Bishop Fleming has appointed Lucy Fairclough and Muhammad Usman as the first two partners at its recently opened Birmingham office. Fairclough joins as a financial reporting partner in the audit service line, and brings a wealth of technical expertise in financial reporting, corporate restructuring, and UK compliance. Previously she was a partner, accounts and business advisory services at Azets, and prior to that spent nearly two decades at Big Four firms, PwC and KPMG. Audit partner Usman brings over 20 years of experience in audit and joins from KPMG where he was an audit director. His focus will be on mid-market, owner managed and entrepreneurial businesses.

HaysMac has appointed Graeme Privett as a partner in the private client tax team. He brings 25 years of experience advising international clients with complex and substantial non-UK interests on tax and investment planning, and will add to the knowledge and expertise of the firm’s private client team. Previously he was director of structuring and tax at HydraB in an in-house tax and family office role, and spent over a decade as a partner at Rawlinson & Hunter where he was instrumental in setting up their UK/US tax practice.

HW Fisher, part of Sumer Group, has appointed Diccon Thornely as audit partner. He brings nearly 20 years’ experience with particular expertise in reporting under UK GAAP and IFRS as well as specialist specific sector reporting, spanning commercial and not-for-profit organisations. He has a track record of building high performing audit teams and implementing quality improvement initiatives. Thornely joins from Sedulo where he was national head of audit and originally trained at Grant Thornton.

Johnston Carmichael has made four senior partner promotions with Allison Dalton and Martin Bannerman, both in the audit team, and Craig Burnie and Stephen Oates in tax becoming partners. Dalton has been with the firm for 20 years and is head of construction and property and a responsible individual (RI). Bannerman joined the firm almost 18 years ago as a graduate, achieving his ICAS qualification in 2010 and becoming a director in 2020. Burnie joined in 2015, a year after qualifying, and specialises in transaction taxes for owner managed businesses and large groups. Oates has more than 17 years’ experience in tax and is head of entrepreneurial taxes and leads the employer services offering, having joined the firm in 2022. All four have completed the in-house leadership programme, which is accredited to Masters-level. Simon Cavell is promoted to consulting director, based in Yorkshire and covering UK wide clients. He joined in 2022 and has nearly 30 years of experience in financial services.

Xeinadin has promoted Pete Anderson to chief operating officer (COO), strengthening the senior leadership team as the private equity backed group enters a new phase of growth and integration across its expanding regional network. Anderson, previously managing partner UK North and Midlands, has been with the group since it was set up in 2018. His new remit includes operational integration, digital enablement, and supporting the people-first model through continued M&A activity.

Henderson Loggie has promoted tax manager Grant Snedden to lead the games and digital sector team, which focuses on tax reliefs, funding and practical support for clients. He has nearly nine years of experience in this specialised area of tax and has strong relationships across the sector. In his new the chartered tax adviser will grow the firm’s share of the rapidly growing Scottish games industry.

Northern Accountants has set up its first strategic advisory board and appointed three non-executive directors, Anna Masheter, Katie Mallinson and Nick Washbourne. Masheter becomes director of people and culture, and brings more than 20 years’ learning and development experience as owner of Beyond Learning. Communications specialist Mallinson, who ran her own agency Scriba PR until selling in 2023, is named acting marketing director while Washbourne becomes commercial director and will focus on business development, bringing 25 years of experience, most recently at marketing automation platform Force24. Firm founder and managing director Phil Ellerby will also sit on the advisory board.

Brown & Co has appointed Emma Hayes as a senior accountant and Lisa Prestage as accountant to support clients across Lancashire and Cumbria. Hayes has more than 15 years’ industry experience specialising in family-owned businesses with a particular focus on agricultural and rural sector. Previously she was accounting manager at Armstrong Watson. Prestage brings 25 years of experience and is AAT qualified. She joins from MHA (previously Moore & Smalley) where she was an assistant manager.

ICAEW has named Derek Blair as president for 2025/26, succeeding Malcolm Bacchus. Blair is co-founder of accountancy firm Pinkham Blair, which specialises in startups, and originally trained at Stoy Hayward, now BDO. He will support the implementation of ICAEW’s new strategy, Direction 2030, focused on maintaining relevance, building resilience across the profession and strengthening connections across the diverse membership. Caroline Smale, risk and compliance partner at Bishop Fleming becomes deputy president and Rob Tindle, senior partner at Tindles LLP, named as vice president, each for one-year terms. Meantime, Stuart Brown, a director at Duncan & Toplis, has been appointed as chair of the ICAEW Ethics Advisory Committee.

Royal London has named Gregor Stewart as a non-executive director and chair of the audit committee, subject to regulatory approval. He replaces Tim Tookey who is retiring after a 40-year career in the City. Stewart has extensive experience across the insurance and asset management industries, at both executive and non-executive level. He qualified as a chartered accountant in 1988, becoming a partner in EY’s financial services practice in 1999. During a 23-year career at EY, his focus included large audit and advisory clients across insurance, pensions and investment management. Stewart subsequently joined Lloyds Banking Group, which included Scottish Widows, for four years as finance director of its insurance division. He is currently chair of FNZ Group and non-executive director of Direct Line Insurance Group.

Oxford Metrics plc has appointed Dr Margaret Amos as a non-executive director, head of the audit committee and a member of the remuneration committee, succeeding Paul Taylor who is retiring at the end of June. Dr Amos brings over 27 years’ executive experience, the majority of which were at Rolls-Royce, where she held senior leadership positions including finance director. She is also audit chair and NED at Ombudsman Services and Pod Point Group Holdings.

Companies House has appointed Luisa Fulci as director of transformation and business, and a member of the executive team, at a key phase of digital and operational change at the organisation. She brings a wealth of experience from both the public and private sectors, most recently as digital customer and commercial services director at Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council. Prior to this, Fulci spent 16 years at Royal Mail in various leadership roles. She is also a non-executive board member at HM Courts and Tribunals Service.