About Us

We are two of the most experienced insolvency professionals in the field with over 50 years’ experience between us. Our knowledge and skills acquired through decades spent working in insolvency practices have been enriched by our time spent elsewhere: in Michelle Butler’s case, as Head of Regulatory Standards and Monitoring at the IPA and, for Joanne Harris, as a personal trainer for the CPI and JIEB.

Before founding the Compliance Alliance in 1 June 2015 together with Deborah Manzoori (who left in July 2016), we had spent the previous few years working as independent compliance consultants.

Michelle Butler MIPA MABRP

Michelle gained many years’ insolvency case administration and management experience at BDO Stoy Hayward and Levy Gee/Numerica. She then joined the IPA as Regulation Manager for 3 years, followed by 4 years as Head of Regulatory Standards and Monitoring.

Whilst at the IPA, Michelle managed the inspection and in-house monitoring teams and dealt with matters handled by the Joint Insolvency Committee. She also had daily contact with many IPs, as she serviced the IPA Ethics Helpline and she was a regular speaker at the IPA's annual roadshows. These roles have given her a unique insight into the expectations of the IPA and the JIC, as well as some of the unusual challenges faced by IPs.

Michelle remains passionate about all things insolvency, writing regularly on her own insolvency blog, Insolvency Oracle, and delivering presentations for events and webinars run by the ICAEW and R3. Michelle is also a member of R3’s General Technical Committee and contributes regularly to their technical articles.

Joanne Harris BA(Hons) MSc Licensed IP

Jo has worked in insolvency for over 22 years, following a short career in law. She started her career in insolvency at PWC and has held senior positions at Grant Thornton and BDO Stoy Hayward before being appointed Director of Technical and Compliance at UHY Hacker Young. For the last 8 years she has run her own insolvency training and consultancy company, which also supplies documentation to a leading case management software company.

Jo is an experienced trainer, and has delivered both in-house bespoke training as well as personal tuition to CPI, CPCI, CPPI and JIEB candidates. In 2013 Jo was a finalist in the Insolvency & Rescue Awards for the Education/Training Provider of the Year.