Mr Beaty has extensive experience working with the boards and shareholders of high growth private companies through his 20 years as a partner with private equity group 3i in Glasgow, Leeds and London.

He now operates as an independent board chair, working with both private and publicly quoted companies and devotes a significant amount of time to his roles as Trustee and Chair with charities in healthcare, education and the arts.

When asked what attracted him to the non-executive chair role at AAB, Ken Beaty explained: “AAB Group is flourishing and has a clear vision to continue to accelerate its growth in the coming years. With an exceptionally talented team, and strong backing from private equity investor August Equity, AAB has a clear commitment to deliver real value to clients and is focused on building a leading tech-enabled, business critical services group which is highly differentiated in the market. I am delighted to have the opportunity to support AAB as it continues on this journey.”

Graeme Allan, AAB chief executive, commented: “It is fantastic to have Ken join AAB Group at what is an incredibly exciting time for our business. His depth of experience, strategic vision and extensive network will be invaluable to the Board as we identify new opportunities to continue to fast-track our growth.”

In 2021, AAB merged with Glasgow-based accountancy firm Hardie Caldwell, acquired Edinburgh-based Purpose HR, and merged with Leeds-based accountancy firm Sagars. The business plans to build on this momentum and continue to expand its portfolio of tech-enabled services for the SME and enterprise markets, fuelled by recent investment from August Equity.