Sarah Friend and Christine Francis have been appointed as partner and associate director respectively in the Moore Stephen’s Reading office. Friend joins the tax team, having previously been a partner at Oury Clark. She specialises in advising domestic and international owner managed businesses, with specific expertise in the Canadian market, to advise businesses on strategy and taxation policies. Francis joins from Wilkins Kennedy as an associate director in the Reading practice’s new restructuring and insolvency team. She has worked across a number of sectors including retail, hospitality, construction and technology. She specialises in providing support and advice to SMEs on the financial difficulties they face and the practical solutions available to them.

Crowe Clark Whitehill has appointed Grant Anthony as a partner in its business solutions team in London. Anthont trained and qualified at Crowe Clark Whitehill, spending 12 years with the firm before he made the move into industry in 1997, where he co-founded a successful commercial interiors business. He has worked across a broad range of sectors, including recruitment, legal, technology and healthcare, taking these growth enterprises through the peaks and troughs of the business cycle.

Steve Jacob has become a partner in Wilkins Kennedy’s Maidstone office. Jacob brings with him more than 20 years’ experience in the industry, training at Arthur Andersen and qualifying in 1998 before joining a top ten firm in 2007. He specialises in structuring and shareholder planning, offshore structures and transitions for corporates and individuals.

Shaw Gibbs has promoted Hayley Simmons to head of insolvency and advisory in Oxford in London. She is a Licensed Insolvency Practitioner and director of Shaw Gibbs. She joined the firm from KPMG in 1996. Simmons is also a member of the Non-Administrative Receivers Association (NARA) specialising in Law of Property Act Receiverships.

Abbey Tax has appointed Christopher Penfold as sales director. Penfold joins from Crowe Clark Whitehill where he was director of business development and prior to this he worked for grant Thornton.

Matthew Creevy, corporation tax technical director at Kreston Reeves has achieved the Advanced Diploma in International Taxation (ADIT). Creevy joined Kreston Reeves in 2006 and specialises in international tax planning, UK tax planning for larger corporates and their shareholders, and advising on stamp duty land tax. He frequently delivers tax advisory projects which involve the reorganisation of larger corporate groups, often with a cross border dimension.

Crawford Falconer has joined the Department for International Trade as Chief Trade Negotiation Adviser. He brings over 25 years of public service in trade and foreign affairs. A New Zealand/UK dual-national, he was previously Professor of global value chains and trade at Lincoln University. This follows a long career at New Zealand’s Foreign Office, as deputy secretary (vice minister) for International Trade and Foreign Affairs. He has also served in the OECD, as New Zealand ambassador to the World Trade Organization.