Vanessa Simms has been appointed as finance director of residential property group Grainger. Simms, who has held the role of deputy chief financial officer at FTSE 250 student accommodation provider Unite since 2012, will take up the role in early 2016. She replaces Mark Greenwood who is retiring. An ACCA fellow,  Simms was previously UK finance director at industrial property specialist SEGRO, and has also held senior finance positions at Vodafone, Porsche and Stryker.  Simms’ appointment makes Grainger the first FTSE 350 company to appoint women to its three most senior board positions. New chief executive, Helen Gordon, is to join the company next month, while its board is chaired by Baroness Ford.

Grant Thornton UK has promoted Lee Waterson to associate director and head of tax at its Welsh headquarters in Cardiff. Waterson, who will lead a growing team of tax specialists, joined GT at its Cheltenham office after graduating from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth.  Over the last four years, he has been based in Bristol and has been responsible for tax due diligence projects in the south west of England and south Wales, as well as heading up tax elements of major GT transactional projects in London and the Midlands.

PwC has hired Ian Koxvold to lead its education strategy business. He joins from Cairneagle Associates, where he established and developed its education practice. Koxvold will split his efforts between transaction-related work and corporate strategy development.

Rothmans Accountants has appointed Lisa Wilson as a director based at the Southampton office. Wilson joined the firm in 2006 after working for a number of years in a number of Hampshire-based accountancy firms and has many years’ experience advising on all areas of general practice with a particular interest in advising owner-managed businesses.

Newby Castleman has expanded its team by three audit specialists reflecting growth in business. Lucy Partridge has joined the Leicester-based firm in the new role of audit supervisor. She is responsible for overseeing audits and ensuring the department runs smoothly. Moving into accountancy straight from college, Lucy has worked in accountancy for 10 years. Richard Molloy and Safina Sayani have also joined the audit and advisory services team.

South East firm RDP Newmans has recruited two new trainee accountants. Vicki Saxby joins the firm having already fully completed her level two and three AAT (Association of Accounting Technicians) qualifications and partially completed her level four examinations. Leith Rennie joins the firm directly from college and will work towards a profession accountancy qualification. In addition, Victoria Rowley has been appointed in a joint role as a bookkeeper and accounts assistant and is studying for her level four AAT qualifications. 

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