JRW Accountants has promoted chartered accountant Joanne Gibson to partner bringing total partner numbers to six. She handles a portfolio of around 170 clients, ranging from individuals to limited companies and in a variety of sectors including investment, construction, retail and agriculture.

Buchler Phillips, the corporate recovery, turnaround and restructuring firm, has appointed Paul Bobroff as a partner. He has more than 30 years’ experience of leading and managing businesses. A turnaround specialist with particular expertise in real estate issues, he was founder and managing director of property and investment group Markheath plc for 20 years, including taking the business public in 1981.

Accountants Albert Goodman have promoted Lyndsay Blackshaw and Michelle Ferris to partner. Ferris has been with Albert Goodman since 2006 and qualified as a chartered accountant in 2008. She is responsible for the firm’s charity and care teams, specialising in the public sector, not-for-profit and charitable organisations. Blackshaw joined Albert Goodman in 2011 part qualified from another accountancy firm, and qualified as a chartered certified accountant one year later and primarily works with owner-managed businesses and medical practices.

RSM has appointed Lee Lockwood as a partner in its restructuring advisory team in Leeds. He joins RSM from Begbies Traynor where he gained over 13 years’ experience working alongside large corporates, lenders and other stakeholders, advising on a range of restructuring and distressed situations. He also ran a two-year project on secondment with National Australia Bank advising on the disposal of distressed property assets. In his new role, Lockwood will work with the growing restructuring advisory team at RSM to support regional businesses through unprecedented economic times.

Mazars has appointed Harris Waseem as a director in its restructuring advisory team, based in London. He has over 20 years’ professional services experience, working with both UK and international clients. Prior to joining Mazars, Harris spent 16 years at PwC and then three years working at RSM as a restructuring advisory director. Harris has extensive experience carrying out restructurings for clients in the mid-market and large cap businesses. He regularly advises secured lenders, executive boards and shareholders in situations where businesses are undergoing change, underperforming or at crisis point.

EY continues to grow its people advisory services (PAS) practice with the appointment of two senior partners, Jill Trafford and Susan Hunter. Trafford joins EY’s digital HR competency in PAS, bringing over 25 years of HR transformation experience. She has spent the last 10 years in consulting roles, most recently leading the HR & technology advisory practice at Deloitte, and has vast experience in consulting and industry, working across the UK, Europe and Hong Kong on HR and people strategies for global organisations, designing and implementing new HR operating models, and supporting the selection of new HR technology. Hunter also joins EY’s PAS practice, operating across multiple competency areas with a focus on transactions and transformation. She has extensive experience of corporate strategy implementation, business transformation and operations in the global shipping and integrated logistics industry. She was most recently chief executive officer of APM Terminal Bahrain.

BDO LLP has strengthened its tax expertise with the appointment of Nadine Bogard as a senior tax manager in its private client services’ team. She re-joins BDO as a senior tax manager and will specialise in all aspects of UK trusts including accounting, succession and tax. She will sit within the firm’s expanding tax advisory team in the south east headed by tax partner Michael Flaherty. Bogard  has many years of experience advising individuals and families on wealth structuring and inheritance tax planning. She joins from Smith & Williamson where she managed the trusts and estates team in Guildford.

Sheffield chartered accountancy and business advisory firm Hentons has made two senior promotions naming Anthony Hamilton as director and Olivia Broadhead moves to a manager position. Both are based at Hentons’ Sheffield office. Chartered accountant Hamilton joined Hentons almost two years ago and has been instrumental in growing the digital offering at the firm. Broadhead has eight years’ experience and is a client focused accountant, specialising in financial accounting, VAT, tax and HMRC issues.

Langricks Chartered Accountants, which recently acquired Holmfirth based practice Michael Bell & Co, has hired a new tax director, Nigel Shaw, who will be based between their two offices in Holmfirth and Wilmslow. He joins the firm after more than 20 years at Garbutt + Elliott, most recently as private client partner.

Azets has appointed Scott Browning as associate director of audit and assurance in its Orpington, Kent office. He was formerly part of the leadership team at Baxter & Co where he obtained a wealth of experience over the past 14 years. Prior to that, Scott undertook his professional training at Crane and Partners. In his new role Browning will work extensively with Azets’ academy school clients. 

Audit and general practice partner Gary Salter has announced his retirement from south west accountancy firm, Milsted Langdon. Based in the firm’s office in Yeovil, Salter has cultivated a network of local contacts and clients, who have relied on his expertise and knowledge for more than 20 years. He joined Milsted Langdon in 1997, shortly after the opening of the Yeovil office. He has progressed through the firm to become head of its Yeovil office. Fellow Partner, Mike Bagg, is now taking over as head of the Yeovil office.

Operis, a specialist in project and infrastructure finance, has appointed Jun Tao as its new global head of model audit and financial modelling. He now leads the company’s financial modelling and audit team, a group of 40 professionals spanning the London and Toronto offices who work on a variety of complex model development and audit assignments. Prior to this he was head of North America and led the financial modelling and audit team in Toronto between 2018-20. He replaces Peter Rebecchi who will be leaving the company in August.

Moore Global, the accountancy and advisory network, has made some significant management changes with the appointment of five of its sector leaders as global leaders. As part of this group, Graham Tyler, chairman of Moore Kingston Smith in the UK, has been appointed global leader, media. These newly created roles support Moore Global’s continued growth strategy and emphasise the business’s plans to strengthen its global leadership position in key sectors around the world.

Insurance broker Protect Line has appointed Pedro Coimbra Fernandes as chief financial officer. He joins the Dorset-based company from London Stock Exchange-listed Hiscox, where he was interim chief financial officer of London Market and Hiscox Syndicates Limited. He has held similar roles at a number of other organisations, most notably AIG (American International Group).

SME invoice finance company Optimum Finance has appointed Vicky Williams as chief financial officer and a member of the senior leadership team. She joins the business from Newport-based Propel Finance where she was group finance controller and has over 17 years’ experience in senior finance positions with a focus on supporting high growth organisations.

Caroline Sumner has been appointed CEO of R3, the insolvency and restructuring trade body, and will take on the role from 1 June. As CEO, Sumner will oversee all aspects of R3’s work – from representation and technical support to the design and delivery of events, courses and conferences – as well as working with the association’s senior team and executive committee to shape and deliver its strategy for the future. She takes over from Liz Bingham, who will continue to work with the senior team supporting on ad-hoc projects after serving 15 months as R3’s interim CEO.

PTL, the independent trustee and governance services provider, has announced that one of its client directors, Melanie Cusack, has been appointed as the independent chair of Electricity Pensions Trustee Limited.

XPS Pensions Group has promoted six new partners across its business, based in locations across the UK, including Birmingham, Guildford, London, Manchester, and Reading. The new partners are Helen Ross, head of member options; Julie Moores, deputy head of compliance; Jordan Harrison, head of investment (Birmingham); Matthew Plail, head of member analytics; Mel Collins, regional operations manager; and Vicky Mullins, head of GMP equalisation.

Carey Olsen has appointed Jude Hodge as counsel in its British Virgin Islands (BVI) corporate practice. She specialises in advising clients on a wide range of corporate and commercial matters, with particular expertise in banking and finance, real estate, voluntary liquidations, investment funds, corporate due diligence, continuations, group reorganisations, and mergers and acquisitions.

XPS Pensions Group has appointed Jon Marchant as chief information officer in a newly created role for the group. He was previously CIO at PayPal, and has worked at a range of financial services companies. Marchant has a wealth of experience gained in a wide variety of financial services businesses and a strong record of delivering innovative customer facing digital services, a particular area of focus for XPS Pensions Group.

Dalriada Trustees Limited, a provider of independent professional trustee services to pensions schemes in the UK, has appointed Amanda Banister as a senior professional trustee. She joins Dalriada from global law firm DWF LLP where she was a partner in its pensions practice. Amanda also spent three years in house at the Pension Protection Fund. 

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