It’s been a busy and energising few weeks for the team, with plenty happening both in the industry and for us here at Littlechild & Haley. We’ve had some fantastic conversations with internal audit leaders across Wales and beyond, and it has been encouraging to see just how engaged the profession is with some of the big themes emerging right now.
There are also some exciting plans ahead for us, including taking our conversations out on the road with a series of drop-in sessions across the UK. More on that shortly.
3-Lines Governance Innovation Hub & Roundtable – 27th February
At the end of February we hosted our latest Hub roundtable event, bringing together Heads of Internal Audit and senior audit leaders from across the region.
The format is intentionally simple. Four short ten-minute presentations to set the scene, followed by a roundtable discussion where everyone in the room can contribute their experiences, questions and perspectives.
What makes these sessions particularly valuable is the openness of the discussion. It gives people the chance to step away from their own organisations for an hour or two, hear how others are approaching similar challenges, and make connections with peers across the profession. This time we explored four topics that are generating a lot of interest across internal audit:
- Cyber security Topical Requirement
- Foresight and emerging risk
- Measuring performance in internal audit
- Revisiting AI in internal audit
The conversation that followed was exactly what we hope for from these sessions. Honest reflections, practical insights, and a chance for people to learn from each other’s experiences. For those who attended, thank you for contributing to such a thoughtful discussion. For those who couldn’t make it, notes from the sessions are available on request by emailing info@littlechildhaley.co.uk.
We are already looking forward to the next event. If you have not yet signed up for future Hub sessions, you can register via our newsletter page.
Following the roundtable, we have also expanded two of the topics into blog posts for anyone interested in exploring them further:
Wales IIA Conference
Earlier in the month we were also pleased to be part of the Wales, Institute of Internal Auditors conference on 11th February. As always, it was a great opportunity to reconnect with colleagues from across the profession and hear the latest thinking on where internal audit is heading.
Donna’s keynote focused on foresight and emerging risk, exploring why organisations so often say “we didn’t see that coming” when disruption occurs. One of the central themes was that major failures rarely appear suddenly. More often they begin with small signals that feel too ordinary to escalate.
The keynote sparked some great conversations afterwards, particularly around how internal audit can play a role in recognising patterns across organisations and raising those early signals before they become bigger problems. If you’d like the slides, please do reach out.
We’re Taking the Conversation on Tour
One thing that has become very clear over the past year is that many people in the profession want more opportunities for informal discussion.
As a result, we are planning a series of Littlechild & Haley drop-in sessions across the UK, starting with Birmingham, London and Bristol.
The idea is to create something slightly smaller and more relaxed than our Cardiff Hub events. These sessions will be a chance to meet us in your area, talk through some of the questions facing internal audit teams right now, and hear a short presentation on a topic of interest.
Think of it as a more intimate version of the Hub format, designed to spark useful conversations and help people connect with others in the profession.
We will be announcing dates and venues very soon. In the meantime, if this sounds like something you would be interested in attending, do get in touch.
Supporting the Arts in Cardiff
Finally, a slightly different highlight from the past few weeks. We were proud to sponsor the play Hit and Run, performed at Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff. The production explores the themes of domestic and sexual violence in a powerful and thought-provoking way.
The sponsorship also had a special connection for us. One of the play’s authors, Jo, recently received a Community Impact Award at the Women’s Academy Wales Awards at the Senedd, recognising the importance of the work being done around these issues.
As Donna said:
“The play sponsorship felt particularly meaningful because of the work Jo is doing in the community. It’s always important to support initiatives that bring difficult but vital conversations into the open.”
Looking Ahead
It has been a busy few weeks, but also a rewarding one. From industry discussions to roundtables, conferences and community projects, we’ve been reminded again how valuable it is to step outside the day-to-day and connect with people across the profession.
And with the upcoming tour plans, we are looking forward to continuing those conversations in person around the UK. More soon.
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Oh! And we also managed a team day out to watch Wales vs Scotland!
