Grant Thornton has appointed Abigail Fisher to the newly created role of chief people officer (CPO) and as a member of the strategic leadership team. Fisher brings 20 years of experience in strategic human resources and organisational transformation, gained both in the UK and across diverse international markets. Her focus will be shaping a people experience that supports the firm’s high performance, future-focused culture, critical in the new private equity backed environment. She joins from global law firm Eversheds Sutherland, where she spent the past 12 years in senior HR leadership roles, most recently as HR director. Fisher also spent three years at Grant Thornton earlier in her career.

Johnston Carmichael has appointed tax partner Stephen Oates as head of payroll. A chartered tax adviser with more than 20 years’ experience, he specialises in share schemes, employment taxes and owner managed business, and has led on both entrepreneurial taxes and employer services. His new position integrates these areas with payroll, creating a unified and strategic approach within the specialist taxes team at a key time when benefits in kind payrolling rules are being overhauled. Oates joined the firm in 2022, and was made partner last year. Pictured: Stephen Oates

Azets has appointed Dave Riley as a partner in the restructuring advisory team in Manchester, Trevor Shaw as a tax partner in Nottingham and Paul Fenner as a partner in the audit and advisory team in Coventry. Riley brings over 30 years of experience in risk and financial advisory, specialising in the lender market and insolvency. He will be working with the firm’s wider restructuring and insolvency team, focusing on businesses in the northwest, and joins from Kroll where he was a managing director. Shaw brings a depth of experience to help clients navigate complex tax matters from a personal and business owner perspective. He was previously a director at TC Group in Leicester, and his career spans time at Dains, Grant Thornton and RSM in the Midlands, as well as a secondment to HMRC. Fenner has several decades of experience in complex technical accounting, audit and transaction services. He joins from BDO where he was a partner, and national head of construction and Midlands head of manufacturing.

EY has appointed Robert Pyle, currently a partner in EY-Parthenon’s strategy team, as its new UK&I restaurant sector leader. Pyle will lead EY’s work across the restaurant and out-of-home foodservice market, bringing together expertise from across the firm to help clients navigate industry change. In his new role, Pyle will coordinate capabilities from different service lines, working closely with sector and functional leaders across consulting, tax and assurance.

Dains has appointed Fiona McSwein as chief client officer to strengthen the group’s focus on client development, digital transformation and the delivery of a consistent, high quality client experience. McSwein brings a wealth of experience from senior leadership roles and has significant experience working with private equity partners to scale business through customer insight and organic growth. She was previously at SME insurance provider Simply Business, where she held various positions including chief customer officer and VP strategic programs.

Phipps Henson McAllister has appointed Andy Greenhalgh as head of audit at the Northamptonshire firm. He brings more than 20 years of audit and advisory experience across a range of clients from SMEs to owner-managed businesses, and law firms. In his new role, chartered accountant Greenhalgh will lead the firm’s audit department, enhancing service quality and providing deeper insights for clients. Previously he was a partner at Clifford Roberts.

RSM has appointed Joe Barry as restructuring partner to lead the restructuring advisory team in Birmingham, and Caroline Hooley as creative & communications director in a newly created role. Barry has over 14 years’ experience in restructuring and turnaround, and will lead growth of restructuring advisory in the Midlands, focusing on securing larger, more complex restructuring mandates. Previously he was director at Teneo. Hooley will support brand building at the firm focusing on the firm’s expanding transatlantic partnership with the US, Canada and Ireland arms of RSM. She has more than 20 years’ experience across the creative and branded content space, and joins from Deloitte Consulting where she was creative director.

FRP has appointed Holly Holgate as a partner in its restructuring advisory practice. Holgate brings more than two decades’ experience across restructuring, insolvency and financial services regulation, and she will strengthen FRP’s formal insolvency practice as well as its advisory capability. She joins from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), where she was head of the resolution and insolvency department, and is a qualified insolvency practitioner. Prior, she held director roles at EY-Parthenon and Deloitte.

Quantuma has appointed corporate finance specialist David Newton as a director in its Midlands corporate finance team. Newton is a chartered accountant, senior finance professional and strategy expert with significant corporate finance experience. He will join Scott Peters in the Birmingham office, supporting businesses in the Midlands region. From his roles as both a corporate finance adviser and an executive director, Newton has over 30 years’ experience in fundraising, M&A and IPOs.

Andersen has appointed Randeep Dhaliwal as director and head of research & development in the corporate tax practice. Dhaliwal specialises in corporate tax for UK and international businesses, and has over 11 years’ experience advising on corporate and R&D tax. He sits on ICAEW’s business tax committee and R&D working group, and is a member of HMRC’s R&D communication forum. Previously he was head of R&D at Kreston Reeves.

PKF Francis Clark has made a trio of appointments in the corporate finance team hiring Darren Phillips as a corporate finance director, Will Birchall as senior associate and Sam Willis as an M&A analyst, all based in the Southampton office. Transaction services specialist Phillips brings over three decades’ experience with international advisory firms, including particular expertise in due diligence on high value deals in the energy and healthcare sectors. Birchall joins from Deloitte where he was an assistant manager, and Willis previously gained corporate finance experience as an associate at Scrutton Bland.

PKF Smith Cooper has appointed Michelle Bryan as a senior tax manager in the tax advisory team, bringing over 20 years of knowledge and expertise. Her main areas of specialism include corporate restructuring, enterprise investment schemes, employee incentivisation, global mobility tax and residency for individuals and companies. Previously she was a senior tax manager at BKL. 

MFG Solicitors has appointed Tom Evans as a partner, rejoining the firm’s partnership team in Birmingham. A tax and succession planning specialist, Evans has 20 years of experience advising owner-managed businesses and farming families, and will also work closely with the corporate team. Evans will be handling matters for clients including succession and estate planning, inheritance tax and capital gains tax planning, trusts and partnership agreements. He rejoins the firm from Irwin Mitchell where he was a legal director.