roles, and now serves as a lay member of a range of professional bodies. He has been involved in standards setting for professional groups across the main sectors: healthcare, law, finance, property, science. He has experience in all parts of the regulatory process, with particular focus on standards and education, governance and strategy, and the effective handling of fitness to practise cases. He has published numerous articles on regulation in professional journals and has delivered papers and national and international conferences.

ARB: The Architects Registration Board (ARB) is an independent professional regulator, established by Parliament as a statutory body, through the Architects Act, in 1997. It is accountable to government. The law gives ARB a number of core functions:

  • To ensure only those who are suitably competent are allowed to practise as architects. ARB does this by approving the qualifications required to join the UK Register of Architects.
  • ARB maintains a publicly available Register of Architects so anyone using the services of an architect can be confident that they are suitably qualified and are fit to practise
  • ARB sets the standards of conduct and practice the profession must meet and take action when any architect falls below the required standards of conduct or competence
  • ARB protects the legally restricted title ‘architect’

For questions and information requests, please contact ARB Policy & Communications team at media@arb.org.uk

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