People: Host of director promotions at PwC; Chamber welcomes new president; Accountancy firm boost tax team; and more

PwC has today announced the appointment of 12 directors to its Yorkshire and North East practice.

Victoria Coe, Chris Neal, Liz Ross-Jones, Lee Wilkinson and Steph Yeates have all been promoted to director within the external assurance practice. As have Paul Brady (cyber), Craig Buckley (consulting), Claire Fox (operational restructuring), Nick Lane (corporate finance), Guy Hurwood (corporate finance – real estate), Susan Blair (tax – global mobility) and Jonathan Lloyd (compliance services accounting).

Ian Morrison, Yorkshire & North East regional leader, said: “It’s extremely pleasing to see so many people continuing to progress and take advantage of the opportunities to develop within the firm. We remain focussed on maintaining a diverse and inclusive practice that represents a broad range of skills, backgrounds and experience, and reflects our clients’ changing needs. These appointments will ensure that we have the capabilities and strengths across the Yorkshire & North East practice to continue to support our clients, our business and the wider economy.”

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Past president Andy Caton, vice-president Suzanne Watson, and president Nick Garthwaite

Nick Garthwaite has been announced as the new president of Bradford Chamber of Commerce.

The managing director of Christeyns was unanimously elected at the Chamber’s annual meeting and succeeds Andy Caton, who has held the post for the last two years.

Garthwaite has already been involved with the Chamber’s policy development and lobbying activities for several years, and says he is looking forward to supporting local firms.

He will now chair regular policy development meetings of the Chamber, represent the local business community at external meetings, and act as general business ambassador for the wider district.

He will be supported in his role by the new incoming vice-president Suzanne Watson, the head of Approach PR.

Garthwaite said: “I’m delighted to have been elected to head up Bradford Chamber for the next two years. Andy has been a wonderful ambassador for Bradford, so I’ve got big boots to fill; but these are both exciting and challenging times for Bradford and the wider region of West & North Yorkshire, which our organisation represents, and I’m up for the job. We’ve already carried out a scoping exercise among our key policy group to look at what we need to focus on in months and years to come; but I’m also keen on hearing from other members on what their issues are going to be in the future.”

Christeyns produces oils, soaps and detergents for the professional cleaning and laundry sector and is based on Rutland Street off Wakefield Road in Bowling. The Belgian-owned firm bought out Bradford-based Oils & Soaps in 1998 as part of a series of mergers and acquisitions that has put the business on the international stage. It also has a presence in the USA, Brazil and the Middle East.
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Gary Clarkson

Accountancy and business advisory firm Hentons has boosted its tax team with the appointment of Gary Clarkson as director of tax strategies.

Clarkson joins the business from senior roles at Trident Tax and Irwin Mitchell. He will work with Hentons client base of entrepreneurs to help them navigate the evolving taxation structure.

Simon Gray, a partner at Hentons said: “The last two budgets have seen an increase in the tax burden on entrepreneurs. It’s important that business owners get the right advice to ensure they pay the correct amount of tax and help their business get the cash it needs to grow.

“Advice around cash positive schemes like R&D tax credits can play a pivotal role in ensuring a business continues to grow quickly.”

Clarkson said: “Hentons has a hugely experienced team and it is great to join them as they continue to grow quickly by attracting an entrepreneurial client base. Tax planning is an essential part of any business, and I look forward to supporting the teams here at Hentons and our clients.”

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Jordan Kenefick and Brett Harrison

Property consultants JLL has appointed Jordan Kenefick and Brett Harrison within its valuation team in Leeds.
With 11 years’ industry experience Kenefick joins as a senior surveyor. He has a broad range of commercial valuation experience across a range of sectors including office, industrial, high street retail, student housing and residential development sites.

Surveyor Harrison has more than three years’ experience within professional advisory, built from working at firms based in Leeds and Manchester.  He qualified as a chartered surveyor in autumn 2016 and joins from the Leeds office of Colliers International.

Simon Cullimore, director of Yorkshire and North East valuation at JLL said: “We have secured two highly skilled valuers with a strong track record working with leading lenders and a variety of investors, developers and local authorities.

“Their arrival adds further depth to our business in Leeds as we look ahead to a busy second half of the year.”

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Amreet Notay, Pedro Goncalves and Jack Stokes.

Adept Civil and Structural Consulting Engineers has appointed a trio of graduate engineers following several new contract wins for the Leeds-based firm.

Amreet Notay, who has a civil and structural engineering degree from the University of Leeds, joins as a graduate structural engineer and previously worked for Elland Steel Structures. Stand out schemes he has been involved with include The University of Huddersfield’s Oastler Building, The International Quarter in Stratford, Nishkam School in West London and BAE Systems’ training facility in Salisbury.

Pedro Goncalves, who is originally from Portugal, is a structural engineer with over five years’ experience within the construction industry. He has undertaken projects within the UK and abroad, and has specialised as a consulting structural engineer for the last two years working on projects within the residential, education and industrial sectors, as well as working on commercial projects using a wide range of construction materials.

Jack Stokes has a BSc in Civil Engineering from Leeds Beckett University and has worked for ASC Civil and Structural engineering Consultants. With experience of all aspects of adoptions and designs, he has recently worked on a number of high-profile retail, residential and education projects.

Erol Erturan, managing director at Adept, says: “This year we celebrated ten years in business, having started Adept with two of my former colleagues in 2007, we now employ 32 people and have a turnover of almost £2m.

“In order to keep growing and developing the service we offer to clients, it is essential we attract talented new people who have a range of skills and experience, and we were very impressed with Amreet, Pedro and Jack, who all bring different attributes to our business.”

Adept has offices in Leeds, Manchester and London.