Gravita has appointed transfer pricing specialist Fiona Cross as a partner. She has 30 years of tax advisory experience and is a corporate tax expert, advising a range of industry sectors from start-ups to large multinational groups, on international tax issues for both foreign companies coming into the UK and for UK companies expanding overseas, including permanent establishments, withholding taxes, transfer pricing and double taxes. Cross is a member of the CIOT corporate tax sub-committee and joins from Finerva, where she was head of tax. Gravita now has 44 partners, of whom 30% are female, nearly double the industry average of 18%.

KPMG Scotland has appointed Vishal Chopra as office senior partner, taking over from James Kergon. Chopra takes on the role having most recently led KPMG’s Scottish tax team and following his appointment, he outlined changes to the Scottish leadership team. Susan Dunlop will head up the transaction services business and Graeme Williams has been promoted to managing director to lead the corporate finance team. Research and development partner Sandra Gilchrist will take over as head of the tax team, while Kelly Dunn transfers up to Scotland to lead the private business audit practice.

PKF Littlejohn has appointed Andrew Simpson as a partner in its London audit team. He has 16 years’ experience auditing large private and listed clients across a wide range of sectors, and has worked with numerous FTSE listed and global privately-owned companies. Previously he was an audit director at KPMG.

RSM UK has appointed Juan Federico as a business transformation director in the consulting practice. He brings a wealth of experience and strong track record in leading a range of complex strategic programmes across the banking and insurance market, including global FTSE 100 companies, primarily in the UK, Europe and the Americas. At RSM, Federico will build upon the firm’s business transformation and enterprise performance management solutions to further strengthen RSM’s presence in the financial services market. He joins RSM from Baringa, where he was part of the CFO advisory leadership team.

HW Fisher, part of Sumer Group, has appointed two directors in the latest round of promotions. Susan Armstrong-Brookes has been appointed director in the credit management department and Louise Hughes is promoted to marketing director. Armstrong-Brookes has been with the firm for over 20 years, leading the group credit management function, management of the groups tax investigation service and the funding scheme. Hughes runs the marketing and business development work and has been with the firm since 2021. She has over 20 years’ experience, and before joining HW Fisher in 2021, worked at Grant Thornton. As well as her core focus on marketing, she has also led the firm’s inclusive culture work across the business.

Clive Owen LLP has appointed Angela Mikola as a tax director based in the York office. She brings nearly two decades of expertise in corporate tax and has significant experience advising on a wide range of tax matters, from R&D and patent box schemes to group restructuring and pre-sale planning for owner-managed and entrepreneurial businesses across the region. Previously she was a senior tax adviser at Garbutt + Elliott.

Alvarez & Marsal Tax has appointed two managing directors, Jonathan Balcombe to lead portfolio tax services and Alexander Marcham to head up the firm’s UK-based family office service. Balcombe has more than 20 years’ experience providing corporate tax advice to domestic and multinational private clients. He was previously a partner at Evelyn Partners, where he was responsible for sell-side transaction tax support and private equity portfolio services. Marcham has more than 19 years’ experience in personal and family office taxes for ultra-high-net-worth individuals. He joins from Edinv, a family office and private venture capital investor, where he was head of tax and a member of the senior management team.

PKF Smith Cooper has expanded the tax team with the appointment of James Barry as a personal tax manager in the Derby office, following a firm-wide rebrand aligning the company with the PKF Global network. He is a chartered tax advisor with seven years’ experience in personal and capital gains tax issues, including unincorporated businesses, specifically partnerships, sole trades and rental properties. Previously he was a personal tax assistant manager at Evelyn Partners.

Aboria Capital has made three senior hires at the investment firm with Rob Tyson appointed as chief financial officer, Will Lucas as investment manager and Nick Cochrane as senior associate. Tyson brings more than 20 years’ experience in the real estate sector, managing a range of investment vehicles across Europe, and joins from MARK Capital where he was CFO. Lucas is appointed as an investment manager and also joins from MARK Capital. He has more than 13 years’ experience in finance and real estate, and began his career at PwC, spending five years in its real estate assurance and transactions services departments. Cochrane has experience across asset management and transactions, and joins from DWS, where he was an investment manager in the UK&I real estate team.

Arecor Therapeutics plc has appointed David Ellam as interim chief financial officer. He is an experienced finance professional and chartered accountant, with over two decades of experience in the life sciences industry. He joins from Sixfold Bioscience where he was CFO, and was previously in senior roles at Juvenescence and Silence Therapeutics. He started his career at PwC, transitioning to a variety of financial and internal audit roles at companies including Smith & Nephew.

Energy network, SGN, has appointed Tony King as CFO. He brings over 30 years of experience in senior financial roles in industries including transportation, construction, energy and manufacturing. He was group finance director at Transport for London during the pandemic and more recently group CFO at Thakeham Group, a zero-carbon house building business, where he oversaw the company’s growth and strategic direction.

ICAEW has appointed Phil Parry as chief information officer (CIO) responsible for the development and implementation of technology and AI solutions. He joins the Institute’s leadership team and will have responsibility for IT operations, digital and publishing, and for delivery of the technology programme. Previously he was CIO of European designer outlet McArthurGlen, where he led major technology transformations and oversaw significant improvements to user experience across 11 countries.

The International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) has reappointed Gabriela Figueiredo Dias to serve a second, renewable two-year term as its chair, beginning 1 January 1 2025. During her first term, she led the IESBA through a strategy shift, including strategic initiatives that strengthened the relevance and widened the impact of the IESBA’s International Code of Ethics on innovative matters, and a new standard on tax planning.