Bishop Fleming has promoted Ben Herbert to tax partner, and Christian Crawford, Richard Newton and Chris Trantham to partners in the audit team. Newton specialises in advising business owners and will focus on mid-market offering. Crawford, who is head of the firm’s hospitality and leisure sector, will expand the offering to owner-managed businesses, and has a particular interest in environmental and ESG issues. Trantham is an experienced auditor, specialising in the academy sector, particularly audits for the academies sector, and the charity sector. Herbert is an expert in corporate taxation working predominately with owner managed businesses, based out of the Exeter office.

Grant Thornton has promoted Jarred Erceg and Russell Simpson to partner in its financial services restructuring & insolvency team. Erceg is a qualified insolvency practitioner with over 15 years’ experience delivering restructuring advisory services in both Australia and the UK. He will focus on the growth of the financial services restructuring & insolvency offering, support development of the national team and continue to lead engagements, including formal insolvency appointments. With 19 years at the firm, Simpson is a licensed insolvency practitioner and highly experienced restructuring advisor. In his new role, he will continue to support clients across the financial services sector, with a particular focus on banks, lenders and digital assets. Tax expert Tom Rodwell has been promoted to private capital tax director, based in Southampton, providing sell side transaction support to private businesses across the south and London, and has 16 years of tax experience.

Hurst has promoted Ryan Tattler to associate partner in the business services team, which carries out audit, compliance, strategic advisory, outsourcing and business planning work for a growing national client base. This is Tattler’s fourth promotion since he joined the independent accounting firm as a trainee, and qualified in 2018.

Johnston Carmichael has appointed Adrienne Paterson as tax director in the transaction tax team in the Newcastle office. She brings over 25 years of experience as a chartered tax adviser, specialising in transaction-based work, advising on business sales, acquisitions, reorganisations, mergers, and demergers. Paterson was previously an associate director at Azets, having originally trained at KPMG and then moving to EY.

Quantuma has promoted Chris Newell to UK head of restructuring and insolvency, succeeding Carl Jackson who moves to the role of chair. A licensed insolvency practitioner and accountant, Newell has extensive experience in restructuring and insolvency. He joined the firm in 2013 and regularly advises on a variety of matters ranging from informal insolvency solutions through to formal appointments. In parallel with his new role, he will remain as regional lead for the Thames Valley area.

Emma Jones CBE, founder of Enterprise Nation, has been appointed as Small Business Commissioner by the government, taking over from Liz Barclay after her four-year term ends this month. Jones is passionate about small businesses; ensuring they are well represented and receive the right support to start and grow. In her new role, she will be a key player in tackling late payments and long payment terms for small businesses and the self-employed. Jones is also a non executive director of Ramsgate Space, and has run Enterprise Nation, the UK’s most active small business network for nearly two decades.

CIMA, the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, has elected John Graham, FCMA, CGMA, as president. He will also serve as co-chair of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, the global alliance formed by AICPA and CIMA. During his term, he will focus on promoting expanding career opportunities in finance, driven by technology and AI, and growing demand for finance professionals who bring not just technical expertise, but critical thinking, agility, and strategic insights. Graham is currently chief finance officer and deputy chief executive at Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, and has spent a large part of his career in the NHS and Department of Health, in senior finance roles for the last 16 years.

Stacks has appointed Farid Sedjelmaci as chief operating officer at the AI startup helping finance teams automate and accelerate their monthly close. The angel investor and former McKinsey partner takes the role on a fractional basis, and brings 20+ years of experience scaling B2B fintech and SaaS firms. Sedjelmaci will focus on scaling revenue, deepening customer impact, and helping build a ‘generational company’, based in London. Previously he was at open banking fintech Plaid where he led European expansion and payment partnerships.

Alex Depledge MBE has been appointed as the first entrepreneurship advisor to the chancellor Rachel Reeves and to the Treasury. She will advise the chancellor on the government’s entrepreneurship landscape, focusing on addressing the key barriers faced by businesses seeking to start up and scale up in the UK. Depledge has extensive entrepreneurship experience, having successfully built several businesses from the ground up, including Resi and Helpling, formerly known as Hassle.com.