Smith Cooper poaches new director from BDO

SMITH Cooper is continuing to grow its business recovery team in Birmingham with the appointment of a new director.
 
Following the recent arrival of Business Recovery and Insolvency Partner Nick Lee, the firm has further strengthened its team with the appointment of Richard Tonks as Director.
 
A qualified insolvency practitioner, Tonks arrives at Smith Cooper following a 16-year career with BDO.  

He said: “Smith Cooper is an ambitious firm which is continuing to experience growth in its operation in Birmingham. I am delighted to be adding my experience in supporting distressed businesses to its already impressive team.”
 
Tonks will provide support to Lee in Birmingham and Head of Business Recovery, Dean Nelson, across the wider Midlands region.  

Nelson said: “Richard is a well-respected practitioner who will bring outstanding experience to further strengthen our business recovery offering and add to our great track record of saving distressed business and individuals in financial difficulty. We are delighted that Richard is joining our growing team and look forward to working with him.”
 
The appointment follows a busy year for Smith Cooper, which recently moved premises in Birmingham to accommodate their growing West Midlands team.
 
Jackie Hendley, newly-appointed Head of Office in Birmingham, added: “Richard’s appointment further enhances our offer to the local SME market. Richard’s experience in manufacturing, not-for profit, retail and leisure will support our specialist sector teams as we work with our clients to provide multidisciplinary advice to help their businesses grow.
 
“There is no doubt that 2015 will be challenging. We expect to see businesses across all sectors continue to grapple with the challenging mix of economic and financial pressures. With this will come the need to bring specialist skills to help strengthen operational failings within a business and Richard will play an instrumental role in helping struggling businesses from across the region.”

Trio of new hires for Zeus Capital

FOLLOWING a successful 2014, Zeus Capital, has made a trio of senior hires.

Nick How, who joins the firm as Corporate Finance Director, is an experienced corporate financier and broker having worked on IPOs, fundraisings and M&A, as well as ongoing equity market-related matters and investor relations. Most recently a partner at Oriel Securities, he was Head of UK Corporate Finance at Kaupthing and previously worked at Dresdner Kleinwort and Hoare Govett.

Hugo Chance joins as Director and Head of Family Offices. In this role, he will be responsible for the firm’s top high net worth private clients and will assist the sales team in raising capital for early and later-stage private companies.

Lastly, Claire Frangou is now Business Development Director at Zeus following a 16-year stay in Deloitte’s Corporate Finance team as firstly Director of Corporate Finance, and then Director of Corporate Relationships.

John Goold, Chief Executive Officer at Zeus Capital, said:  “These appointments will further strengthen an already stellar team, and offer our clients the very best advice and expertise. All three individuals have considerable experience, and I look forward to working alongside them in the coming months.”

New RSD for Secure Trust Bank

BIRMINGHAM-based Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance has further expanded its Midlands team with the appointment of Steve Goulden as Regional Sales Director.
 
Goulden (left) has more than 19 years’ experience in Invoice Finance and joins from GE Capital, where he was responsible for business development in the West Midlands and the South West. Previously, he has held positions at Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance, HSBC Invoice Finance and Barclays Sales Finance.
 
In his new role, he will be growing Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance’s presence in the region, particularly focusing on the West Midlands.
 
David Parsons, Regional Director for the Midlands at Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance, said: “We’re really pleased to welcome Steve to the team, as we look to help more SMEs in the UK achieve their growth objectives.”
 
The business also operates in Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Bristol, London and the South Coast.