People: The latest West Midlands hires

Industrial coating specialist Trimite has appointed Nigel Smith as group managing director.

Smith, who joins the business at the beginning of November, has an established career and expertise in industrial coatings, having worked for other leading industry players in the past nearly 30 years, latterly as business development director EMEA for Axalta Coating Systems.

Trimite was established in 1840 and has since built its reputation on manufacturing high performance and technologically superior coatings to supply a broad range of industries including defence, aerospace, automotive, bakeware, railway and heavy industrial.

The company is headquartered in Hockley, Birmingham, with further manufacturing sites in Redditch and Bolton.

Smith said: “This is an exciting time as we focus on building on Trimite’s outstanding reputation as a provider of high quality protective coatings to a broad spectrum of industrial customers. There is huge opportunity out there and I am very much looking forward to working with the whole team to take the business into the next stage of its development.”

The company has also recently appointed Sharon Harrison as sales director.

Steve Thornhill, director, said: “This has been a challenging year for many industries.  Whilst we have maintained a strong market position, we have focused on our existing customer base to ensure they have received the best possible service from us during the pandemic and beyond.  Now is the time to look forward and bring our products to other, new customers and we believe Nigel is the right person to be heading this drive up, backed by a really committed and talented sales team, led by Sharon.”

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Magma Chartered Accountants has announced a partner promotion, as well as three new recruits within its tax team.

Michelle Andrews becomes the firm’s fifth tax partner.

She joined Rugby-based Magma in 2014 from EY, with the tax team having also trebled in size since then.

Mark Tuckwell, the firm’s managing partner, said: “Michelle has been a huge part of the success of our tax team in recent years and is one of the key drivers for its continued growth. Her promotion is well deserved.”

Magma also welcome Cornelia Petha, who joins as a corporate tax compliance manager, bringing a wealth of expertise from her previous firm Grant Thornton.

Two graduate trainee appointments, Joshua Aberdeen and Ethan Skitt,have also been made.