BDO has appointed Tim Betts as head of business restructuring, effective from 1 October 2024. He will take over from Mark Shaw who was recently elected as managing partner. In his new role, Betts will lead a nationwide team of 22 partners and 150 staff offering a full range of restructuring services. He first joined the firm as a graduate trainee in 2003, working his way up to partner in 2019. During that time, he has led the government & not for profit team in business restructuring, advising public sector, charity and educational organisations. Most recently, he has been chief operating officer of the wider advisory business.

Evelyn Partners has appointed Kate Lilleyman as an international disputes partner in the forensic services practice. She has extensive experience as a forensic accountant, working on commercial litigation, arbitration and expert determination both in the UK and internationally. Previously Lilleyman was a director at Kroll and has been recognised by Who’s Who Legal as a global elite thought leader in arbitration – under 45 – expert witnesses.

Deloitte has strengthened its specialist equity capital markets practice in the north west. The multi-disciplinary team will be led out of the Manchester office by head of regional assurance, Tim Grogan, and Iain White who is a financial advisory partner in the specialist ECM transactions services team. They will be supported by Katie Harrison, Pete Braddock and Raza Mian who are all partners specialising in financial controls, historical financial information and complex carve out financials.

PwC has appointed partner Gareth Henty as head of pensions and Mark Jennings as head of the pensions employer covenant and restructuring team. Henty has been with PwC for 18 years and became a partner in 2016. Throughout his career he has advised trustees and scheme sponsors across the full range of pension issues, including all aspects of pensions strategy; funding and derisking; scheme governance and data solutions; and advisor and fiduciary management procurement. Jennings previously led the firm’s regional covenant practice and in his new role will be responsible for the largest specialised employer covenant team in the UK, with over 50 people based across eight offices.

Shaw Gibbs has appointed Naomi Stewart as head of tax after joining the firm in April after the merger with Martin and Company. She will oversee tax services across all the group’s offices.  A chartered accountant and tax adviser, Stewart has over 25 years of experience including corporate tax advisory with EY and 14 years with Azets (formerly Wilkins Kennedy). She specialises in tax structuring, succession and M&A planning, R&D tax relief and share schemes with a particular interest in the property and construction sector.

Albert Goodman has appointed Neil Johnston as audit partner based in the Bristol. He will be responsible for expanding the firm’s audit offering within the city and further enhancing the provision of services to businesses and owners across the south west. Bristol University alumni Johnston has extensive audit, accountancy, and business advisory skills. Previously he was a director at RSM, and prior to that spent over seven years at EY as a senior manager.

Wbg has made two senior hires to newly created roles, appointing Victoria Kirkhope as people & culture partner and Gordon Merrylee as head of entrepreneurship in an advisory role. Kirkhope is a senior HR professional with 20 years’ experience and will lead the people and culture agenda. Previously she spent 20 years at RSM, most recently as partner – head of people in the national leadership team. Merrylee will support head of business development, Scott Grant, focusing on entrepreneurial-led SMEs in an advisory role. Merrylees is currently head of ventures at private equity firm N4 Partners, where he has been since 2022, a role he will retain, and previously he spent 36 years at RBS.

RSM International has appointed Nina Arundel as global leader of business development and marketing. She joins from RSM UK having spent nine years leading the firm’s national marketing, business development and client experience teams. With more than 20 years of experience in professional services, Arundel’s new role sees her join the leadership team at RSM’s global office in London, leading the global business development, brand and digital and marketing communications teams. Arundel takes over from James Grant who steps down after three years in the role.

Quantuma has appointed corporate finance expert Scott Peters as a managing director. He will head up the firm’s Midlands corporate finance and national debt advisory practices based in the Birmingham office. A seasoned corporate finance practitioner, with a background in banking, his experience covers all aspects of corporate finance advice and transaction execution services. Peters joins from Catteneo Corporate Finance in Birmingham, where he was a director.

Hakluyt, a global strategic advisory firm, has elected Thomas Ellis as managing partner. He has been chief operating officer for the past two years and previously led the firm’s client-facing business in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, based out of the London office. He takes over from acting managing partner Holly Morrow, who took on the role since the departure of former boss Varun Chandra who joined the Labour government as a special adviser on business and investment. Previously Ellis worked at Lloyds Banking Group as director of business banking.

Scotland’s minister for public finance has reappointed Aidan O’Carroll as chair of Revenue Scotland. His reappointment will be for a further three years until 31 July 2027. O’Carroll is a former senior partner at EY, which he left in July 2020 after 35 years. Formerly head of tax for EY in the UK, as well as a global tax leader, he has advised many local and global companies across a wide spectrum of tax and business issues. He has considerable experience in dealing with regulatory matters and is an ICAS chartered accountant.

Aqilla has appointed Mark Simmance as its first head of partnerships, responsible for recruiting, managing and supporting new and existing partners. Prior to joining the accounting software provider, he was senior channel sales manager at Webfleet Solutions, as well as spending six years at Informa.

ICAEW has appointed Paul Brooks as chair of the ICAEW regulatory board (IRB) for a three-year term. He has previously chaired ICAEW’s conduct committee and has held positions on other ICAEW regulatory and disciplinary committees. He has a background in private equity investment and venture capital and has worked extensively with chartered accountants throughout his career. Meantime, Catherine Boyd and Kaysen Pyndiah have been appointed as IRB members.

The IFRS Foundation has appointed Giovanni Sabatini, former general manager of the Italian Banking Association as a trustee. Sabatini brings a wealth of international finance experience, from both public and private sector appointments. He previously served at Consob, the public authority responsible for regulating the Italian financial markets.