Moore Kingston Smith has promoted Dave Coates to partner in the corporate and business tax team, and has made four director appointments. Coates specialises in providing expert guidance to owner-managed businesses and their shareholders on a wide range of tax matters, spanning corporate structuring, employee share schemes and shareholder exits with a particular focus on tax due diligence services. The firm has also made internal director promotions: Matt McRae in the corporate finance team and Puja Maini, Danna Lukic and Callum Gritt in the general practice team.

Grant Thornton UK LLP has promoted Andy Wood and appointed Sophie Murton as private capital audit partners in the Thames Valley and Southampton team. Previously Wood was head of ethics and managing partner for Grant Thornton in Yorkshire and the north east, where he grew the team and reshaped the firm’s approach to ethics. Based in Reading, he will provide advanced support for companies locally and nationwide with a particular emphasis on private capital investments. Joining Grant Thornton in September, Murton brings more than 20 years’ experience and in her new role, she will work with private equity backed businesses. She was previously an assurance director at PwC, where she developed extensive expertise providing audit and assurance services, working with large companies in the complex capital market space.

PwC has appointed Nicola Quincey as EMEA AWS alliance leader and partner. She has over 25 years of experience in the cloud industry and joins PwC from Amazon Web Services (AWS) where she led their EMEA commercial team for strategic accounts. In her role at AWS, she implemented cutting-edge technological solutions for clients, with a strong emphasis on co-innovation and delivering value at scale. Prior to AWS, she worked at Microsoft for 10 years, and co-founded and managed a sales and marketing consultancy.

Wilson Wright has appointed Katherine Rose as a partner in the audit and accounts team. She joins the team from Citroen Wells where she held the position of technical partner. Rose has over 18 years of experience providing audit, accounting, and corporate tax support to a diverse clientele with a particular specialism in technology and property businesses. She also assists international clients who are venturing into the UK market.

MHA has strengthened its corporate tax offering with the promotion of Beverley Scott to partner. She joined MHA in 2019 and has over 20 years’ experience in tax, specialising in corporation tax. Her experience covers a number of sectors, including manufacturing, retail and real estate. Based in the Birmingham office, Scott’s primary role will be to lead on tax advisory, tax audit, and due diligence services, within the Midlands, focusing on a variety of sectors. Before joining MHA she was a senior manager at EY, where she provided advisory services for large corporations and multinationals.

Larking Gowen partner Mark Curtis is to retire after 26 years with the firm. He started his career in accountancy straight from A-levels and joined Larking Gowen in 1997, becoming a partner in 2006. He led the business team for nine years, standing down from this role in 2021 to join the firm’s board. Curtis helped lead the way in expanding Larking Gowen’s business advisory services. Together with partner, James Lay, he launched a weekly podcast for SME business owners, which has developed to become Leadership and Life Chat.

Raffingers Accountants has appointed Charlotte Fuller as marketing partner. With over two decades of experience in marketing, she brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the team. In her new role, Fuller will be responsible for developing and implementing new marketing strategies to help increase the firm’s visibility and presence in the market. Her focus will be on building strong relationships with clients, generating new business, and enhancing the overall reputation of the firm. She joins from Haslers, where she was head of marketing.

Pension solutions provider Zedra has appointed Alastair Meeks as client director based at the firm’s London office, where he will work with trustee boards to support their decision making. Previously he spent 28 years at Pinsent Masons LLP as a solicitor, going on to chair the Association of Pension Lawyers. He finished his time there as a partner running the firm’s independent trustee and pension scheme secretarial business.

Automation software provider Abbyy has appointed Brian Unruh as chief financial officer (CFO) and a member of the executive management team. Unruh has 20 years of experience serving in executive management positions at public and private equity-backed software and platform-as-a-service companies. Previously he was CFCO at Dodge Construction Network

Credit management provider, Know-it, has appointed Phil Hobden as head of strategy and growth. He will focus on accountants and SME clients, and is an expert in the fintech field and a well-known name in the accounting industry with over 15 years of experience. Previously he was head of sales for digital products at Wolters Kluwer.