Ryan has made a raft of appointments as it builds up its UK, Europe & Asia Pacific (EAP) business with a series of strategic senior hires as partner principals, including Alistair Shaw, Jenny Batchelor and David Hewit to establish a new corporate income tax offering in the UK; Justin Arnesen and Barney Redwood to expand innovation funding across the UK and EAP; and Sunil Parmar to focus on VAT consulting and building the global tax service firm’s London presence. They will drive new offerings and bring deep technical expertise. Five join from S&W (formerly Evelyn Partners PS business) where they were all partners, including Shaw, who was a partner for over 16 years, tax partner Batchelor, Parmar, Redwood and Arnesen who was head of business tax. Hewitt joins from KPMG where he was also a partner.

Johnston Carmichael has promoted Glen Small to head of construction and property based in the Newcastle office. He has extensive experience in VAT and indirect tax across in property and development, helping developers of housing, care homes, and charitable buildings mitigate irrecoverable VAT costs through strategic structuring. Small joined the firm in April 2022 from Deloitte where he was a consultant, advising clients across housing, real estate, and large-scale construction projects.  

Xeinadin has made two senior appointments in its Manchester office, reflecting increased demand for audit and insolvency support from local SMEs. Candice Beynon joins as partner in audit, and Jessica Barker as associate director and licensed insolvency practitioner. Both bring significant experience working with owner-managed businesses and will support clients across the North West. Beynon has almost 30 years’ experience and will manage a portfolio of audit clients and oversee engagement delivery, compliance, and team development, as well as mentoring junior staff. Previously she was a director at MJH Mitten Clarke. Barker will lead corporate insolvency appointments across the region, including liquidations (both solvent and insolvent) and administrations, and provide early-stage advice to company directors and stakeholders alike. She joins from Cowgills where she was an assistant manager. Pictured: Jessica Barker, Alex White and Candice Beynon

Hazlewoods has strengthened its growing Bristol office with the appointment of Tom Edwards as director in its transaction services team. He brings over 14 years’ experience and will help to expand the firm’s presence in Bristol and providing transaction support on mid and lower-mid market deals. Previously he was a director, transaction services at Deloitte in Bristol.

Azets has promoted Mike Williams and Gordon Burns to partner in the corporate finance team, and hired three external partners, Alper Dervish, Joe Stroud and Iffy Hussein. Ashtee Archer has been promoted to director and Thomas Keys to associate director, while Adam Dix, Jamie Hepworth, Michael Goldthorpe have taken the step up to managers. Previously Dervish was a director corporate finance at BDO, while Stroud joins from Aliter Capital LLP where he was a director, and chartered accountant Hussein from PwC where he worked in corporate finance. 

Alvarez & Marsal Tax has appointed Harinder Soor as a managing director in its UK capital allowances team and Lucy Sauvage as senior director to head up the newly launched UK tax risk and disputes management line, based out of Manchester. Soor brings 25 years of experience in tax depreciation and capital allowances, and will support clients from design to construction of real assets, as well as transactions in completed assets, to provide full and clear advice suitable for submission to HMRC. Sauvage has more than two decades of experience in tax governance, HMRC dispute resolution and risk management, and will lead and build the new service line, supporting clients to identify, assess and manage tax risks. Sauvage joins from BDO, where she was a tax partner for 17 years.

PKF Smith Cooper has appointed Lucinda Matkin as business recovery and restructuring director, strengthening the team’s East Midlands presence. She brings over 25 years of hands-on insolvency experience across all business sizes and sectors, and is the founder and owner of Midlands-based LM Insolvency, a specialist recovery and turnaround firm set up in 2012. She is an ICAEW chartered accountant fellow and started her career at RSM Robson Rhodes and PwC.

Prime Accountants Group has appointed Shannon Walden as forensic senior manager based in Birmingham, focusong on dispute work in the forensic accounting services team. Her experience spans forensic accounting for investigations, disputes, economics and forensic in the audit – working with audit teams to spot potential threats of fraud. Previously Walden spent 10 years at KPMG where she was a forensic manager.

BDO has appointed Ian McBane as head of business services & outsourcing. He became a BDO partner in 2019 after the merger with Moore Stephens, joining the leadership team of the firm’s business services & outsourcing practice at that time. For the last three years, he has led the firm’s 350-strong national technology, media and telecoms sector team. With over two decades of experience in finance and accounting, McBane has extensive expertise in driving business growth for established enterprises, mid-market and PE-backed firms as well as emerging scale-ups.

FRP Advisory has promoted Huns Shah, David Blum and Max Morris to directors in the financial advisory practice. The firm has also made 28 promotions across restructuring advisory, corporate finance and forensic services teams, as well as central services. Amy Murphy and Matthew Nolan have been promoted to associate directors in the corporate finance practice, and Andrew Aldridge, James Sandilands and Kate Baldwin to associate directors in the financial advisory team. Elizabeth Rae and Ian Taylor have been promoted to senior managers in the restructuring advisory team.

Ciphr has appointed Karen Williams as chief revenue officer at the payroll and benefits software provider. She brings more than 20 years of experience in sales and operational leadership in the technology sector, and joins from IRIS Software where she was VP of group operations. In her new role, Williams will work with Ciphr CEO and former IRIS boss Sion Lewis, overseeing all revenue-generating operations, including new business, business development, revenue operations and renewals.

SmartSearch has appointed Seyfi Günay as chief revenue officer based in London. He brings  more than 20 years’ experience in sales leadership, AML and KYC, focusing on compliance and risk management. He will focus on helping clients navigate complex compliance challenges, while enabling them to onboard customers faster and more securely. Previously Günay was head of sales EMEA at London Stock Exchange Group, and was also a vice president at S&P Global Ratings.

Gateway2Lease has appointed Chris Mobley head of sales operations at the car and van leasing broker to drive salary sacrifice volumes with its partner The Electric Car Scheme. He will also lead credit line management across the business. Previously he was head of business development at Drivespeed Leasing where he was the conduit between funders and the brokerage, as well as managing development in the SME space. He also spent 20 years at LexAutolease, most recently as head of SME customer relationships.

Taxfix has appointed Markus Berger-de León as chief operating officer (COO) to accelerate its UK and European expansion, based out of Berlin. He brings over 30 years of senior leadership experience and will oversee operations across the UK, Germany and Spain, with a focus on AI-driven tax services. Previously Berger-de León was a senior partner at McKinsey & Company.

TMF Group has promoted Maja Mandela to global head of accounting and tax at the compliance services firm, based out of Warsaw. She has over 20 years of experience senior accounting roles in the professional services industry and previously was head of corporate business for northern Europe, where she led client relationships and business development across the region. Before joining TMF in 2021, Mandela was a partner at EY for eight years, having trained as a chartered accountant at the Big Four firm.

Adecco Group has appointed of Valentina Ficaio as chief financial officer (CFO) and member of the executive committee, from 1 January 2026. She will succeed Coram Williams who has decided to step down and will assume the role of CFO for a company in the automotive sector in Germany in the New Year after five years with the group. Ficaio, who is Italian, joined the group as CFO Iberia in 2019 and then became regional CFO for Southern and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Northern Africa. She is now group senior vice president finance, leading financial planning, controllership and strategy.

Pictured: Jessica Barker, Alex White and Candice Beynon at Xeinadin