People: BDO boosts corporate finance team; FD hire for listed waste management firm; and more

ACCOUNTANCY and business advisory firm BDO has appointed an assistant director with significant private equity experience to join its corporate finance team.

Marc Hutchinson will be based in the Leeds office but work across Yorkshire and the North West as part of BDO’s northern corporate finance team.

He joins BDO from HSBC in London where he progressed from a graduate through to director in its leveraged finance department. Mr Hutchinson works with large UK and international companies, and has extensive experience in private equity.

BDO says it is looking to expand its advisory offering, aiming to double the size of its corporate finance team.

Jason Whitworth, corporate finance partner at BDO, said: “We continue to invest in attracting high-quality people. Marc has significant experience developing and maintaining relationships with private equity firms, which will help us forge new relationships and develop our client base.”

:::

LISTED waste management business Augean has welcomed Mark Fryer to the board as group finance director.

Mr Fryer brings a significant breadth of financial expertise across a broad range of both listed and private companies having been group finance director of Dialight from 2010 to 2014 and previously of Manganese Bronze Holdings from 2002 to 2010.

For the past three years he has been interim CFO of two private equity owned businesses, Bridon International and Nualight.

As previously announced by the company, Richard Laker will step down from the board in order to pursue a new opportunity.

Jim Meredith, chairman, said: “We are delighted to welcome Mark to the board of Augean. He is a highly experienced finance director with a strong track record across a number of sectors and I look forward to working with him as the group continues to build on its successful strategy for growth.

“The board would like to thank Richard for his significant contribution to Augean during his time as group finance director and wish him well for the next stage of his career.”

:::

COMMERCIAL law firm Harper James Solicitors has recently added additional support and legal staff as its expansion continues apace.
 
The B2B law firm, operating from its head office in Sheffield city centre, has added lawyers to its commercial and corporate teams in recent weeks, as well as introducing a new tax and banking and finance offering for its clients.

CEO and corporate solicitor Toby Harper started the firm just over two years ago and has seen the company’s revenue more than double organically in the last 12 months. He also has ambitions plans for 2017 after hiring 25 new staff members in 2016.

He said: “It’s a very exciting time not only for us at Harper James, but for our clients too. As well as hiring many more lawyers in order to both increase our capacity and the scope of services we’re able to offer, we’ve also opened our second office located in Birmingham.

“Our monthly service plan attracts many startups and smaller businesses to our firm, as they know they’re going to receive quality legal support from experienced, partner level lawyers at a fraction of the cost they’d expect to pay at larger, more traditional law firms. This has led to a significant increase in the size of our team, as lawyers across the country are now looking to work with us as we offer flexible, remote working.”

Harper James has recently hired Samuel Moore, a tax solicitor based in London, Natalie Murray who specialises in banking and finance, as well as Patrick Smith and Emma Mitchell, who have joined the team in Sheffield as part of the business development and accounts teams respectively.