People: Armstrong Watson and IoD

Accountants, business and financial adviserary, Armstrong Watson LLP, has announced two major promotions within its Leeds team,

Olivia Rawlinson has been promoted to tax director and Tom Blandford has been promoted to audit and assurance partner.

The promotions comes as the firm sticks to its ambitious growth plans and actively continues to nurture talent as well as recruit during the current pandemic,.

Tom Blandford

Blandford, joined Armstrong Watson in 2017 as audit director within the specialist legal sector team , exclusively advising solicitors across Yorkshire. He was awarded the title of ‘Accountant of the Year’ at last year’s Yorkshire Accountancy Awards and is also a founding member of ALFMA (the Association of Law Firm Merger Advisers).

Rawlinson joined Armstrong Watson in 2018 having spent much of her tax career resolving HMRC disputes. She has continued to develop her expertise in this area and has also shown her strength in tax consultancy by undertaking a much broader range of tax advisory projects.

These announcements come after the recent recruitment of Simon Mayoh as Financial Planning Consultant.

Commenting on the promotions, CEO and managing partner, Paul Dickson said,

“Whilst the pandemic may have meant a temporary change to our working environments, our clients require our support and advice more now than ever and we’re determined to continue with business as (new) normal in the approach we take. It’s important to be able to adapt, however we remain focused on the future, with further growth and additional recruitment planned.

“Recognising and nurturing the talent we currently have within the firm is integral to this growth and both Tom and Olivia have shown this in abundance. Tom holds a strong reputation for advising managing partners and law firm boards on best practice and will continue to do so as part of his audit, accounting and strategic services to the legal sector. Olivia has demonstrated that she can turn her hand to a large variety of tax advisory projects and going forward she will leverage her experience in HMRC dispute resolution and risk management to develop this Armstrong Watson offering.”

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The Institute of Directors (IoD) has awarded a Fellowship to Yorkshire businessman Ian Garner.

Garner is an international trade and healthcare expert who is currently acting deputy chair of the IoD North Yorkshire branch.

He currently runs his own consultancy Practical Solutions Management and is a patron of ExportExchange. Having previously spent more than a decade in strategy and business development with Bupa across Australia, Europe, North America, West Africa and South East Asia.

Jon Geldart, director general of the IoD, said: “This recognition for Ian is well-deserved. He is a committed ambassador for the Institute who is generous in sharing his time and experience with members. He is a key part of a strong North Yorkshire team, enabling directors in this important region to make their voice heard.”