EY has appointed Martina Keane as UK & Ireland financial services leader, effective 1 January 2025. She takes over from Anna Anthony, who has led the UK financial services business since 2021 and will become UK & Ireland regional managing partner. In her new role Keane will lead more than 300 partners and 6,000 staff, and will join the global FS leadership team. She joined EY in 1998 and has been a partner since 2009, and is currently EMEIA financial services chief operating officer.

FRP has appointed Neville Side as a partner in its Brighton-based restructuring advisory team. With more than 20 years’ experience in business restructuring and formal insolvency, Side joins from BDO where he was a partner in business restructuring, and spent over two decades working across high profile cases. Based in the Brighton office, Side will work closely with partner Phil Harris and the wider team to expand the firm’s presence across Sussex and Surrey.

Mercer & Hole has appointed Kevin Paget as director and head of deal advisory. He brings a wealth of experience, having worked in senior finance roles in industry across a variety of sectors in the UK and US. Since 2008, Paget has focused on deal advisory, part owning corporate finance boutique SamCorp for nine years before joining Menzies LLP in 2017 as director corporate finance. He advises on deals varying in size from £2m to £150m, and project manages the transaction from outset to completion, specialising particularly in debt and equity backed MBOs. Before moving into practice, he was a financial controller at Northern & Shell in New York.

Dains Accountants has appointed Stephen Greenway and Harshad Bharakhada as partners in the forensic accounting team at the Birmingham office. Greenway has 15 years’ experience in forensic accounting, financial investigations, dispute resolution and wider forensic matters. Previously he was a director at EY in the financial and forensic investigations team. Bharakhada is an experienced expert witness and chartered accountant, and has expertise in providing advisory and expert forensic accountancy services, including in contentious situations. He joins from Grant Thornton where he was an associate director.

Dentons has appointed corporate tax specialist Neil McKnight as a partner in its tax team in London. He specialises in corporate tax matters for UK and international clients, focusing on M&A transactions, domestic and international tax structuring, financial transactions, and real estate tax matters. He also has experience in the tax implications of global mobility and ESG. He joins the firm from Morgan Lewis, where he was a partner in the tax practice.

RSM UK has appointed James Zuurbier as a deal services director in its consulting team, specialising in financial services. At RSM, he will lead the due diligence team with a focus on growing the presence in the FS sector. He has 15 years’ experience in financial services transactions and was previously at EY, where he was a director in transactions and corporate finance team. Prior to that, he was at Barclays Wealth and Investment Management, where he was vice president, head of planning and reporting.

20:20 Innovation has appointed Nichola Ross Martin CTA FCA as technical director – tax, following the recent acquisition of her two businesses, Ross Martin Practical Tax Database and Virtual Tax Partner Service. With decades of tax experience and technical expertise, she will play a central role in supporting members with practical tax solutions and thought leadership. Martin is also a trustee and vice president of the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT).

PKF Francis Clark has strengthened its tax team with the appointment of two senior managers, Paul Rattew and Nick Crandon. Corporation tax specialist Rattew has joined from Milsted Langdon, while real estate tax specialist Crandon has spent the past eight years with BDO. Bristol-based Rattew brings extensive experience working with owner-managed businesses and larger groups with corporation tax issues, HMRC enquiries, capital allowances, restructuring and IR35 issues. He also spent five years as in-house tax accountant at HCA Healthcare, after starting his tax career with Deloitte. Crandon, who will be based in Truro and Plymouth, supports corporate clients and owner-managed businesses with tax due diligence on transactions, as well as general tax advisory and compliance work.

Hurst has appointed Libby Auld as a tax senior and expanded the business services team with Ed Craddock hired as an audit semi-senior and Ammar Ysak as an audit associate. Auld has over 10 years’ experience in personal and corporate tax, and was previously at Xeinadin Manchester, where she managed a portfolio of clients. Before that she worked at Bennett Verby, TWJ Partnership and Simpson Burgess Nash. Craddock joins from Mazars where he was a junior auditor and corporate assistant, while Ysak was at Thompson Wright, where he was a trainee.

Wildstone, a global provider of outdoor media infrastructure, has appointed Stuart Smith as chief financial officer. He brings a wealth of experience in running global finance functions, operating in international markets and across M&A. Smith joins from FTSE listed gambling group Entain where he held a number of senior finance positions.

AccountsIQ has appointed James Hunter as chief financial officer and Evan O’Shea as chief marketing officer. Hunter is a chartered accountant with extensive finance experience. He joins from PwC where he was a senior manager in the finance managed services team. O'Shea has a strong marketing background with nearly a decade of experience at Sage, managing the marketing function across 13 regions and the transition to SaaS.

TheCityUK has John Godfrey as managing director of public affairs, policy and research. He has been covering the role on an interim basis following the departure of predecessor Emma Reynolds, who left to take up a seat in parliament at the last election. Godfrey has over four decades of experience working in financial and professional services, including 16 years as corporate affairs director at Legal & General Group. Prior to joining TheCityUK, he spent a year as executive director for housing, property and regeneration at the West Midlands Combined Authority.

Deloitte US has named Jason Salzetti as chair and CEO of Deloitte Consulting LLP from 27 January 2025. He succeeds Dan Helfrich who has been in the role since 2019. Salzetti began his career at Deloitte and brings nearly 30 years of experience in large-scale technology and business transformations. He currently leads the government and public services (GPS) practice in the US. 

ICAEW has elected Rob Tindle as vice president for the year June 2025 to June 2026. He has been a member of the ICAEW Council since 2017, representing the Northern constituency. He is a partner at Tindles LLP, a firm he established in 2000, which specialises in providing a full range of business advisory and compliance services to entrepreneurial clients.

Global Accounting Alliance (GAA) has appointed Bruce Cartwright CA as chair, succeeding Barry Melancon, who is retiring at the end of 2024. He will officially take up the role from January 2025. Cartwright is also CEO of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS) and in his new role he will help in reshaping the profession and advance critical issues such as sustainability reporting, governance reforms and regulatory developments.