New Quadrant Partners, a London-based boutique private client law firm, has hired Ray McCann as a partner with effect from 1 June 2015. He joins the firm from Pinsent Masons (formerly McGrigors), where he has been a partner since 2010 and led their private wealth tax practice and advised corporate clients on a range of advisory and HMRC related issues, in particular in complex tax disputes and investigations. Prior to this, he was a PwC where he was part of the banking & capital markets team and led the dispute resolution team for financial services. Before moving to the private sector, McCann was a senior HMRC inspector until 2006 where he held a number of high profile investigations and policy roles, including working on cross-border tax avoidance issues with tax authorities in the US, Australia and Canada.

Graham Elliott, transaction tax consultant at Withers Worldwide LLP and our VAT columnist, has set up his own practice, City & Cambridge Consultancy based in Hertfordshire. Up and running since 31 May after over two and a half very fruitful years in Withers, he will continue to do a good deal with the firm but on a subcontract basis. 

Kreston Reeves has promoted Maxine Reid, director of restructuring and recovery to partner, with effect from 1 June 2015. Based in the firm’s Eastbourne and Gatwick offices, she also works with the wider Restructuring and Recovery team providing services across the Kreston Reeves’ client base.  Reid joined the firm from independent insolvency practice Abbot Fielding in 2011. VAT specialist Rupert Moyle has joined the firm as director of VAT and duty, after eight years at Baker Tilly southern region. He has specialised in VAT for 25 years and began his career with HMRC before moving across the tax divide to PwC in 1998.

Bishop Fleming has promoted head of compliance Caroline Smale to be the firm's 27th partner with a remit to oversee the quality of technical services and staff training. Having joined the firm as a graduate trainee in 1988, Smale qualified in 1992 and worked as an audit manager before becoming the firm's compliance director in 2005. She is an elected member of the ICAEW practice committee and is deputy president of the ICAEW Chartered Accountants South West, ahead of becoming regional president next May. In her new role, Smale will be the firm's first partner with no fee earning role.

BDO corporate finance partner and private equity specialist, John Gilligan, has been made a visiting professor in the innovation and entrepreneurship department of Imperial College Business School at Imperial College London. The appointment follows a 20-year career in private equity which started at 3i in 1988. He has previously lectured at Nottingham University Business School and Cranfield Business School.

Punit Renjen has taken over the top job at Deloitte Global as CEO responsible for a network operating in more than 150 countries with more than 220,000 people. Most recently, Renjen was Deloitte US member firm chairman of the board since 2011. Prior to this, he served as chairman and CEO of Deloitte Consulting LLP in the US. On appointment, he set out a set of strategic priorities, including increasing investment to apply leading technology to serve clients across core businesses of audit, tax, consulting, enterprise risk and financial advisory services. Other top priorities include setting the standard for quality around the world, employing ‘hyper collaboration’ among the network’s member firms to deliver global capabilities tailored to local needs, and creating a distinct development experience to attract and inspire talent.

Dow Schofield Watts (DSW), the professional advisory and equity finance firm, has expanded its VAT services business with the appointment of Jacki Wells as a partner, based in the Yorkshire and North East office. Wells joins DSW from EY, where she headed up the Leeds indirect tax practice. She has 25 years’ experience in advising clients from large corporates and owner managed businesses to investment funds and high net worth individuals.  Prior to this she spent several years working for HMRC in Hull.

Simon Linley FCA is joining Creaseys accountants as head of private client practice based in Tunbridge Wells with effect 8 June to boost the personal tax team.  He moves from the London office of Kreston Reeves, where he held a similar position, and has more than 25 years’ experience of capital gains tax, income tax, inheritance tax planning and advice for non-resident and non-domicilied individuals. He is an ICAEW fellow and a member of the Society of Trust & Estate Practitioners.

KPMG has appointed Stuart McIntosh as a senior advisor to its telecoms team, advising clients in the telecoms sector both in the UK and globally. Prior to joining KPMG, he was group director of the competition group at Ofcom and an executive member of the board before leaving in 2014. He has more than 30 years of consulting experience and has previously held roles at IBM, Adventis and PwC, and gained industry experience at BT, where he was head of business economics.

The ICAEW’s new president for 2015/16 is Andrew Ratcliffe, who took up the new role on 1 June. He is an audit engagement partner at PwC, and was chairman of PwC’s global board from 2001 to 2005. He joined ICAEW’s council in 2005 and was voted in as vice president in June 2013. Ratcliffe will lead ICAEW until June 2016, when he will hand over to new deputy president Hilary Lindsay. Baker Tilly partner Nick Parker becomes vice president.

Meantime, Carol Warburton, a director at chartered accountants KTSOwensThomas, has become only the fourth female president in the history of the ICAEW in South Wales.

UK independent trustee firm, Dalriada Trustees, has hired pensions expert Richard Favier as a trustee representative. Favier, who was head of restructuring and insolvency at the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) from its inception to 2013, is also a former adviser to government ministers on UK, European and international insolvency policy.

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has appointed Ann Muldoon as director of actuarial policy. She will lead the development of the FRC’s strategy for actuarial standards and practice in the UK and its activities at EU and international level to monitor and influence actuarial regulation.