Mercer & Hole has promoted Martin Coulson and Mark Baxter to partner in the corporate and business tax team. Coulson, who is based in the Rickmansworth office originally trained with Day, Smith & Hunter (DSH) as a graduate trainee, before joining Mercer & Hole in 2016 after the merger. His client base includes wealthy individuals, entertainers, property investors, consultants and those working in the construction and IT sectors. Baxter has over 27 years' experience as a tax specialist in both the corporate and private client arenas. He joined the firm in 2021 having previously worked at Grant Thornton, Cooper Parry and Deloitte. 

Blick Rothenberg has expanded the firm’s private client team with the promotion of partner John Bull to head of private client and recruitment of three partners, Alex Foster, Travis Lee and Kelly Greig. Bull is a private client specialist advising international families on US/UK tax issues for the last 13 years, and will lead the private client team. He has been a partner at the firm for the last six years. Foster specialises in personal tax advice for individuals, focusing on domicile, offshore structures and cross border matters. She joins from RSM where she was a partner and previously worked at EY and Deloitte. Lee will support ultra-high-net-worth-individuals (UHNWI) with tax and accounting issues affecting succession planning, worldwide investments and family businesses, focusing on clients from China, Hong Kong and other Asia regions. Previously he was a partner at KPMG China. Greig specialises in advice for HNWI, trustees and family offices, and is also global chair of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP). Previously she was a partner and head of estate planning and tax at Steele Raymond LLP Solicitors.

Grant Thornton UK LLP has appointed two partners, Nick Warth and Joe Groenen in the corporate and multinational tax practice. Warth is a transfer pricing specialist and has over 15 years of experience working with multinational corporations. Warth will work with clients in the UK and internationally based in the Cambridge office and joins the firm from KPMG, where he led the Western Australian transfer pricing practice. Groenen specialises in corporate entity reorganisation, cross border tax issues and supply chain and UK international tax rules. He joins from KPMG where he was an international tax director and advised corporates on international and complex tax issues. Previously he spent several years in FTSE 100 businesses, including GSK, as an international tax director.

Evelyn Partners has appointed senior hire Vanessa Lee as a tax partner in its Northern private client tax team based in Leeds. She has more than 27 years’ experience with a focus on advising high net worth individuals, families, family offices and trustees on complex tax and dispute planning. Lee joins from Danaus Consulting where she was MD and was a tax partner and North head of private client at BDO. She is also a trustee at Yorkshire Children’s Charity as a trustee and chair of finance and investment at The University of Hull. 

Armstrong Watson has appointed Lindsey Cooper as a restructuring and insolvency partner to lead and develop the insolvency team in Manchester. She has over 30 years’ experience in the sector and works mainly with privately owned, family and owner-managed businesses. Cooper joins the firm after 22 years as a partner at RSM, where she headed up the North West and Northern Ireland restructuring and insolvency team.

Rawlinson & Hunter LLP has promoted Lisa Festerling to partner and Emma Huo to audit services director. Festerling specialises in US/UK tax for private clients and internationally mobile individuals, with a particular focus on cross-border trust and estate planning. She joined the firm in 2023 from Deloitte where she was an associate director. Audit specialist Huo has been at the firm for nine years after originally training at PwC. She has audit experience across FTSE listed companies, high profile private companies and LLPs involved in art, retail and private equity investment.

PKF Smith Cooper has appointed Nick Skidmore as a manager in the West Midlands tax team, based in Birmingham to expand the transaction tax offering, and Rachel Wales has been hired as an audit manager in Nottingham. Skidmore has 12 years’ experience specialising in advising private and family-owned businesses on tax matters, and is a chartered accountant and tax adviser. Previously he was a tax manager at Bache Brown & Co. Audit specialist Wales has completed audits in a large range of sectors, including manufacturing, professional services, food and drink and retail, as well overseas audit secondments, and joins the firm from BDO where she was an audit manager.

Sumer has appointed Mairi McInnes as internal communications lead and Emily McCollum as talent acquisition sourcing partner to grow the group’s people and culture team. McInnes will advise the rapidly growing group’s regional hubs and their leadership teams focusing on internal performance, faster innovations and creating a meaningful employee experience. Previously she was internal communications manager at energy tech business, Enoda. A hiring expert, McCollum will focus on developing effective hiring and retention strategies across the group, and joins from Elements Talent Consultancy where she was a talent partner.

Baines Jewitt has hired Emily Terry as a trainee accounting technician at the northeast firm. She has a first class honours degree in Agri-Food Business Management and an Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) Level 2 qualification under her belt, and first approached the firm in the summer of 2024 to enquire about work placement opportunities. After initial work experience, Terry was offered a full-time role and has already started studying towards an AAT Level 3 qualification, on a day-release basis, with support from Baines Jewitt and a local college of further education.

Champion Accountants has hired four audit & accounts trainees, Cheryl Magayisa and Lottie Birchall at the Chester practice, Calum Lindsay in Blackpool, and Katie Tadman in Preston. The new recruits will work towards their AAT and ACCA qualifications, and receive dedicated support as they work with Champion clients to gain hands-on experience.

Direct Line Insurance Group has announced that Jane Poole has taken up her role as group chief financial officer and has been appointed to the board as an executive director. She will also be a member of the investment committee. Poole is a specialist in the insurance sector and takes over from Neil Manser, who has stepped down as CFO and executive director. Poole joins the business from Aviva, where she was CFO UK&I, general insurance. The chartered accountant started her career at PwC where she was a senior manager, assurance and business advisory services.

Checkit, the AIM listed automated monitoring platform has appointed Kris Shaw as CFO and he will join the board of directors on 14 October. He takes over from Greg Price who has left the business after four years in the role. Previously he was financial controller and company secretary at SmartSpace.

SmartSearch, the digital compliance and anti-money laundering (AML) solution provider, has expanded the executive leadership team with the appointment of Paul Eddie as chief revenue officer to lead the sales organisation. He brings extensive experience in software, analytics, and digital transformation and joins from Thomson Reuters where he was head of sales (Europe), direct tax and financial reporting.

infinitSpace, the flexible workspace provider, has appointed Rocco del Campo as finance director. He has 15 years’ experience in financial planning and analysis across a range of sectors including technology SaaS, FMCG, and retail, most recently as fractional CFO and strategic advisor at Stealth Mode. He was previously group CFO atRehegoo Music Group.