Baines Jewitt has promoted Jemma Hoggard and Grace Stobbs to associate directors at the Teesside firm. Hoggard has over 20 years of experience, having started in accountancy as a school leaver and then pursued AAT and ACA qualifications, before starting at the firm in 2015. In her new role she will take a more strategic role as well as working closely with clients to oversee annual audits. Stobbs joined as a graduate in 2017 from Durham University, where she graduated in accounting and finance, and is also ACA qualified.

Cooper Parry has appointed John Monds as associate partner to lead the national transfer pricing team based in Manchester and Ben Turner as transaction services director in the Thames Valley. Monds brings over 20 years of transfer pricing experience from both sides of the in-house and advisory fence and will focus on the ever-increasing tax risks for corporate clients. Previously he was group transfer pricing and international tax manager at JD Sports, and also worked at EY and KPMG in TP roles. Turner brings over a decade of experience from KPMG, where he was a director transaction services and worked across a range of deals from UK transactions to complex cross-border activity for corporate and private equity clients.

The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) has appointed Kathryn Sherratt as chief financial officer. In the role, Sherratt will drive forward existing work to transform RNIB’s financial and compliance processes and property portfolio to help deliver its strategy to ensure everyone with sight loss can lead the life they want to lead. Following more than a decade working for Deloitte after graduating, she went on to leadership roles at Barclays and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. She has more than 30 years of experience across financial services, retail, regulatory and professional sectors.

Lucanet has appointed Alistair Gurney as CFO for the global provider of end-to-end CFO software solutions, where he will help optimise financial performance and work closely with the senior leadership team. He brings over 15 years of experience in financial management, having held several senior finance positions at software firms, most recently as CFO at email service provider Dotdigital Group, and finance roles at Unit4 and IRIS Software Group. Although the company is headquartered in Berlin, he will be based in London. He originally trained at Deloitte.

Domestic & General has appointed Yolanda De Vries as chief internal audit officer to establish and head up a newly created internal audit function, creating an independent third line of defence across all areas of governance, risk management and internal control. De Vries has over 15 years’ experience in the financial services industry, having worked internationally and domestically for Barclays, Unum and most recently as head of internal audit at MS Amlin. She originally trained in South Africa and is a SAICA chartered accountant, equivalent of ACA.

The Association of Independent Specialist Medical Accountants (AISMA) has appointed a new leadership team, with Lizzy Lloyd, medical partner at Larking Gowen LLP, named as chair, and Jim Duggan, medical director at Albert Goodman and Abi Newbury, MD at Honey Barrett become vice chairs, replacing Deborah Wood and James Gransby who have stepped down after their terms. Meantime, Pete Farrier, director at Morris Crocker, and Guy Vine, partner at MHA’s Maidstone office, both join the AISMA board.

BTG Advisory, part of Begbies Traynor Group, has appointed Kate Beckett as partner, expanding the scope and expertise of its forensics team. She is a fellow of the ICAEW and brings almost two decades of specialised forensics experience, including 10 years as a partner, delivering vital insight into strategic and commercial decisions arising from forensic work. Beckett joins from Azets where she was a forensics partners, having originally trained at Deloitte.

Leonard Curtis has appointed Steve Muncaster as a director to strengthen its restructuring and turnaround team in the northwest, with particular focus on the Merseyside region. He is a qualified accountant and licensed insolvency practitioner (IP), with over 25 years’ experience in restructuring and corporate recovery. Muncaster has extensive experience of advising companies on restructuring options across a variety of sectors including construction, manufacturing, hospitality, property and transport. He joins from Kroll where he was a partner.

Opus Restructuring & Insolvency has appointed Anthony Davidson as a partner in its London office. With 25 years of experience advising both companies and individuals, including 13 years as a licensed insolvency practitioner, Davidson brings significant expertise across restructuring and insolvency with a particular focus on contentious insolvency cases and advising organisations in the charity sector. He joins from McTear Williams & Wood where he was a director. Meantime, director Bradley Parrott has been awarded his insolvency practitioner licence so he will now take formal insolvency appointments at the firm.

CIPD, the HR and people development, institute has appointed Danilo McGarry as a strategic adviser on AI. The digital transformation expert has advised on significant AI implementation programmes at large corporates including Citigroup and UnitedHealth Group, and runs his own consultancy. McGarry will advise the board on the rollout of AI across the organisation and will work to shape its research on the impact of AI on people, work and organisations, and will advise the board on the rollout of AI and support the institute’s work as part of the government-backed BridgeAI programme.