KPMG UK has appointed Vishal Chopra to lead the professional services firm in Scotland. He will take over on 1 October from James Kergon, who is relocating to lead KPMG’s transaction services team across Leeds and the northeast of England. As senior partner, Chopra will be responsible for a team of more than 900 people across KPMG’s offices in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen. He brings more than 21 years’ experience and has been based in Scotland throughout his professional career and takes on the role having most recently led the Scottish tax team, working closely with businesses across the region. Chopra will continue to be a tax partner supporting his clients locally and internationally.

Blick Rothenberg has appointed five partners, Gabby Donald, Helen Humphries, Phil Barrett, Malli Kini and Tomm Adams in three key areas - private client, VAT and global mobility. Donald has specialised in VAT for more than 20 years at HMRC, PwC and KPMG, and was most recently on a secondment from KPMG to UK Finance to work on VAT policy. She is currently chair of CIOT’s indirect taxes committee. Humphries joins as a partner in private client and has a 20 years’ experience, most recently as a director at BDO. Barrett joins as a partner in corporate tax and has 20 years’ experience, previously as a partner at Grant Thornton and 15 years with EY. Kini has become a partner in the private client team and has over 15 years’ experience, most recently as tax director in EY Private. Adams, who leads the international pensions and benefits advisory service, has become a partner in global mobility. He joins the firm from Aon where he was an associate partner, and started his career at PwC.

Forvis Mazars has appointed Mitesh Thakrar as an audit partner in the east Midlands. In his new role Thakrar, who has spent his entire career in the east Midlands and specialises in working with privately owned businesses, will be responsible for further strengthening the audit practice and supporting the firm as it continues to grow its client base in the region. Thakrar joins the firm from Azets, where he was a partner and regional head of audit. Julie Breakell has been appointed as audit partner in the Poole office to meet demand from privately owned businesses and will focus specifically on the provision of audit to this critical segment of the market. Having worked in the region for over 20 years, she joins the firm from KPMG, where she was a director.

Mazuma has appointed Emma Crawford-Falekaono as chief revenue officer following a private equity deal in January 2024 and brings over 15 years’ experience in the tech industry, specialising in commercial and customer leadership. She joins from IRIS Software Group where she was divisional director – accountancy, and was previously managing director EMEA of Ignition and started her career in the accountancy sector at Xero New Zealand.

DSW Capital, the owners of Dow Schofield Watts, has announced that Shrutisha Morris (Shru) will join the board as deputy CEO on 1 August 2024. In her new role she will help to spearhead the growth of DSW, which operates a licensing model enabling professional services teams to run their own business under the Dow Schofield Watts brand. Morris will join from Pick Everard, a multi-disciplinary consultancy working in the property, infrastructure and construction industry, where she was CFO.

Alvarez & Marsal has appointed Chris Price as EMEA head of Alvarez & Marsal Legal Services. He will lead the recently launched legal practice and advise AMLS clients on operational approaches and capital investments. He joins the firm from EY, where he was managing partner for financial services law in the UK and led the global legal transformation practice. Meantime, Rob Barker has been appointed as a managing director and head of EMEA head of insurance, wealth and asset management. He is active in venture capital funds and startups across Europe and the UK as a limited partner, investor and senior adviser. He also sits on the advisory board of the Smithsonian Institute in the US. Before joining A&M, he was CEO and managing director, wealth for Aviva and chair of Aviva Health.

University of Warwick Science Park has appointed Ryan Emery as head of finance. He brings over 20 years’ experience in finance and auditing, including stints at Big Four firms EY and Deloitte, as well as giving financial advice in-house for a range of companies during their sales to other businesses. He will now advise the Science Park on its financial decisions across its various sites and during its planned growth.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has appointed Erica Y Williams to a second five-year term as chair of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) beginning on 25 October. Prior to joining the PCAOB in January 2022, Williams was a litigation partner with Kirkland & Ellis LLP. She previously spent more than a decade in various roles at the SEC before served as special assistant and associate counsel to President Barack Obama with a focus on financial and economic policy issues.

The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) has appointed Simon Bittlestone, FCMA, CGMA, as president. He will also serve as chair of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (AICPA). He currently holds a portfolio of advisory and non-executive roles for technology businesses and investment funds, including Metapraxis, Zing and Plumtree Capital Partners. His business career includes working in the financial analytics industry, a decade of which was spent as CEO of Metapraxis.

CLA Global has appointed Paul English as CEO to replace Sancho Simmonds and Joseph Kask, who have held the role of co-CEO’s of CLA Global since the network was formed in July 2022. English has more than 20 years’ experience in global and marketing leadership roles in professional services across the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific, and was formerly on the global leadership team at Grant Thornton, working on global strategy, brand, and the international clients and markets agenda.