haysmacintyre has appointed Dougie Todd as a partner in its VAT team and is the sixth addition to the partnership this year. Previously he was assistant tax director at bet365, leading the VAT and duties teams, and he has also held positions at Big Four and mid-tier firms, where he specialised in a range of corporate sectors including property, construction and supply chains from a taxation perspective. In his role as VAT partner he will work closely with Phil Salmon, partner and head of VAT, leading the team and further developing the firm’s VAT service line.

Armstrong Watson has made a number of key appointments and promotions in its Glasgow office. Martin Johnston has been promoted to audit and assurance partner, Brian Rudkin has been appointed employment tax partner, and managing director and partner Stewart Crockett has taken the helm at Armstrong Watson Financial Planning. Financial planning consultant Jennifer McMahon, accounting senior manager Colleen Welsh and senior talent acquisition adviser Claire Connelly have also joined the 29-strong Glasgow office team. The firm has invested significantly in the five years since it acquired the Haines Watts Glasgow office in Blythswood Square and amalgamated its former Queen Street base.

Azets has appointed Annette Stone as private client tax partner at the Plymouth office. She has a wealth of knowledge in advising owner managed businesses, directors, partnerships and individuals on tax, trusts, estates and succession planning. She began her career as a trainee for a Canary Wharf based firm, initially dealing with Lloyds underwriters and high net worth individuals before joining EY’s private client advisory team and became more involved in trusts and estates as part of her client base. Previously she was a tax director at Westcotts.

RPG Chartered Accountants have strengthened their audit team with the appointment of Maria Khan, Naomi Chan and Ben Kershaw as audit leads. They are based in Manchester working in a 20-strong audit team. Khan studied for her degree in accountancy and finance while working with a small firm of accountants and then joined the graduate programme with a national firm of accountants before joining RPG. Chan joins from BDO in Hong Kong where she was an audit manager and has a degree in accountancy. Previously Kershaw spent four years at BDO, most recently as an audit trainee.

PKF Francis Clark has hired 55 new apprentices covering a cohort of graduates, school leavers and career changers. Based across the firm’s offices in Bristol, Exeter, Plymouth, Poole, Salisbury, Taunton, Torquay and Truro, the new apprentices had a chance to get to know each other during a two-day induction at the University of Exeter before starting their journey to becoming qualified chartered accountants or tax advisers.  The trainee accountants and tax advisers include graduates from the universities of Exeter, Bristol, Plymouth and the West of England, as well as recent leavers from Exeter College, Bridgwater & Taunton College, Richard Huish College in Taunton and Devonport High School for Girls in Plymouth. There are also a number of career changers, including two former teachers and another who was previously in the army.

K3 Advisory, the pension specialist, has appointed Andrea Mendham as partner. She is a highly qualified professional with an extensive background, and a strong track record. Taking a pivotal role as partner, she will work closely with the partnership team to enhance and evolve the holistic services, taking the lead on schemes moving through the buy-in phase of the transaction to ultimate buy-out. In addition, she will manage relationships with insurers, reinsurers, business partners and trustees. Mendham joins from Just Group where she was head of trustee relationships involved in all aspects of bulk annuity transactions.