EY has appointed of Dilek Çilingir as EY global forensic & integrity services leader following the retirement of previous leader, Andrew Gordon in June. Çilingir will lead the forensics division which has over 5,500 staff worldwide and will have a key role in growing the business and driving audit quality. She has been a partner at EY for the last 17 years, most recently as global assurance talent leader, and has 30 years’ experience with Big Four firms.

Blick Rothenberg has appointed David Livitt and James Wheeler as global mobility partners to drive the firm’s regional expansion. Livitt has been hired externally to head up the global mobility team in the south, and most recently ran his own global mobility consultant after working at Mazars and Deloitte in the US. Wheeler will lead the Midlands and North Regions, having led the regional global mobility practice at Azets, which will be integrated into Blick Rothenberg’s operation. He was a partner at Azets and was previously a senior manager, people advisory services at EY.

RSM UK has appointed Paul Bennett as a risk assurance director in the consulting team to focus on risk assurance and internal control advisory in the corporate space. He has over 18 years’ experience working with large corporates and owner managed businesses, with particular focus on helping UK and international businesses to understand, manage and govern risk. He joins from TalkTalk where he was audit and risk director. Prior to that he worked at MBNA, JTI and PwC leading on internal audits.  

Forvis Mazars has appointed Sarah Mills as an accounting and outsourcing partner in its Sutton office. She will work in the industry and services sector and will be responsible for leading and expanding the firm’s accounting and outsourcing teams, as well as growing the global compliance and reporting client base. Mills began her career with PwC and has over two decades of experience with extensive experience of the retail sector, and previously worked as director of finance at Kering and financial controller at Gucci Group. 

HSBC has appointed Pam Kaur as chief financial officer of HSBC Holdings plc, the first woman to hold the position in the global bank’s 160-year history. Kaur is currently group chief risk and compliance officer at HSBC and will take up the job in January, when the banking group is restructured into four separate global divisions, Hong Kong, corporate and institutional banking, and international wealth and premier banking. She is a financial services expert with nearly 40 years’ international experience. Before joining HSBC a decade ago she was global head of group audit at Deutsche Bank. Kaur originally trained as a chartered accountant at EY.

Price Bailey has appointed Mohammed Imran as a director in the strategic corporate finance team. He will focus on enhancing the financial due diligence and transactional services offerings. Chartered accountant Imran has a wealth of experience in corporate finance, M&A advisory, financial and vendor due diligence, and while he will operate as a generalist, he has a particular specialism in advisory work across the healthcare and life sciences sectors. Previously he was associate vice president M&A, at Technology Holdings, after a stint at BDO as associate director in the healthcare and life sciences M&A team.

Bishop Fleming has announced its latest round of promotions across the West Midlands and southwest. Freya Ronayne has been promoted to audit director, having spent 14 years at the Plymouth office, where she completed her training. In addition, the firm has made nearly 30 manager promotions across its four service lines as well as a larger group of junior promotions. This follows double-digit growth at the firm with revenue reaching over £43.1m in 2024.

Crowe has promoted Chantelle Ncube as a permanent member to the firm’s professional practice and private clients team in Manchester following her successful completion of the 10,000 Interns (10K) Foundation programme, an organisation promoting equality of opportunity for Black students and graduates. Since joining the firm earlier this summer as an intern, Ncube has put her expertise to good use as she graduated from Northumbria University in Economics and Finance in September and has quickly become an invaluable member of the team at Crowe.

Albert Goodman has hired a record 17 trainees at the Taunton-headquartered firm, which has been operating its trainee programme for a number of years now, enabling school leavers, university graduates and those changing career to learn the skills needed to succeed in the accounting industry. Among this year’s cohort is 30-something career changer Joe Basquill, a former teacher who is studying for his audit qualifications, and Emma Griffiths, a UWE university graduate who elected to begin her career at the firm based on its reputation for developing talent. 

Dext has appointed Grant Picknell as general manager for its UK and Ireland business. He will set the regional business strategy and ensure exceptional delivery across all go-to-market functions. He has 25 years of experience in delivering software solutions tailored to accountants, and leading teams in the technology industry. Previously he was vice president of sales at IRIS Software Group, following three years at Sage as vice president of the accountant segment and head of sales at Intuit.

TaxTec has appointed Andrew Douglas as chair of a new strategic advisory group comprised of senior leaders from across institutional financial services. He will provide high level counsel on product development, regulatory strategy, and promote partnerships with key industry stakeholders. Douglas has spent 35 years in the City and is currently chair of the UK Accelerated Settlement taskforce leading planning of the UK’s migration to T+1, the move to shorten the settlement cycle for trades. He was previously chair of the data standards committee for the Bank of England.