Alex Hartley has taken over from Robert Baxter as head of KPMG’s UK corporate finance business. Hartley has been with the Big Four firm 26 years, and prior to his promotion was head of private equity and London regions M&A. He trained as an ACA with KPMG. Baxter will continue in a client-facing role, focusing on his speciality of retail M&A – he will remain global head of consumer M&A at the firm.

Evelyn Partners has made two senior appointments in its London corporate finance team. Fenton Burgin (1) has joined from Deloitte as partner, and head of debt and capital advisory, with the remit to grow that practice. And Mark Brockway (2) has joined as a corporate finance partner from Cooper Parry Corporate Finance, where he spent two years as a partner. 

Burgin spent 16 years with Deloitte; including 10 as head of UK debt and capital advisory, five years as head of the UK corporate finance business and most recently working with the US firm on private equity clients. Prior to Deloitte he spent 12 years in debt and capital advisory at Close Brothers and two years at Schroders, having started his career in the Lloyds Bank capital markets group. He also served six years as a member of the ICAEW Corporate Finance Faculty board, stepping down in June this year.

Prior to Cooper Parry, Brockway spent 16 years with EY, latterly as head of the London mid-market offering. Prior to that he was head of corporate finance at Corven, and worked in KPMG’s corporate finance team.

Mark Day has joined Breeze Corporate Finance in Birmingham as an M&A partner, moving from Forvis Mazars, where he was a partner and head of Midlands M&A. Prior to that he had spent two years with Succession Wealth and EY in Birmingham.

Valuations specialist Tom Rees has joined FRP’s financial advisory team in London as a director, from KPMG’s London-based deal advisory team, where he was an associate director. At KPMG, Rees advised global banks, investment firms, corporates and investors in the UK and the US on valuations in the financial services, technology, digital infrastructure, telecommunications and retail sectors. He specialises in the private equity sector. Prior to KPMG Rees trained as an ACA with Kingston Smith (now Moore).

Clearwater has recruited Krushi Hindocha (1) as a director in its healthcare team. He moves from PwC where he had spent 17 years and worked on transactions across the spectrum of healthcare services. Hindocha originally trained as an ACA with PwC. 

And in Switzerland the firm has recruited Olivier Zoelly (2) as a partner, joining from Credit Suisse. He previously worked for UBS in Switzerland and for DC Advisory in London. Before that he spent 14 years with Credit Suisse, also in London.

Buzzacott has promoted Stephen Byrne (1) to corporate finance manager. He joined the firm seven years ago from Deloitte, and completed his ACA training with Buzzacott. 

The firm has also promoted Megan Leonard-Moran (2) to assistant manager in transaction services. She has been with the firm five years, initially training as an ACA in audit.

Ryecroft Glenton in Newcastle-upon-Tyne has promoted Max Woodhouse to corporate finance manager. He joined the firm six years ago as an audit assistant and trained there as an ACA, before moving into the corporate finance team last year.

Gurpreet Poonia (1) and Zain Mahmood (2) have joined DSW Corporate Finance in the Midlands as corporate finance managers. Poonia has joined as M&A manager from Breeze Corporate Finance. He previously worked in corporate finance for BDO in Nottingham, having trained as an ACA with Grant Thornton. Mahmood has joined as a corporate finance manager from Forvis Mazars, where he worked in due diligence. He previously worked for Rödl & Partner in Birmingham, where he trained as an ACA.

Bikram Randhawa has joined Bishopsgate Corporate Finance as a manager, from PwC, where he was a manager working in capital markets. He spent three years with PwC and before that two with Mazars in London. Prior to Mazars he trained as an ACA with PwC in Birmingham.

Grant Thornton has promoted Andy Fowler to director in the transaction advisory services (TAS) team. Based in Leeds, he joined Grant Thornton from CommScope, where he was a director of financial planning and analysis. He previously worked in similar roles at ARRIS, Pace and Asda. He started his career with PwC, where he spent seven years, training as an ACA, before moving into transaction services.

RSM has made two promotions to corporate finance director: Ellie Acton (1) and Francesca Merlini (2).

Acton has been with the firm for nine years, is based in Liverpool and works in corporate development. Prior to joining RSM, she spent 10 years working for the Cheshire Constabulary.

Merlini works in deal origination, having joined the firm five years ago as an associate from DealGlobe, where she worked in business development, specifically on China cross-border M&A. Although based in London, she is the France practice country lead for RSM.

Helen Dixon has joined Intrinsic in San Francisco as a transaction advisory services managing director specialising in software and technology investments. She started her career in transactions with Grant Thornton in Bristol, before moving to the US, initially working in transactions services for BDO in San Francisco.