AAB has appointed Elona Mortimer-Zhika as a non-executive director as the group signs off private equity deal with Goldman Sachs Alternatives. Mortimer-Zhika has senior leadership experience in driving growth, transformation and operational delivery within technology and service-based industries. She holds a number of NED roles including at Boardware and the Aareon Group, and was chair of the audit committee at Purlplebricks until 2023. She also spent eight years at IRIS Software Group, most recently as CEO, and originally trained at Deloitte. Pictured: Elona Mortimer-Zhika

BDO has appointed three new partners, Ben Coggin as a transaction services partner, Andrew McIntosh as an audit & assurance partner and Charles Waite as a tax partner. Coggin brings 20 years’ experience in deal advisory and financial due diligence, and will be responsible for growing the transaction services practice across Yorkshire and the North East, based in the Leeds office. He joins from EY where he was a partner. McIntosh has over 15 years’ experience and a wealth of technical audit expertise.  Previously he was an audit director at PwC. Waite brings more than 20 years’ experience and will lead the global value chain proposition in the UK, focusing on the tax implications of major strategic restructures. He will be based in the London office and joins from Alvarez & Marsal, where he was a senior director. 

Kreston Global has appointed Andrew Griggs as chairman of the network’s board, in addition to his current role as senior partner at Kreston Reeves in the UK. With almost four decades of experience in professional services and a deep commitment to international collaboration, Griggs brings a wealth of insight, strategic vision, and a strong emphasis on values-led leadership to the role. He has been a board member of the global network since October 2017.

Welsh Revenue Authority has appointed Rebecca Godfrey as chief executive following a competitive recruitment process led by the Welsh government. Godfrey has been with the WRA for eight years, and before joining spent over a decade at HMRC, including as head of the Cardiff high net worth unit. She has been interim CEO since May 2025, a role she stepped up to from chief operating officer when Dyfed Alsop went to the UK Health Security Agency. She takes over as the WRA as it takes on new responsibilities to implement and manage visitor accommodation registration and the visitor levy. 

EY-Parthenon has appointed three partners, Clare Harris, Chris Robinson and Patricia Martin del Castillo to its private equity practice. Harris will be launching a new service focused on growing the procurement offering for private equity clients. Previously global chief operating officer at Proxima, part of Bain & Co, Harris brings over 20 years of  extensive experience working with private equity portfolio companies. Robinson has 15 years of industry experience as an investor and joins from private equity firm Apax. He will focus on advising private equity clients on complex transactions, transformation and growth. Del Castillo brings 13 years of international transaction experience and joins the financial diligence practice to focus on healthcare and pharma sectors.

S&W has appointed James Maclean as director in the transaction services value creation team, based in London. He has over 20 years’ experience in audit, IFRS, and financial services deal advisory, and specialises in banking and capital markets, fintech, and asset and wealth management. Maclean joins from PwC where he was a director in the deal advisory team for five years, having also spent more than a decade at KPMG in various transaction advisory director roles in the UK, Turkey and Brazil.

Price Bailey has appointed Mohammed Mogra as a director in the tax team and Pete Bardell as business development director. Mogra will lead the tax offering and develop the dedicated innovation incentives team. He brings over 15 years of experience advising high-growth and scaling businesses on government incentives, innovation funding and strategic tax matters. He was previously a director at Grant Thornton, and has Big Four experience from various roles at Deloitte and PwC. Bardell brings over 25 years of experience in corporate banking  managing mid-corporates across East Anglia. In his new role, he will represent all Price Bailey service lines, working with corporate clients covering the Essex and Suffolk regions. He joins from HSBC where he was a senior corporate relationship manager.

Wright Vigar has appointed James Wathey as associate director and head of payroll. He brings 10 years of experience in dedicated payroll roles and leading significant operational growth. He will focus on maintaining the payroll department’s high standards of accuracy and efficiency, ensuring the service scales to meet the needs of a growing and diverse client base across the East Midlands. Previously he was head of payroll at Cottons Group, where he expanded the department across multiple offices.

Accounts and Legal has appointed Claire Simms as head of people to lead on recruitment, learning and development, wellbeing and employee experience across the accounting’s firms offices in London, Manchester and Liverpool. Previously she spent 15 years at Apple in various HR roles, including people strategy, talent development and employee engagement across multiple sites in the UK.

Acting Office has appointed Mark McNee as commercial director at the AI-enabled software platform for accountancy practices. He brings over 15 years’ experience in AI and SaaS applications, and will be responsible for driving growth strategy, sales and leading the company’s expansion plans. Previously he was EMEA regional director at Frontline Accounting.