Appointments: Smith & Williamson; d3t; Lloyds Bank & NatWest

SMITH & Williamson, the accountancy and investment management group,  has promoted Manchester-based partner Roy Baldwin as its national head of sport.

Baldwin has many years’ experience in the firm’s established sports team and has worked with a large profile of sports stars with their finances both during and after their careers.

He will help lead the sports group as it continues to expand its profile working with football academies across the UK, offering an NVQ accredited educational programme to improve younger players’ financial awareness.

As well as football clients, the sports team also specialises in working with international players in cricket, rugby, equine, athletics and more, offering expert tax advice, financial planning and investment management services.

His promotion to the national role follows the appointment to the team of director Karl Rosedale last month.

Andrew McKenna, head of the Manchester office of Smith & Williamson, said: “Roy’s appointment as head of sport is a testament to the work he’s done for the firm over the years. This, teamed with our recent appointment of Karl Rosedale as director who also works closely with the sports team, will mean our office now has a lot to offer.”

Baldwin added: “I am really pleased with my new role as head of sports. We have a really unique sports group here at Smith & Williamson, as we cover accountancy, tax and investment management for our clients. We work with some of the leading sportspeople in the business and we are excited about our future plans.”
 
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CHESHIRE-based information technology specialist  d3t Ltd has appointed two new directors to its board to help manage the company’s continued and significant growth.

The two new board members, technical director Andrew Booth and operations director Noel Austin, are key members of the company’s  technical team based at its Heath Business Park headquarters at Runcorn.

Booth, 27, who lives in Warrington, worked with the co-founders of d3t, Jamie Campbell and Stephen Powell when they were with computer game specialist THQ Digital. He went on to become d3t’s first employee when they launched their new business in 2011.

Noel Austin, 34, from Wallasey, also worked with the d3t co-founders when they were with THQ Digital.  He then went to work in Canada for two years before returning to the UK and joining the staff of d3t a year after its launch.

“Their promotion to the board was aimed at preparing the business for the anticipated continued demand for its eclectic range of services which provide clients with effective solutions to a wide range of technical challenges,” said Campbell.

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LLOYDS Bank Commercial Banking has appointed Caroline Cuthbertson as area director of mid-markets for Merseyside.

She replaces Glenn Bemment, who is taking up the role of area director within Lloyds Bank for North, East and West Yorkshire. 

Based in Liverpool, Cuthbertson will be leading a team of 10 relationship directors in providing financial advice and strategies to mid-sized businesses and large corporates with turnovers of between £25m and £750m. 

She has over 26 years’ banking experience to the role and said: “Merseyside is home to some of the North West’s most notable businesses, making it a significant customer base for Lloyds Bank. As businesses are beginning to grow in confidence as a result of increased economic stability, financial support and advice is more important than ever to ensure the continued growth of the regional economy.”

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NATWEST has appointed Rob Grace as director of business banking for  Preston and Blackpool.

In his new role Grace will lead a team of 12 experienced business managers looking after the needs of new start up and established SMEs based in Preston, Blackpool and the surrounding areas.

The team will look at investment in the region and ways to grow NatWest’s support to businesses across the marketplace. The team includes experts in real estate, healthcare and agriculture.

Grace was previously a senior lending manager supporting business banking, and has extensive experience supporting SMEs dating back to 1995. He also ran his own portfolio of customers in Liverpool, Chester and Manchester from 1999 to 2012.