Johnston Carmichael has appointed partner Stewart Pennington as Edinburgh office head, succeeding Mark Stewart, who will continue as a partner and head of energy, infrastructure and sustainability. Pennington has extensive expertise in SME accounting and taxation, managing a broad portfolio of clients, and will continue to be deputy head of food and drink at the firm, where he has been a partner since 2019.

S&W has appointed Alexandra Bray as partner in its business tax team, Graham Charlton as partner in private client tax services and Dan Goodall as a consulting partner, all based in Bristol. Lynne Blakey (consulting) and Sabial Hanif (corporate finance) have been promoted to partner. Bray has over 15 years’ experience advising on complex financial, commercial, and transactional tax. She re-joins S&W (formerly Evelyn Partners) from KPMG where she was a corporate tax director at KPMG. Charlton brings over 20 years of experience in client tax, and joins from Bishop Fleming where he was a partner and head of private equity tax. Goodall specialises in technology and data consulting, and brings over two decades of experience. He was previously chief technology officer at non profit housing association Bromford.

Clive Owen has appointed Hydeam Sulton as a tax partner and head of VAT & indirect tax in Newcastle. Sulton brings a wealth of experience in VAT and indirect tax to the regional practice, starting his career at HMRC, where he was head of tax professionalism, before moving to a FTSE 100 listed business and then practice. Hydeam will support clients manage and optimise their VAT position in complex corporate structures, and will build out the VAT and indirect tax service team. Previously he was a tax partner at Armstrong Watson. Pictured: Simon Hook, Hydeam Sulton and Stephen Harris

HaysMac has appointed Andrew Roberts as audit director in its social purpose practice. Chartered accountant Roberts brings 20 years of experience in the charity and not for profit sector, and rejoins the firm, having previously spent five years at HaysMac as a senior manager, leading the audits of large international charities, fundraising charities and independent schools. In his new role he will be working alongside Steve Harper, head of social purpose. He rejoins from RSM, where he was an associate director.

Bishop Fleming has appointed Razia Gent as director of internal audit and risk advisory in Birmingham, and Peter Budden as private client tax director in Bristol. Gent brings over 10 years of experience in risk transformation and internal audit, and will work with clients on value-added consultancy in an increasingly complex risk landscape. Previously she was a senior manager at BDO. Chartered tax advisor and ICAEW qualified accountant Budden has over a decade of experience delivering tax and commercial advice across both personal and business wealth. Previously he was an associate director at RSM.

Kingsley Napley has appointed Jonathan Grimes as head of the firm’s criminal litigation team with effect from 1 April. He will assume leadership of the practice while continuing his client work, taking over from Louise Hodges who will focus on developing the team’s practice and her own client work, in addition to her board responsibilities and external leadership positions. Grimes is a partner at the firm and has been a specialist criminal law adviser to individuals and organisations for 25 years, giving him a broad and deep understanding of all areas relating to criminal law.

Paul Hastings LLP has appointed Alicia Osei as a tax partner in London, strengthening the firm’s London and global tax platform. Osei brings nearly 15 years of experience advising clients across the full spectrum of tax and structuring matters in the private fund and capital industry, and her work regularly involves managing complex cross-border tax issues, including matters at the intersection of UK and US tax. Previously she was a partner at Macfarlanes.

MGI Midgley Snelling has promoted Steve Baxter to associate partner as part of its ongoing investment in the future growth of its leadership team. In his new role, chartered accountant Baxter will focus on strengthening the audit and accounts function, supporting the development of senior team members and playing a greater role in attracting new clients. He has strong technical expertise and more than 20 years of experience.

Azets Wealth Management in Bristol has appointed Simon Stygall as a chartered financial planner and director, focusing on lifestyle planning for business owners and individuals. Previously with Flying Colours, a financial advice firm, Stygall will be working from Azets’ offices in Bristol and Gloucester. Also at the Bristol office, Tom Sharman has been appointed as audit senior to work in the statutory audit team, joining from Warrener Stewart in London.

Baker Tilly International has appointed Ian Halligan as global head of tax for the accountancy network. In his new role, Halligan, who currently leads international tax services for Baker Tilly in the US, will work with tax professionals across the network, leading and executing the global tax strategy, while delivering tax-related business development, knowledge sharing and learning initiatives, based in Washington DC. He has been advising expatriates, inpatriates and high net worth individuals on international tax matters for over three decades, having started his career at BDO in London before moving to the US in 2001. He is qualified in both the UK and the US.

Moore Global Corporate Finance (GCF) has appointed John Cowie as chair of the international deal advisory group within the Moore network. He replaces Philippe Craninx, managing partner at Moore Belgium, who has stepped down. Cowie, corporate finance partner at Moore Kingston Smith in London, will focus on building deeper collaboration, enhance services and expand GCF’s global client services across the 12 deal advisory firm group.

Advancetrack has appointed Louise Walpole as sales director and Paul Frith as sales manager. Walpole brings over 25 years’ experience working with accountancy practices and professional services firms, most recently as head of finance sector at Moneypenny. Frith has 20 years’ experience across legal, tax and financial services, previously as executive manager key accounts at The University of Law.

Equiom (Isle of Man) has appointed Michael McHale as senior manager, corporate services to support complex international structures across the Crown Dependencies. He brings more than 25 years’ experience in the trust and corporate services industry, with expertise in managing multi-jurisdictional corporate structures, property portfolios and investment entities.

International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) has made a series of appointments to its influential advisory groups, including two UK representatives. Academic and ICAEW chartered accountant Susan Smith, professor of accounting at University College London (UCL) School of Management, joins as an advisory group member of the international panel on accountancy education. She is also chair of the committee of departments of accounting and finance at the British Accounting & Finance Association. Public sector accounting expert Mike Driver has been re-appointed as a member of the professional accountants in business advisory group. He has a non-executive director portfolio after retiring from the civil service, and is a member of the CIPFA board and council, chair of the audit committee at the General Dental Council and a senior business advisor to KPMG in Saudi Arabia.