Robert Clements is a British management consultant, business founder and advocate for the use of international standards to improve organisations, facilitate global trade and protect society.

He founded Assent Risk Management in 2002 and has led the business through more than two decades of growth and change, developing it from its original technology roots into a multidisciplinary management consultancy specialising in international standards, compliance, risk and organisational improvement.

Robert is an experienced ISO consultant and auditor, a Lead Auditor for ISO 27001 and a Professional Member of BCS (MBCS). His work has included supporting organisations with management systems, information security, quality, business continuity and other areas of organisational compliance.

Developing the Consultancy Profession

Alongside building Assent, Robert has taken an interest in developing consultants and strengthening the wider management consultancy profession.

Through Assent’s Associate Consultant Scheme, he has worked with independent consultants at different stages of their careers, providing opportunities to gain experience, develop their professional capabilities and undertake consultancy and auditing assignments.

Robert also founded UKConsulting as an independent initiative intended to provide a stronger voice for the UK consultancy profession, encourage collaboration and provide resources for consultants and consultancy businesses.

He believes that consultants and consultancy firms can achieve more through collaboration than competition alone and regularly engages with peers, specialists and competing organisations on areas of shared professional interest.

Making Compliance Knowledge Accessible

Robert is an advocate for making useful compliance knowledge and resources more accessible.

He has supported the publication of practical resources that organisations and consultants can use without charge, including Assent’s legal register template and regular legal and regulatory updates.

He also publishes a monthly Standards Update covering developments to international and national standards and regularly writes about emerging standards, legislation, auditing, information security, artificial intelligence and the changing compliance landscape.

Where appropriate, Robert has supported the responsible sharing of anonymised compliance and non-conformance data for research, recognising that aggregated industry evidence can help researchers and practitioners better understand how management systems operate in practice.

International Standards and the Future of Compliance

Robert believes international standards have an increasingly important role to play as organisations become more interconnected and technologies develop more rapidly.

His particular interests include the evolution of ISO management system standards, information security and privacy, artificial intelligence governance, conformity assessment, regulatory change and the application of standards to emerging business risks.

His writing frequently examines new and revised standards and asks a practical question: what does this development actually mean for organisations implementing and maintaining management systems?

More than 20 Years in Consultancy

Since founding Assent in 2002, Robert has experienced the practical challenges of establishing, growing and diversifying a consultancy business.

This experience informs his wider work supporting consultants and encouraging a more collaborative consultancy profession. He continues to contribute articles, commentary, resources and industry initiatives alongside his role in the strategic development of Assent and related businesses.

Robert’s Areas of Interest

Robert regularly writes and speaks about international standards and ISO management systems, compliance and governance, information security, artificial intelligence governance, auditing and conformity assessment, management consultancy, consultant development, business growth and the future of the compliance profession.