Our Financial and Risk Management Insights team are experts in how public finances are managed and governed.
Directors
Mfon Akpan
Mfon leads our Financial and Risk Management Insights work. She is a multi-disciplinary risk, assurance and governance professional with over two decades of cross-border leadership experience across the financial services industry.
Mfon has held roles at the World Bank Group as a Risk Management Specialist, Standard Bank Group as Chief Risk Officer and Regional Head of Risk for Nigeria and West Africa, and Barclays Group Plc as Audit Director. She started her career at Arthur Andersen and KPMG. She is currently an independent non-executive director at FBN Bank.
Mfon is a Sloan Fellow from the London Business School, a Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA), a Certified Risk Manager (CRM) and a British Chevening Scholar. She has attended leadership and senior management courses at Wharton and Harvard Business Schools.
Joshua Reddaway
Joshua is the Director of Counter Fraud and Corruption at the NAO, where his role includes overseeing reports on fraud, corruption and transparency. Previously, Joshua led our value for money work relating to the Department for Work and Pensions, and our commercial and contracting insights work. He joined the NAO in 2002.
Joshua has an executive MBA from the Bayes Business School.
Team members
Chris Coyne
Chris leads our work on financial management, Audit and Risk Assurance Committee effectiveness and climate change risk. He has been at the NAO since 2008 and previously specialised in financial audit. Chris has managed a variety of significant audits of government, including HMRC and BEIS.
Chris is ACA-qualified and completed his IRMCert with the Institute of Risk Management in 2021.
Russell Heppleston
Russell leads our insights work on risk management and resilience. He joined the NAO in 2021 as a risk manager. He has nearly 20 years’ experience working in the public sector, specialising in local government, including internal audit, risk management, governance and counter fraud.
Russell is a Chartered Internal Audit Leader (QIAL) and Certified Risk Manager (CMIRM).
Our work
The Financial and Risk Management Insights team leads and support work across the NAO to provide insights on:
- Understanding and improving value for money across government
- Managing all forms of risk effectively
- Improving financial processes for managing fraud and errors
For more on our work in these areas, see the following topics:
Contact the team
You can contact the team by email:
Other Insights teams
Find out about the NAO’s other Insights teams