Johnston Carmichael has appointed partner Graeme Bain as head of restructuring, in a change of leadership in the business structuring service line and a key part of the firm’s succession planning, taking over frompartner Donald McNaught, who led the team for the past eight years. Bain became a partner in 2019, and has more than 20 years of experience in business recovery, corporate insolvency and restructuring. McNaught will continue to play an important senior role at the firm, focusing on a portfolio of clients across Scotland. Pictured: Graeme Bain

S&W has appointed Mark Lewis as partner in the audit and assurance practice based in Leeds. Lewis brings more than 15 years’ experience advising businesses on audit, assurance and financial reporting matters, with a focus on entrepreneurial and owner-managed businesses, and his appointment is part of a significant investment in the north of England. He joins from Deloitte, where he was a partner and UK lead for family-owned and managed businesses in the audit & assurance practice. Pamela Collie has been appointed as a partner in the business tax team, based in London. Chartered accountant Collie brings more than 15 years’ experience in corporate and international tax, advising businesses operating across borders on areas including tax compliance, tax reporting and international tax planning, and specialises in the media and entertainment sector. Previously she was a tax director at EY, where she worked in the London, New York and Aberdeen offices.

Grant Thornton has appointed 11 partners across advisory and audit with a mix of internal promotions, M&A and external hires. Zeena Patel and Mark Foster have been promoted to partner in the audit practice, based in Manchester and Leeds respectively. Six partners were also confirmed following the acquisition of Fairgrove, a strategic management consultancy, including co-founders Paddy Woods Ballard and Patrick Woodrow, and Oli Lestner, Adam Lee, Andrew Keller and Andrew Hawkins. External partner hires include Lee Betteridge in forensic and investigations, previously a managing director at Alvarez & Marsal, and also has Big Four experience from PwC and KPMG. Darshan Chandarana is appointed as a partner in AI consulting, and was previously a partner and emerging technologies leader at PwC, and is an AI strategist and non executive director, while Nick Davies joins as partner in the private equity team, bringing over 20 years of experience in consulting and deal advisory, including as an executive director at KPMG in the new business development team. The appointments are part of Grant Thornton’s two-year partnership expansion programme, which is targeting 160 new partners by the end of 2027.

Affinia has made four group wide hires, appointing John Weston as employment tax director and Joe Moore as director of business development, both new roles, Lee Gardham as group finance director, and Katia Zavershinskaya as head of innovation & change. Weston has more than 30 years of tax experience and will play a key role in development of the newly employment solutions service. He joins from BDO where he was associate director. Moore will work across service lines and is ATT qualified, previously he was a business development manager at KPMG. Chartered accountant Gardham has more than 20 years of experience in strategic finance, M&A and business transformation, and was previously he was group finance director at investment management firm Cardano. Zavershinskaya brings more than 15 years of experience leading complex technology and business transformation programmes, and post-merger integration, and was previously director, head of applications at BKL.

Leonard Curtis has appointed Mark Hickford as director in its London office, strengthening the restructuring and insolvency capability. Hickford is a chartered accountant and appointment taking insolvency practitioner, and brings over 15 years of experience advising boards, management teams and wider stakeholders, including lawyers, banks and asset-based lenders, across a broad range of restructuring services, including cash flow and liquidity reviews, insolvency options analysis, contingency planning, accelerated M&A and formal insolvency appointments. Previously he was an assistant director at EY-Parthenon, having started his career at Duff & Phelps, now part of Kroll. 

Collyer Bristow has appointed Alex Vakil as partner and head of commercial disputes effective 1 September, succeeding Robin Henry following his retirement. Vakil advises businesses, entrepreneurs and senior executives on managing risk, resolving complex disputes and protecting their reputations. His practice is varied and includes advising clients on claims arising out of breach of contract, professional negligence and shareholder disputes. He joins from Joelson, where he was co-head of commercial litigation, and prior was a partner at RPC.

Browne Jacobson has appointed Paul Duggan as a partner in the banking and finance practice. Duggan brings significant experience advising on a wide range of debt finance transactions, with a particular focus on acquisitions, management buy-outs and refinancings. He acts for banks and lenders, corporate borrowers, sponsors and private equity houses, as well as not-for-profit organisations and public sector bodies. Previously he was a partner at Blake Morgan.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has appointed Sabina Saini and Darine Obeid as financial services attachés for India and the UAE. Saini has nearly 20 years of experience across financial regulation, audit and banking, focused on prudential supervision and risk, and was previously a policy manager at the FCA in London, after eight years at the Bank of England. Saini will be based at the British Deputy High Commission in Mumbai. Obeid, who will be based at the British Embassy in Abu Dhabi, has spent more than a decade at the FCA, previously as manager in the supervision team, specialising in oversight of retail banking, wholesale banking and fintech, and started her career in audit at EY.