In Leeds, Grant Thornton has promoted Bob McDermott (1) to transactions advisory services (TAS) partner and head of the Yorkshire TAS team; Jim Whittaker (2) to partner in the corporate finance team; and Roger Burton (3) to valuations and modelling partner.

McDermott joined Grant Thornton six years ago from BDO, having spent eight years with the firm, and before that he worked for EY, Turner & Townsend and Deloitte, where he trained as an ACA.

Whittaker has been with the firm eight years. He started his career with PwC, where he trained as an ACA. He has worked for NatWest Markets, Andersen, KPMG, BTG McInnes and White Acres Corporate Advisory in their corporate finance teams; immediately prior to joining Grant Thornton he was a corporate finance partner at RSM.

Burton joined four years ago from Deloitte, where he spent 21 years. 

Tax partner Dan Dickinson (4) has been appointed practice lead for Yorkshire and the North East, succeeding Andy Wood, who has relocated to the firm’s Thames Valley office. Lauren Carlyle (5) has been appointed practice lead for southwest England and Wales. 

The Big Six firm has also promoted Will Rose to director in its corporate finance team, covering the Thames Valley and Southampton. Based in Reading, he has been with the firm 16 years, having trained as an ACA in audit before moving into corporate finance in 2016.

Martin Verrall has been appointed practice lead for Gatwick, succeeding John O’Mahony. Verrall is head of the firm’s sell-side transaction tax practice. 

The firm has also recruited Dr Maureen Paul and Joel Strange from Ofgem and Deloitte respectively. 

RSM has recruited two business transformation partners: Mohi Khan (1) and Ashley Barlow (2). Khan previously worked for PwC, EY and PA Consulting; Barlow for PA Consulting and EY.

FRP Corporate Finance has recruited Dan Salt as a partner in the firm’s Birmingham office. He moves from EY, where he spent the past four years in its Midlands M&A team. He will lead the growth of FRP Corporate Finance’s Midlands team. Prior to EY, Salt worked for Clearwater International Corporate Finance, RBS and Clydesdale Bank.

Cardiff-based Lexington Corporate Finance has recruited Kevin Kong as executive. He previously worked for Deloitte and Crowe.

Ellie Rochira has joined PEM Corporate Finance as analyst. She completed a master’s degree in finance last year at the University of Lincoln. 

Evelyn Partners has promoted Stephen Drew (1) to lead its Cambridge professional services team, as well as the Birmingham team he has headed up for four years, overseeing the trebling of its headcount and revenue. Acquisition of the Cambridge-based Ashcroft Partnership in April 2023 gave it various services in the area, including corporate finance.

Evelyn has also recruited Chris Marsden (2) as a restructuring partner in its Bristol office, from BDO where he spent more than four years also as a restructuring partner in its Bristol office. He previously worked for Moore Stephens and EY.

Quantuma has recruited Ahmad Chit as managing director in its Middle East practice. He specialises in investigations and asset recovery, is a Canadian qualified chartered accountant and previously worked for Deloitte and Kroll. 

Deloitte has appointed Anil Gupta as a practice senior partner for Yorkshire and the North East, taking over the role from Stuart Cottee, who held the position for the past five years. Cottee will continue his work on complex M&A transactions.

Azets Group has appointed Melanie Richards CBE as chair of its board. She was previously deputy chair of KPMG, is a non-executive director of Morgan Stanley International and HKA, and an advisory partner of Manchester Square Partners. She succeeds Gordon Hurst, who stepped down in December 2023 after three years.

Moore Kingston Smith has appointed Matt Meadows as a managing partner. He will succeed Maureen Penfold, who is retiring. Meadows has been with the firm since 1998, when he joined as a trainee. He became a partner in 2008. He advises on different assignments, including corporate finance.

UK Finance has added Thierry d’Argent (1), CEO of Societe Generale UK; Saif Malik (2), CEO of Standard Chartered in the UK; and Mickey Schiller, CEO of Leumi in the UK, to its board. D’Argent previously worked at JP Morgan in M&A and in 2001 became head of its investment banking practice in France.

Birmingham-based corporate finance boutique Evolve Corporate Finance has recruited Jonathan Wright. He spent the previous nine years as a corporate finance adviser at Springboard Corporate Finance, having qualified as an ACA with BDO.

Omar Faruqui, co-head of Europe, Middle East and Africa M&A at Barclays, will be the next director general of the Takeover Panel. Prior to Barclays, he worked for HSBC, Deutsche Bank, Rothschild and JP Morgan Chase. He will take up the role from the start of next month, and will hold the position for two years.