North West firm Mitchell Charlesworth has selected long-standing partner Paul Wainwright to lead the business. He takes over from David Darlington who has been managing partner for more than 25 years through multiple mergers and acquisitions, and managed wide scale expansion opening new offices in Manchester and Chester.
Grant Thornton has overhauled its recruitment approach and will no longer automatically screen out applicants based on their academic results. In place of strict academic criteria the firm says it is now looking at a number of factors in order to identify good people, who fit with the company culture, quickly and more effectively. GT has also streamlined the application process, updated its assessment tools and created further tactics to help identify and prioritise great talent from the 9,500 applications it receives each year for trainee roles.
Everton Knight has joined Trinity Financial Services Ltd, the BVI-based accounting and consultancy firm, as director of audit and business advisory services. He previously worked for PKF (BVI) Ltd as well as undertaking previous roles in auditing and compliance across trusts and financial services groups in the BVI and Barbados. Trinity Financial Services has recently become part of the HLB International global network of independent professional accountants and business advisers.
This week has seen 300 staff and partners from the former RSM Tenon offices in London’s West End, move to Baker Tilly’s City premises as the two firms progress their integration. Over the next few months, around a dozen offices where both firms have a presence will merge, including Manchester, Birmingham, Milton Keynes, Basingstoke, Leeds and Stoke.
Burgis & Bullock (Leicester) has appointed appointment Matt Wayte as a senior manager. Wayte is rejoining the firm after working in the audit team at Grant Thornton’s Leicester office and has particular expertise in audit and compliance as well as general business advisory work.
Darren Shapland, the former CFO at Carpetright who quit the company last year, has joined the board of Poundland ahead of the discount store’s planned float on the London Stock Exchange. Shapland, who was also previously CFO at Sainsbury’s, will be working alongside former Tesco FD Andy Higginson who is Poundland's chairman.
