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Ampa appoints heavy-weight information security officer.

Legal and professional services group Ampa has appointed Allan Bell as group information security officer (GISO).

With more than 20 years experience, Allan joins the group from global building material company CRH where he was governance, risk and best practice manager. Prior to this, he spent 10 years rising through the ranks at Tarmac including five years as the company’s information security officer.

A certified information systems security professional and certified information security manager, Allan has specialist knowledge in information security governance, risk management and, building information security capabilities at a group and global scale.

The newly-created role at Ampa will see Allan work closely with colleagues and the group board, taking responsibility for reviewing and enhancing the information security framework across the growing group to ensure that information assets and associated technology, applications, systems, infrastructure and processes are protected.

Allan said: “Ampa is growing rapidly, which is really exciting but also poses new challenges for the group’s risk profile; I’ll be working closely with teams to pre-empt these challenges, developing a robust multi-year information security programme that will continuously measure and manage risk, protecting our clients, data, brand and people from future threats.

“I’m really looking forward to working in a completely different sector and in particular, working with a group of brands that has such a great culture, huge ambition and appetite for growth.”

Allan’s appointment follows the recent addition of a new South East legal anchor brand - Mayo Wynne Baxter - as well as cyber security consultancy CSS Assure to the group.

CFO at Ampa Paul Bird said: “We work in a data-rich industry, where trust and security means everything to our clients. In order to help us ensure success as we grow, we saw that it was time to expand the team; Allan is a highly experienced information security expert and we are delighted to welcome him to the senior team.

Ampa is proactively seeking talented people to join the group on its growth journey, including mergers, team recruitment and lateral hires nationally.