New BDM for Grant Thornton

THE Birmingham office of business and finance adviser, Grant Thornton, has boosted its business development team with the appointment of manager Nicola Haldane.

A specialist in working with professional practices, Ms Haldane joins Grant Thornton with wide experience in business development and marketing positions in law firms, latterly with Harrison Clark Rickerbys, where she worked on its successful merger in 2013, putting in place effective client care and business development programmes.

An earlier position with law firm Dundas & Wilson involved managing client feedback programmes across its four offices in the UK and developing innovative internal communications projects.
 
David White, partner, said: “Nicola’s appointment is a further investment in Grant Thornton’s continuing growth in Birmingham. Her extensive experience and innate understanding of the professional firm environment builds on the strong foundations already in place within the business development team. We already have an embedded culture of working closely with our clients to help them achieve their objectives and Nicola’s appointment will help us to develop this further still.”

New tax leader for Deloitte in Midlands 

Deloitte, the business advisory firm, has promoted Darren Stephens to head of tax in the Midlands.

Stephens, who has been with the firm for 23 years, is now responsible for a team of more than 200 tax professionals, including 15 partners.

He said: “It’s a very exciting time for Deloitte’s tax practice in the Midlands as we start to see the realisation of what can be achieved when matching technical skills with new technology.

“As a practice we have always strived to be as agile and responsive to clients and market conditions as possible, and now we are truly able to service our clients in different ways – ensuring that they pay the right amount of tax, at the right time.”

Ian Barnes now takes up the role of head of business tax, returning to the region where he began his career in 1999.

New trio join Springboard

SPRINGBOARD Corporate Finance has further strengthened its team with the recruitment of three new members of staff.

Jonathan Wright, a graduate of Leeds University, joins as executive. He trained as an accountant with BDO before moving into industry to work for a leading food retailer. He will work on a broad range of M&A assignments supporting the Springboard partners.

Oona MacDonald joins as Office and Marketing Manager. Ms MacDonald has extensive experience of the corporate finance and professional services markets having previously held roles with 3i, KPMG and Catapult Venture Managers.

Himal Vegad has joined as an analyst. Hel will focus on providing detailed market and sector information to the Springboard team.

Springboard partner Simon Ward said: “We are delighted to welcome Jon, Oona and Himal to the team. We remain extremely busy and expect to complete a number of transactions over the next few months. The recent sale of Crystal Motor Group to Marshalls of Cambridge is a great example of an outstanding result delivered for our client.”

Springboard, established in 2005, operates in the lower mid M&A market with transactions typically falling in the £1m to £30m deal size range. Based in Birmingham and London, the firm employs nine staff.

Pictured from left are: Simon Ward, Jonathan Wright, Oona MacDonald and Himal Vegad.

Lloyds boosts SME services in Solihull

 
LLOYDS Bank Commercial Banking has strengthened its SME services with the appointment of six new SME banking specialists in Solihull.

Headed up by senior manager, Gary Saxon, the team will be based at Lloyds Bank’s offices on Stratford Road, but will also work with customers in Coventry and the wider Midlands.

The new recruits bring 118 years of collective experience in commercial banking to the team, and will provide guidance and support to a range of businesses with a turnover of up to £25m.

The team will be working on deals similar to the £300,000 funding package that was recently provided for First Steps Nursery, a children’s day nursery in Solihull which used the bank’s support to expand and relocate to bigger premises, creating two new jobs.

Gary Saxon, senior manager in Coventry and Solihull, Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, said: “These latest appointments add further strength to our offering in Solihull at a time when we are looking to increase our lending to SMEs across the region.

“Our new team is made up of specialist relationship managers and senior managers, who have a strong knowledge of business in the local area and are on hand to offer their guidance and support to organisations within a range of sectors.”
 
Pictured from left are: Martin Rowe, Gary Saxon, Kevin Curtis, Paul Warrington, Darren Riley and Nigel Arnold.