Burgis & Bullock strengthens tax team

CHARTERED accountants and business advisers, Burgis & Bullock has strengthened its corporate tax team with the appointment of a new partner from EY.

Anne Rose has particular expertise in complex corporation tax issues including acquisitions, disposals, employee share options, Research and Development claims and Patent Box relief. She also has considerable experience in tax advisory planning for medium sized companies, including foreign owned subsidiaries.

Ms Rose, who had been a tax director at EY since 2008, has more than 20 years experience in corporate tax. The firm said her appointment would enhance its existing tax capabilities to its wide and varied client base across the UK and overseas.

Wende Hubbard, managing partner at Burgis & Bullock said: “Anne joins us from a top tier firm and brings with her an excellent reputation for results driven advice. Anne’s market knowledge and tax experience will make her a significant asset to the firm and we are delighted to have her on board.”

Burgis & Bullock, part of the International Accounting Group, has offices in Leamington Spa, Nuneaton, Leicester, Rugby and London.

Former banker turns investment director for CEBA

CENTRAL England Business Angels (CEBA) has appointed former banker and experienced business consultant Richard Johnston as its new investment director.

Birmingham-based CEBA works with 150 angel investors from around the UK to raise equity investment for businesses across all sectors, from £25,000 to £500,000. Since its creation in 2008, CEBA has raised £4.5m of investment spread across 40 different firms.

In July this year, CEBA was acquired by Oxygen Enterprise Partners (OEP) and Johnston is its first major appointment.

Simon Jenner, CEO of OEP, said: “Richard is an incredibly experienced investment professional who will bring a sharp business focus to CEBA’s current and future activity. He will work with our current network as well as welcoming new investors and help them identify strong opportunities which match their individual tastes and requirements.

“CEBA has a strong and established investor network to tap into, which means we are able to move decisively and quickly when opportunities present themselves. We would therefore actively encourage companies with great businesses who are seeking investment to get in touch no matter what their sector.”

Johnston began his career working for NatWest in Yorkshire, before moving to London where he held several senior head office roles including strategy and operational planning, product development and sales and marketing. He moved to the Midlands in 1996 when he was appointed head of sales and marketing for the bank’s West Midlands and Wales region.

In 1999 he joined KPMG in a delivery and business development role in the firm’s performance improvement practice. Several other senior consultancy roles followed in the UK and he also worked extensively in other geographies including Europe the Far East and Africa. More recently he has focused on helping SMEs to scale and develop and has been a mentor on the Oxygen Accelerator programme.

Johnston said: “This region has some great ideas coming out of our universities and also has a strong track record of building and supporting other new businesses from many diverse sectors. Combined with a great entrepreneurial spirit, it offers some incredibly promising opportunities for businesses to grow into thriving and successful larger enterprises.”

New graduates recruited at Dains

BIRMINGHAM-based Dains has appointed four new recruits to its graduate programme.  The students will be studying for the ACA or ACCA qualification and have joined the Tax, Audit and Business Recovery & Insolvency teams within the firm.

The four new recruits are: Lauren Mellor, Roma Patel, Tom Roberts and David Sherwood.

Dains chief executive Spencer Wright said: “At a time when virtually all sectors of business are keeping an eye on expenditure and perhaps putting future plans for growth on hold, we believe that fostering and retaining the region’s graduates is essential for our business development.  Our new graduates are a welcome addition to a very strong and committed team and I wish them all the best in their careers with us.”

Pictured from left are: David Sherwood, Roma Patel, Spencer Wright, Tom Roberts and Lauren Mellor.