Financial Appointments: NatWest; Lloyds Bank; Mazars
NATWEST has announced an important change in its Corporate & Commercial business in the West Midlands.
Succeeding Andrew Mitchell – who has been made Head of Customer, Business Partner & Risk Assessment – as Regional Director is Sarah Cooper-Jones.
In her new role Ms Cooper-Jones will be responsible for around 3,000 customers with turnovers starting at £2m through to Large Corporates with turnovers in excess of £1bn. She will lead a dedicated team of Corporate and Commercial Directors and Relationship Managers across the West Midlands.
Ms Cooper-Jones has had a 26-year career with the bank, undertaking roles with global and UK remits, based in London, Manchester and Birmingham.
She said: “I am a strong advocate for the region and for the bank. I am delighted to be back in the Midlands to play a key role in the growth story. It’s a fantastic opportunity and I have a strong desire to work with businesses across the Midlands to realise their potential.”
Andrew Harrison, Managing Director, Midlands & East of England, NatWest added: “As a native of the West Midlands, Sarah is a passionate champion for the region and has been influential over the last 12 months, in shaping the bank’s wider strategy for the Midlands. I am very excited to welcome Sarah to this role and l know she will bring new insight and ideas to the leadership team as well as championing our support for Women in Business.”
Mr Mitchell will remain in Birmingham, despite the national remit of his new role. The bank said this was part of its strategy to build the city as a hub for its risk infrastructure.
“This is a fantastic opportunity to use his frontline experience in shaping the bank’s Operational Risk agenda,” it said.
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LLOYDS Bank Commercial Banking has strengthened its service offering to the West Midlands’ manufacturing sector with the appointment of three specialist relationship managers.
Abigail Holloway and Jason Gregory (left) have been appointed to support SME manufacturers across the region, while Jason Hallam will support mid-market manufacturing firms.
Mr Gregory has been with Lloyds Banking Group for more than a decade, having previously worked in the bank’s property team in Birmingham, while Ms Holloway has spent the last 27 years working for the bank’s commercial finance division.
Both have recently completed the bank’s Warwick Manufacturing Group programme to help them further understand the challenges and opportunities that manufacturers face, and will report to area director for the SME manufacturing team in the Midlands, Andy Moss.
Mr Hallam (below) has moved across from the Lloyds Bank team in the East Midlands, and will now work with local manufacturers turning over between £25m and £100m, supporting their plans to buy new machinery, acquire other businesses or export their products to new markets.
He will report to mid-markets area director for the West Midlands at Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, Steve Clarke.
Mr Moss said: “Manufacturing is a driving force of business activity in the West Midlands, and we are committed to continuing to support firms looking to accelerate economic growth and create skilled job roles.”
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MAZARS has announced six new partners in its UK practice, including two in the Birmingham office.
The firm has promoted five partners and one partner is transferring to the UK from the firm’s Singapore office.
The two newly-promoted Birmingham partners are Louis Burns (left) and Vesko Petkov.
Birmingham office managing partner Lee Cartwright said: “This is well earned recognition of the hard work put in by Louis and Vesko and the significant contribution they have made to our growth in the Midlands.”
Mr Burns is an audit partner. Since joining Mazars in 2010, he has specialised in the development and delivery of external audit services to multinational and listed businesses as well as significant inbound referrals.
He leads the business development activities in relation to SME listed businesses in Birmingham, Milton Keynes, Nottingham and Leicester.
Mr Petkov (left) is a corporate tax partner. Prior to joining Mazars three years ago, he spent five years at a Big 4 practice and worked in London in a global private equity firm and in a global listed group.
He leads the firm’s corporate and international tax offering across the Midlands while also working to develop further the corporate and international tax practice nationally and internationally. His client base includes a number of leading private equity and global listed companies, and he has experience working with industries including leisure and hospitality, automotive, manufacturing and services.
Following the appointments, Mazars UK now has 130 partners and more than 1,600 staff.
