Moore has promoted Gemma Roger and Robert Pluck to partner at the Peterborough office in the West Midlands member firm. Roger specialises in providing internal and external audit services to the education sector, and provides accountancy and advisory services to business clients. Pluck brings more than 20 years of extensive audit experience, having worked with a diverse portfolio of clients, including owner-managed businesses and UK subsidiaries of overseas groups. They both joined Moore as trainees in the audit and accounts department, and have demonstrated exceptional dedication, skill, and leadership during their time with the firm.

RSM UK has appointed Laura Schmuttermeier as risk and governance partner in its consulting team. She brings a wealth of experience to the risk management and compliance advisory team, and will focus on risk, governance, compliance and internal control advisory services in the corporate space. Schmuttermeier joins from Hutchinson 3G (Three) where she led the risk, compliance and data protection team. Prior to that she worked at Deloitte for 14 years, and as a director headed up internal audit and compliance in the telecoms, media and technology (TMT) team.

Grant Thornton has appointed Wendy Russell, head of audit at the firm, to the strategic leadership team. She has been with the firm and joined in 2019 as a partner in the audit practice based in the Milton Keynes office. 

Quantuma has appointed restructuring expert, Brian Milne as a managing director in its Scottish practice. Brian will be based in Glasgow and will also spend time in the Edinburgh office. His experience spans all aspects of corporate and personal insolvency, restructuring and advice work. He joins Quantuma from French Duncan, where he was a partner and head of restructuring and debt advisory, prior to which he held senior roles in the restructuring divisions of Deloitte and PwC.

Bishop Fleming has announced a round of 27 promotions including four new directors, marking a significant milestone in its commitment to internal talent development and firm-wide growth. The promotions span the firm’s core services, with the promotion of Zara Harris to accountancy director, Christian Crawford to audit director, and the appointments of Linda Simmonds and Becky Targett as tax directors.

Dow Schofield Watts has promoted Tom Rowe to associate director and Josh Davison to manager in the London transactions services team. Rowe joined DSW in 2021 as a senior executive, while Davison joined as an executive in 2022. Both have quickly risen through the ranks, having worked on a number of significant transactions for the firm. The promotions follow shortly after DSW relocated its London office to 44 Maiden Lane, WC2, having expanded its nine-strong team.

Carpenter Box has announced 16 promotions across the Worthing, Crawley and Brighton offices. Joshua Bowen becomes client service director leading the outsourced finance function (OFF) team. Gill Lynes has been promoted to director of the later life team at Carpenter Box Financial Advisers. She has over 30 years’ experience providing financial planning support and tax advice to elderly clients and their families. In the tax department, Nikki Martin becomes an associate, with Katie Trevallion, Dean Reynolds and Meghan Osborne moving into senior manager roles. In the audit team, Alaina Cryer and Joanne Chidwick are promoted to senior managers. Declan Bennett and Jack Butcher become managers in the StarBox team, which provides accounting and business advice to new media entrepreneurs and social influencers. Meantime, James Laker, Charlie Holdaway, Sharna Challenger, Clare Martin, Karly Charrington and Azka Khurshid have been promoted to assistant managers.

KPMG has appointed Joe Cassidy as its new head of technology, media & telecoms (TMT). He replaces Ian West, who has led the firm’s activity in the sector for the past five years. Cassidy has been with firm for nearly a decade, most recently holding the positions of head of corporate strategy and head of financial services strategy. In these roles he has led transformation and change at some of KPMG’s largest FTSE, global, and startup clients across the fintech, technology, and financial services sectors. He will retain these roles in addition to his new appointment. Prior to working at KPMG, he worked in leadership roles at Lloyds Banking Group, Deutsche Bank and Nomura International.

Deloitte UK & North and South Europe (NSE) has appointed Sir Hugh Robertson and Elisabeth Stheeman as independent non-executives (INEs), further strengthening the firm’s governance and oversight of its audit business. Sir Hugh is chair of Birmingham Airport and the British Olympic Association, and had various ministerial roles in government from 2010 to 2014, including minister for sport and the Olympics from 2010 to 2013. Stheeman is chair of Edinburgh Investment Trust plc, non-executive director at W P Carey Inc and an external member of the audit and risk committee of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. She is also a former member of the Bank of England monetary policy committee.

Anesco, a solar and battery storage provider, has appointed Oscar Ballesteros Morera as chief financial officer. He has more than 25 years’ experience in the energy sector, including an extensive background within infrastructure projects, renewables and combined cycle power plants. For the last five years, Morera was CFO at Maple Power, an offshore wind investment firm. Prior to this, he was with General Electric (GE Power) for 14 years where he worked in a variety of senior roles including commercial finance and FP&A, and CFO for West Europe for power services.

ICAEW has appointed seven new members to its reshaped board in bid to improve governance at the institute. The number of lay members increases to three with the appointment of Mark Freebairn, partner at recruitment consultants Odgers Berndtson. Meantime, six chartered accountants join the new board - Nina Hingorani-Crain ACA (audit committee chair), Elizabeth Barber FCA (risk committee chair), Simon Peacock FCA (investment committee chair), Mary Phibbs FCA, Richard Nunn FCA and Shamshad Ali ACA. They will take up the positions on the board currently held by three elected ICAEW council members and three chairs of departmental boards. Existing lay members, Mary Hockaday and Malcolm Wood, are re-appointed, and Hockaday will also become the board’s first senior independent director.