Azets has expanded the corporate finance team in the northeast with the appointment of David Foreman as partner and Joe Sheridan as assistant manager. Foreman has joined as partner from Barclays Bank, where, as regional manager, he led a team of relationship directors covering SMEs in the northeast. Sheridan joins from Azets’ Glasgow office, where he was assistant audit manager, having previously worked for the corporate finance team in Scotland. Employment tax specialist Kyle Newton has joined the firm’s new national minimum wage service line as a director, based in Leeds. He will help clients nationwide implement NMW processes to manage compliance and navigate complex HMRC enquiries. Previously he was an associate director at BDO, and has 10 years’ experience working at PwC and Deloitte.

RSM UK has appointed Stuart Clowser as head of private equity, taking over from Charlie Jolly, who has joined the consulting leadership team. Clowser will lead RSM’s cross-discipline private equity team focused on all aspects of private equity, including funds, transactions and portfolio companies. Having trained at RSM, he was previously a fund audit partner, and is also a member of the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association’s (BVCA) accounting committee.

haysmacintyre has promoted Krupa Shah to audit director, and hired Said Bile as R&D tax director and Michael Crowson as audit director. Shah has been with haysmacintyre since 2022, overseeing a substantial portfolio of clients across the creative, media, and technology (CMT) sectors, with a focus on marketing, media and advertising. Bile has over 10 years’ experience providing specialist R&D tax incentives advice across a wide array of clients and was previously a director at KPMG. Crowson specialises in audit, primarily for private equity backed and listed companies.

Duncan & Toplis has promoted Damon Tunnicliffe to head of payroll and Graeme Hills to head of tax. They will oversee two of the group’s largest service lines, leading two specialist teams within Duncan & Toplis. The promotions coincide with the appointment of the group’s first chief executive officer, damon brain, first chief operating officer, nicholas smith, and head of legal services, amy Codd, earlier this month.

Bishop Fleming has hired Jamie Vinall as a director in the audit team as it seeks to build on its growth drive in Cheltenham and the Gloucestershire region following the opening of a Cheltenham office. Previously he spent six years at KPMG, most recently as a senior audit manager in Birmingham, and has solid experience auditing large corporate entities spanning retail, automotive, power and renewables, and construction industries.

Alvarez & Marsal has appointed Manuel Sammut as a managing director and head of business & tech-enabled services to grow the corporate finance practice in EMEA. He has more than 20 years’ experience, most recently as managing director of tech-enabled services, investment banking at William Blair. Previously he spent five years at KPMG in the corporate finance practice.

McDermott Will & Emery has appointed Niels Dejean and Anne-Sophie Maes as partners in its global tax practice group in Paris. They both join from Shearman & Sterling LLP and are tax specialists with extensive experience advising international corporate clients on mergers and acquisitions, strategic tax matters as well as tax controversy and dispute resolution matters.

RSM International has appointed Ernest John (E.J.) Nedder as CEO, taking over from Jean Stephens who has been in the role since 2006. Stephens will continue as CEO until May 2024, and then remain with the international network for three years in a senior advisory capacity with a focus on member matters, development and recruitment, and to support an effective transition. Nedder will take up the position on 1 June and is currently partner and chief strategy officer for RSM US LLP, and US board director.

KPMG International has promoted partner Susanna Crowder to global Oracle business leader, based out of the US. She will be responsible for developing additional benefits for clients for jointly developed Oracle based IT solutions and driving value from investment in the development and deployment of cloud technologies to meet demand for demand for data intensive and AI-enabled tech solutions.

Magma Chartered Accountants has promoted five team members to manager roles, with Danika Bhakta promoted to manager in the corporate tax team, Bailey Rowles to assistant manager in payroll, Aimée Burton in the audit team, and Megan Hassam and Ryan James in the business services team.

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has announced that Richard Horne will become its new CEO in the autumn. He will lead the UK’s national technical authority for cyber security and sit on the board of GCHQ. Horne will join the NCSC from PwC UK, where he currently chairs the cyber security practice. Previously he was managing director of cyber security for Barclays.

Audit Scotland has appointed Andrew Burns as deputy chair of the Accounts Commission. He has extensive leadership and management experience across the private, public and voluntary sectors. He has served on the Commission since 2018 and is a former leader of City of Edinburgh Council and former chair) of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO).

365 finance has promoted Warren Abbey to CEO from his current role as chief commercial officer. Current CEO and founder Andrew Raphaely will transition to the role of executive vice chairman and will remain actively engaged with the business. Abbey is a chartered accountant who started his financial career with KPMG, before becoming CFO of OracleMed Health and Bayport’s Latin American businesses.

Factor Risk Management has hired James Wilson as head of M&A and transactional risks and Camila Carvalho as an associate director in the newly launched M&A division. Wilson has 20 years’ experience in senior roles as head of transactional insurance for a Lloyd’s of London Syndicate, and head of M&A insurance for a Lloyd’s of London broker. Carvalho has 14 years’ experience in complex international transactions across multiple jurisdictions. She was a corporate lawyer before moving to PwC’s deals tax team in Sao Paulo and then London, specialising in cross-border M&A deals and group reorganisations.