AAB has appointed Malcolm Crawford as business development partner, and has promoted partner Iain Walker to head of Central Scotland, encompassing the Glasgow, Edinburgh and Stirling offices. Crawford brings extensive experience in corporate and relationship banking, specialising in deal origination, relationship management and funding. In his new role he will work closely with businesses across the Central Scotland region. Previously he was corporate development director for Barclays Corporate Banking in Scotland. Walker will help drive AAB’s growth ambitions across the region, strengthening relationships with businesses, professional networks and communities, alongside his role as a corporate finance partner. 

S&W has appointed Debbie Reith as partner in its research & development (R&D) team in Newcastle, forming part of the firm’s long-term growth strategy and continued investment across the north. Reith brings more than 20 years’ experience in corporate tax and innovation incentives from securing funding through to navigating complex tax and compliance requirements. She joins from KPMG, where she spent almost two decades, most recently as a partner in the innovation reliefs & incentives team.

WTS UK has appointed Sharmila Sanmugam as partner to lead the international tax practice. Chartered accountant and tax adviser Sanmugan brings more than 15 years of experience across in-house and advisory roles, specialising in global tax compliance, tax governance, transfer pricing, indirect taxes and multinational tax transformation. She joins from Apollo Global Management where she was director of tax, and led the international tax function, having originally trained at Deloitte. Pictured: Sharmila Sanmugam

Carpenter Box, part of Sumer Group, has made a raft of promotions, with Claire Huckle and Nikki Martin promoted to tax director, Tabitha Nicholls to associate director (business services) and Reece Jordan to associate director in the Starbox division. Mike Davis has been promoted to operations manager, supporting delivery of internal projects, and Rachael Tayler to marketing business partner to lead on marketing strategy, and strengthening the alignment between regional priorities and the wider Sumer Group strategy. Kira McKinney is promoted to the newly created role of clients & growth director.

HB&O has promoted Sophie Butteriss to accounts senior in the A&A team after qualifying as a chartered accountant and Khari George to virtual finance office (VFO) senior. Birmingham based George will also head the firm’s new AI steering group. The promotions are part of the annual round recognising their contribution to the firm’s continued growth and commitment to client service.

AJ Bell has promoted Charlene Young to head of technical. She will lead the firm’s technical capability across pensions, investments, tax, financial planning and adviser practice, ensuring that complex regulation, legislation and tax matters are interpreted consistently and communicated clearly to advisers and customers. Young has worked at AJ Bell for over 12 years, and is a chartered financial planner and paraplanner, and in her new role will continue to work closely with the PR and policy teams.

Platform Housing Group has appointed Amanda Holgate as chief financial officer. Holgate will join Platform next month, bringing extensive executive leadership experience across social housing and other commercial sectors. She was most recently CFO at Anchor, the not for profit provider of specialist housing and care for people in later life. During her time there, she also served as interim chief executive, providing leadership to the organisation during a period of significant change. Before specialising in the housing sector, ACCA chartered accountant Holgate gained more than 20 years’ financial and commercial experience across financial services, technology and retail asset management, including as a director, finance at Barclays. 

Hilbert Investment Solutions has appointed Masuda Shaik as group chief financial officer to strengthen the leadership team. Chartered accountant Shaik has 20 years of experience across audit and financial services, and was most recently an associate director at Gravita, having originally trained at PwC in South Africa. She also spent seven years at the Auditor-General South Africa before moving to PwC UK as a manager, financial services audit.

JMAN Group has appointed Trish Unwin as chief people officer to join the executive leadership team at the data management consultancy for private equity funds and their portfolio companies. Unwin brings more than 30 years of international leadership experience spanning human resources, workforce planning and business transformation across listed companies, private equity-backed firms and multinationals. Previously she was chief people & technology officer at Waste Harmonics Keter, and prior general manager emerging businesses at Coles Group. Unwin started her career as a consultant with KPMG in Australia.

Malt has appointed Caroline Barbery-Mebrouk as chief finance officer. She brings more than 20 years of experience, and will lead on financial strategy, focusing on scalable expansion and profitability, at the pan-European IT contractor platform. Previously Barbery-Mebrouk was group CFO at Teads, where she spent 13 years leading finance across complex international operations, and is also a board member of French outdoor specialists Lafuma.