Deloitte announces partner promotions; Law adds to senior team; New operations director for SF Recruitment; and more

The Birmingham practice of business advisory firm Deloitte continues with its commitment to promote talent from within as it announces its new partners and directors for 2019 with 14 key promotions.

Across the UK, Deloitte promoted 78 to partner, 24 of which are from the firm’s regional practices with three from the Birmingham office. Deloitte in Birmingham also saw 11 of its people promoted to director.

Based in Brindleyplace, Deloitte Birmingham’s new partners include Becky Drew (Audit), Claire Gambles (Financial Advisory) and Alice Bellamy (Risk Advisory).

Across the Midlands practice as a whole, which incorporates both Birmingham and Nottingham, there were a total of four new partners and 13 directors.

Jane Whitlock, practice senior partner for Deloitte in the Midlands, says: “Nurturing and retaining talent is absolutely essential to the firm’s growth as well as to each of those individuals’ progression. It is also critical that we as a business community retain talent and skills in our regions, in order to continue to support and strengthen the local economies in which we are based.

“We continually invest in our people and the promotions are a fantastic example of how you can build a successful career and achieve great things, outside of London. It’s important we continue to showcase this opportunity.”

Birmingham’s director appointments are: Jon Taberer, Adam Kirkpatrick, Kath Hall, Matthew Davies, Hayley Thompson, Benjamin Swarbrick, Richard Hopkins-Burton, Phil Parkes, Anna Hughes, Holly Savage and Antony Lythell.

Richard Houston, senior partner and chief executive of Deloitte NSE, said: “It’s a privilege to be leading this firm and I’m delighted that my first announcement as CEO is the celebration of our partner promotions. I fully accept that we have more to do but I’m particularly pleased to see such a significant increase in female partner promotions in the UK.”

Houston succeeds David Sproul as senior partner and chief executive. He was previously managing partner for Deloitte’s NWE and UK consulting businesses, and has over 20 years’ experience in the professional services industry.

Back row: Matthew Davies, Adam Kirkpatrick, Hayley Thompson, Richard Hopkins-Burton and Jon Taberer (all directors)
Front Row: Alice Bellamy (partner), Claire Gambles (partner), Jane Whitlock (practice senior partner for Deloitte in the Midlands), Anna Hughes (director) and Becky Drew (partner).

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Thursfields Solicitors has rewarded five of its lawyers with senior promotions.

Tim Edwards, who leads the company’s corporate team in Worcester, has been appointed as a director.

Meanwhile Philip Rea, of the family team, and Sharon Oakley, of the wills and estates team, have both been appointed to associate director.

Also promoted are Laura Williams, of the family team in Worcester, and Jade Linton, of the employment team in the Solihull office, who have both been appointed as senior associates.

Nick O’Hara, managing director of Thursfields, said: “I’d like to congratulate all five of our newly promoted lawyers – they reflect Thursfields’ vision to grow and develop its own talented lawyers who value autonomy and accountability in equal measure.”
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SF Recruitment has further strengthened its Birmingham team with the promotion of one of its longest serving consultants operations director.

Mike Lattimer has been with the Gas Street based company for the past 14 years and was recently promoted to the role which sees him manage a team of 20 consultants, three managers, and assisting in achieving an average 40% year-on-year profit growth for the last six years.

His promotion has taken place alongside that of Jo Eaton, who has also been announced as operations director for SF Recruitment’s Nottingham office.

The company, which has Dragon’s Den star James Caan as an investor, and CEO Saria Demmer (ex Deloitte) at the helm, has grown rapidly since it began just over 20 years ago.

Lattimer was part of the team which implemented bringing a new IT and Technology Recruitment arm to the company, which is about to reach its first half year on budget, and ready to further grow in the future.
He had previously been training to be a financial advisor before he was recruited himself to join SF Group, which recently rebranded as SF Recruitment.

He said: “This was an incredible opportunity for me and I am proud to have been with the company for so long and help it grow. Recruitment is a people led business recruiting people for people and should remain so. The human element is essential in recruiting the right people.”

Demmer added: “I would like to congratulate Mike and Jo in their promotions which acknowledges the hard work and dedication they have made to the company, and they both have been invaluable to making SF Recruitment stronger than ever.”

The company has offices in Birmingham, Leicester and Nottingham, and employs 120 members of staff.

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Artorius, the wealth management group, has hired Steve Brandreth as senior client partner who joins the firm from Coutts with the remit of establishing a Midlands office.

His previous role was as executive director of Coutts & Co, where he spent 16 years advising a wide range of clients and families.

Along with client manager Paul Hutchinson, Brandreth will be focused on establishing a Midlands presence.

Ian Marsh, chief executive at Artorius said: “Steve joining Artorius is a huge asset to us. We are a growing firm that is committed to understanding our clients in the regions and helping them achieve their objectives with the wealth they have generated or inherited. Steve’s experience and client focus fits well with our ethos and him joining Artorius will enhance our business considerably.”