BDO has appointed Andrew Howson as UK head of private equity. He has been a member of the firm’s private equity leadership team for many years and works closely with private equity investors and portfolio companies. In his new role, Howson will be responsible for expanding BDO’s services and developing the firm’s relationships across the PE community and cross-border opportunities. He joined BDO as a transaction services partner in 2017, prior to which he held senior roles at EY and Deloitte. 

Forvis Mazars has appointed Neil Lawrinson as a partner and head of UK audit methodology, based in Manchester.  In his new role, Lawrinson will lead the audit methodology team, driving innovation and embedding improvements in audit quality and client experience across all markets. He has more than 30 years of experience of complex audit and  regulatory expertise, and rejoins the firm after four years as a reviewer in the ICAEW Quality Assurance Department, where he was responsible for reviewing non-PIE audits across a diverse range of firms.

UHY Williamson Croft has promoted Taylor Rogers to partner at the northwest firm, which recently rebranded after joining the UHY Hacker Young network. Rogers is a specialist in the property and real estate sectors, and works with a diverse range of clients on complex tax, financial and regulatory challenges. He has been with the firm since 2017 and in his new role, Roger will continue to lead major client relationships, develop the firm’s advisory services, and contribute to the internal talent strategy, helping to mentor and develop the next generation of professionals. Pictured: Taylor Rogers

S&W has appointed Andrew Dymond as partner in its audit team, based in Birmingham, and Dr Fernando Da Cruz Vasconcellos, as partner in the valuations and modelling team, based in Cambridge. Dymond brings over two decades of experience advising mid-market and large businesses across the Midlands. Previously he was a director at PwC in the central non-financial reporting team, focusing on ESG reporting. Dr Vasconcellos brings over 25 years of experience in intellectual property valuations and advanced financial modelling for private equity and venture capital client. He joins from Valuation Consulting, where he was a director, investment strategy and valuation. He is a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and a registered business valuer.

Azets has appointed Gaurav Mathur as a corporate finance partner specialising in transactional services in the London office. He brings 14 years of experience in financial due diligence and transaction advisory services, focusing on M&A, private equity, and corporate finance and has worked on more than 200 deals primarily in business services (including professional advisory), TMT, and industrials. Mathur was previously at PwC for 13 years, most recently as a director in the transaction services team working with clients across various sectors and geographies.

BK Plus has appointed Brett Marsden as corporate finance partner to lead the development of the deal advisory team across the north, working alongside the established Birmingham team. Based in Manchester, his role will focus on supporting owner-managed and SME businesses through acquisitions, exits, funding and general strategic shareholder planning. Marsden brings over a decade of experience advising founder-led and private equity-backed businesses on mid-market transactions. Previously he was a director at Channings Childcare, and a director at Cowgills.

Blick Rothenberg has appointed Karen Groat as a global mobility director focusing on Scotland’s offshore energy sector, based in Aberdeen. Groat brings over 30 years of experience, specialising in the tax and compliance obligations affecting offshore personnel, including crew working on drilling rigs, support vessels, construction fleets, and other marine assets. Previously she was a tax senior manager at AAB.

Quantuma has appointed Jo Wright as head of the personal insolvency team, and she will combine the new role with her current position leading the personal insolvency practice at sister firm KR8 Advisory. Both firms are part of the K3 Capital Group. Wright will also continue to work closely with the creditor services team at Quantuma.

Johnston Carmichael has appointed Chris Forgan as a tax director in the tax advisory team focusing on of tax compliance and advisory services for large corporate clients. Forgan has more than a decade of experience in tax compliance and advisory work, advising on areas including corporate interest restriction, loan relationships and debt structuring, international tax matters, and tax accounting. He joins from Saffery, where he was a corporate tax director in Inverness, and originally trained as a tax inspector with HMRC before moving into the private sector. Pictured: Chris Forgan

HB&O has promoted Mathew Neal to head of accounts Coventry as part of 12 promotions across the Midlands firm. Neal has been with the firm since 2003 and will take a senior management role in the audit and accounts department. Jack Dunne is promoted to senior manager, Tim Smith to accounts senior and Sophie Butteriss to accounts semi senior while Matt King has been promoted to VFO senior manager in the virtual finance office team.

Sumer Northern Ireland has appointed Hannah Wroblewski as tax manager in innovation tax relief team. She specialises in financial services and HMRC compliance across R&D claims, and brings experience of broader process improvement initiatives on internal and client workflows. She joins from KPMG Belfast where she was assistant manager in the audit innovation team.  

KPMG International has appointed Anna Scally as global head of technology, media & telecommunications (TMT). She has taken over from Mark Gibson, who retired in October after an outstanding tenure. Scally brings more than two decades of leadership and deep sector expertise to this role. As a partner at KPMG in Ireland, she has more than 20 years of partner-level experience and international tax expertise working with global TMT companies. Previously, Scally served as KPMG in Ireland’s TMT sector leader and, since 2024, also led the EMA region TMT practice, driving initiatives across the UK, Europe, the Middle East, India, and Africa.

Leonard Curtis has appointed Gavin Snell as non-executive chairman at the private equity backed firm. He  brings more than 30 years of leadership experience in professional services, SaaS and information services organisations, most recently as chief executive officer of Axiom GRC and also as global director of Experian. He recently led two successful private equity exits having overseen significant organic growth and delivery of multiple acquisitions. Snell will join an experienced executive team in CEO Dan Booth, COO David Brown and CFO Paul Birks to deliver ambitious growth targets, working with Pollen Street Capital.

The Charity Commission has appointed Jan Lasik as director of legal and accountancy services and he will be responsible for leading and managing legal and accountancy services and assuring the legal integrity of the Commission’s regulatory work and policies. He will also be a member of the executive leadership team at the charity regulator. Previously Lasik was general counsel and secretary of the National Trust, and prior to that was deputy head of legal at the Bank of England after spending his early career working in private practice at two international law firms.

IRIS has appointed Chris Hall as chief product officer to accelerate product innovation and deliver the AI-first strategy at the accounting software provider. Hall brings over 20 years of experience in product transformation and intelligent automation across startups and listed companies, and will join the business on 2 January from Precisely, a specialist in data integrity tools, where he is also chief product officer.

The Charity Tax Group has appointed Luke Hall as its first chief executive officer with the former MP taking up the role in January. Hall brings senior leadership experience from government, industry, and the charity sector, and held ministerial positions in the DfE and MHCLG in the last government. After leaving politics, Hall was head of external affairs at National Grid, then set up his own firm, LRH Consulting. In his new role at the Charity Tax Group, Hall will focus on supporting members and partners, engaging with government on key issues and delivering change for the sector, helping charities to reduce their tax burden.