Committee election candidates

Grace is an Audit Partner with Deloitte in Belfast and has been with the firm since joining as a trainee in 2011, qualifying as a chartered accountant in 2015, and progressing to partner in 2024. She has extensive experience providing audit and assurance services across a wide range of sectors, in the UK and Ireland. Grace serves clients in both the public and private sector, from local owner managed businesses and multi-national companies. 

Grace has been actively involved in the Ulster Society for many years, having had a number of roles in the student society (Secretary and Vice-chair). Grace has been on the member services sub-committee since 2019. She has also had an active role in the organising committee for the annual Ulster Society conference in Lisbon in 2022 and upcoming Berlin conference in May 2025. 

Grace is passionate about the Chartered Accountants Ireland brand and building the network, and is keen to leverage her experience with the sub committees to date to contribute to the main committee and represent the  views of members in practice. 

Sarah is a well-rounded and commercial Chartered Accountant with experience across business and practice (Ulster Bank, PwC, Deloitte and Danske Bank) and has been strongly invested in the Ulster Society over the last 9 years. Her career in Advisory and Corporate and Business banking has provided insights into the constant pressures and challenges CAs face in an ever-evolving business environment. Outside of her day job, Sarah volunteers her CA skills to add value, eg: as current Chair, Linen Quarter BID and in Honorary Treasurer positions.

She is proud to see Society members as integral strategic leaders across Northern Ireland. She is keen that the Ulster Society continues growing as a strong support pillar and network to develop future business leaders and champion those already leading the way in strengthening our local economy.

She has been heavily involved in the Society’s sub-committees including YPG, Members Services and Conference – having been YPG convenor for 3 years, a further 3 years as Member Services convenor and has helped to organise 3 conferences so far. Sarah has served on Main Committee supporting 7 fantastic Chairs to date and would be privileged to serve her final term and support the incoming Chair in making their term a success.

Neil is currently Chief Financial Officer of Henderson Group, a wholesale, retail, foodservice and retail technology company operating in NI, ROI, GB and Australia. Since training in practice with EY, he has worked with a range of private equity-backed organisations, both in Northern Ireland and internationally. Through these positions, Neil has been privileged to support jobs creation in the province an is passionate about developing Northern Ireland as a place to do business.

Neil has served s a member of the Chartered Accountants in Business sub-Committee for several years and has  keen interest in developing skills to support the emerging demands placed on accountants in business, including corporate finance, data and analytics and artificial intelligence.

Neil really values the Institute's ability to offer members the opportunity to collaborate and share ideas and is keen to encourage further engagement from members in business in the Institute. Over the years, Neil has encouraged members working in business with him to gain further qualifications through the Institute and participate in Institute events, with a keen focus on attending the Annual Conference.

Michael is based in Belfast and serves as the Group Financial Controller at OCO Global, a technology-enabled economic development and trade advisory consultancy. He began his career in audit, where he gained invaluable experience, and has since broadened his expertise through career pivots into the financial services and construction sectors. This has allowed him to develop a strong understanding across a range of industries.

He has been actively involved in the Ulster Society’s ACA Professionals Group for a number of years and recently joined Chartered Accountants in Business (CAB). Michael is also deeply committed to voluntary work, currently serving as Treasurer for both Young Leaders NI and the children’s charity Young at Art. Through these roles, he is passionate about expanding the reach of the accountancy profession—promoting interdisciplinary collaboration and supporting creative opportunities for children outside of the classroom.

Michael is particularly interested in helping fellow members, especially the next generation, grow their networks by fostering connections through collaboration, shared learning, and meaningful engagement. He believes it’s vital to show that the profession is about more than just “crunching numbers”—it's about people, purpose, and positive impact.

Harriet Porter

Harriet is a Director within the Tax practice at KPMG and has extensive experience providing UK and cross-border tax advice to both large multi-nationals and local NI businesses. Harriet has been involved in the Ulster Society for a number of years, sitting on the Member Services sub committee and taking an active role in helping to organise and support many of the Ulster Society’s flagship events.

In addition, Harriet has been invited to sit on the Conference sub-committee for a number of Chairpersons contributing to various aspects of the conference organisation and execution. As a Main Committee member Harriet would like to contribute further to the wider Ulster Society objectives, engaging and supporting our members and promoting the Chartered Accountant brand. She also hopes to leverage her experience as a tax professional to bring focus, drive support and represent the Ulster Society members in the pursuit of a lower corporation tax rate for Northern Ireland.