Valuation specialist Kelly Klein has joined S&W, as a partner in the London office. She has joined from Interpath, where she spent two years as a managing director in its valuations practice in London. Prior to that she spent 21 years with PwC, latterly as a director in its transaction services valuation practice, co-leading its UK industrial products and services valuations team for seven years. She also had a six-year secondment to New York with PwC.

Last month, Evelyn split its wealth management and professional services businesses, the former remaining as Evelyn and the latter becoming S&W. In November 2025, Evelyn (as was) announced the sale of its professional services business to Apax Partners, and in January 2025 the sale of its fund solutions business to Thesis.

Grant Thornton has recruited Debbie King as partner in its restructuring, pensions and debt advisory practice from AlixPartners, where she spent the past two years as a partner. She had effectively been with AlixPartners 24 years – in 2001 she joined Zolfo Cooper, which was taken over by AlixPartners in 2015. As well as being experienced in corporate finance and debt advisory in the mid-market and large corporate spaces, she is an insolvency practitioner. At Grant Thornton she will also take up a leadership role in people management and team development, bringing her experience of DEI initiatives.

Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) has set up a sale and purchase agreement (SPA) service line covering the EMEA region, and Mark Cunanan (1) has joined the London office from Grant Thornton as a managing director to lead the offering. He spent two years at Grant Thornton in its SPA practice. Prior to that he spent 20 years at PwC in Toronto, and then Paris and London. He spent 12 years in transaction services at PwC, and was a partner specialising in SPAs for the last two years of his time there. He was also the co-author of the Corporate Finance Faculty’s Earn-out Agreements best practice guideline published in 2023.

A&M has also recruited Richard Cotterill (2) as a managing director in its London office to co-lead the firm’s UK energy corporate finance team. He has joined from KPMG, where he was a partner in its energy corporate finance team. He spent 16 years with KPMG, initially training as an ACA in audit, before moving into corporate finance. A&M has plans for further expansion of that team.

Paul Spencer (3) has been promoted to managing director in the firm’s transaction advisory group in London. He joined as director six years ago from PwC, where he was a senior manager in its transactions services team. He spent nine years at PwC, initially training as an ACA in its audit practice. 

Massimo Franzese (4) has been promoted to managing director in its performance improvement team. He is an IT specialist, experienced in due diligence, carve-outs, post-merger integration and technology-enabled value creation. He has been with the firm for six years, having previously worked for EY and in industry.

And Afsor Miah (5) has joined A&M from KPMG as a director in its technology and services M&A team. He spent seven years with KPMG’s M&A origination team, the past two years as a director. Prior to that he worked in corporate finance for Avenue Partners, Ciesco Group and Results International, having started his career with BDO, where he spent eight years working in corporate finance.

BDO has recruited Hannah Routh as head of its sustainability and ESG services practice, which offers ESG reporting and assurance, climate and carbon advisory, supply-chain due diligence and sustainable finance. She has joined from Deloitte where she spent seven years, initially leading the sustainability and climate change advisory business for the Asia Pacific region before returning to the UK in 2020 to take on a similar role. She previously worked for PwC and Camco Clean Energy.

PKF Smith Cooper has promoted Tom Joy (1) to corporate finance director in Birmingham. He joined the firm seven years ago as a corporate finance senior executive from EY. Before that he spent four years with Grant Thornton, where he trained as a chartered accountant.

Also in Birmingham, Thomas Sinden (2) has been recruited as transaction services director from RSM, where he spent four years as a corporate finance associate director. He previously spent three years with Deloitte in transaction services and six years with Crowe, where he trained as an ACA in audit, before joining its corporate finance team.

PKF Smith Cooper has also promoted Callum Leslie (3) to assistant corporate finance manager in its Derby office. He joined the firm’s corporate finance team in 2023 from Mazars in Nottingham, where he spent five years and trained as an ACA in its audit team.

AlixPartners has appointed Catherine Sherwin (1) and Mark Veldon (2) co-leaders of EMEA, succeeding Rob Hornby, who has served as head of EMEA since 2021 and has been promoted to co-CEO of AlixPartners globally. Sherwin is based in Paris and heads up the French business. Her expertise spans IT strategy and digital transformation. 

Veldon is London-based, head of AlixPartners’ UK team and advises private equity on M&A transactions and post-deal value creation. He joined the firm 14 years ago from FTI Consulting, having previously worked for EY and GE Healthcare.

Neil Morley has joined Cortus Advisory as a partner in its corporate advisory team, based in Leeds, from Really Useful Products, where he was commercial director. Prior to that he spent three years at Interpath as a director working on turnarounds, and before that he spent 18 years with KPMG in Leeds, where he trained as an ACA.