Owner - Darren Kelk IRRV MCICM

With over 26 years of experience in private sector debt collection, Darren has a fantastic understanding of how data can be used to help debt collection for both the public and private sector. Darren has over 21 years’ experience delivering bespoke training sessions as well as speaking at the National and Local IRRV and Housing Network Conferences.

Managing Director - Richard Hanby IRRV

As a founding director of the business Richard brings knowledge of private sector debt collection and experience building data driven software solutions at scale. With over a decade of experience, Richard steers the business objectives and technology stack, driving Ascendant into a 100% Cloud based business with massive scale and infrastructure redundancy as a result. Richard is also the Data Security Manager, tasked with managing operational risk, data security and compliance.

Partnerships Director - Sam Hanby

Sam Hanby is Partnerships Director at Ascendant Solutions, working with Local Authorities to modernise revenues and benefits through innovative software, data intelligence and automation. He helps councils streamline processes, strengthen compliance and adopt practical automation. Sam also serves as Vice President of the Yorkshire IRRV Association, supporting sector-wide improvement..

IT Director - Max Peake (BSc Hons)

Max graduated in Computer Science from Sheffield Hallam University and joined Ascendant in 2020 to expand our development Team. Working on developing our products to extract their full potential alongside bringing new projects to release sooner.

Senior Software Developer - Nathan L. Sykes

Nathan L. Sykes has been at ascendant for 4 and a half years now since joining on a placement year in 2021 carrying out part time work until he graduated from Sheffield Hallam university in 2024 where he went on to work full time, contributing heavily to the design, development, and ongoing improvement of our data driven software platforms. Working closely with product, technical, and delivery teams, Nathan helps ensure Ascendant’s solutions are scalable, reliable, and built to meet the complex operational needs of local authorities. His role is central to turning real world requirements into secure, high performing systems that councils can depend on day to day.

Business Operations Manager - Neil Kelk

Neil is an ex Warrant Officer with over 32 years working with the British Army serving throughout the world in most of the conflict zones from 1988 – 2013 in Transport Logistic Operations.

The final 10 years of his career were spent supporting United Kingdom Special Forces (Hereford) and at Headquarters Directorate Special Forces (London), serving in some of the most hostile environments during this period.

After leaving the Army he joined a family-owned independent pharmacy in Chesterfield operating over 150 pharmacies across England as their Transport and Pharmacy to Home Delivery Manager.

Partnership Manager - Jacey Frost

Jacey Frost since starting in 2024 has quickly ascended to partnership manager, working closely with partners to strengthen relationships and ensure councils get maximum value from Ascendant’s solutions. With a strong focus on collaboration, Jacey supports partners throughout their lifecycle from training to helping align technology, service delivery, and real-world outcomes for the public sector.

Partnerships Executive - Victoria Asher

Victoria began her career at Derby City Council, where she led the Housing Benefits Overpayments Team, gaining first‑hand experience of the operational and financial challenges faced by Local Authorities. This foundation gave Victoria a strong understanding of Revenues & Benefits services and a passion for improving processes and outcomes across the public sector.

Building on this experience, Victoria went on to work with organisations including Rossendales, UK Search, JTR Collections, and Ascendant Solutions in its early stages, supporting Local Authorities nationwide to become more efficient, proactive, and effective in their recovery and collection activities.

After broadening her sales and business development experience in other sectors, Victoria returned to where her expertise has the greatest impact... Local Government. Now back at Ascendant Solutions as a Partnership Executive, Victoria is focused on building long‑lasting partnerships and helping councils deliver outstanding services with confidence.