People: BHP; Henry Boot; and more
BHP has boosted its senior team in Sheffield with the appointment of Danny Varley as Audit Partner.
He has moved to BHP after 15 years in a national mid-tier firm in Leeds, where he had been working as an audit director since 2016.
Varley has extensive experience working with privately owned and private equity-backed businesses specialising in the manufacturing, construction and care home sectors.
Having joined BHP, his role will involve getting to know the Sheffield market and business community and developing overall client relationships to support their business growth.
He said: “I already knew some of the BHP partners and I’m looking forward to getting to know the wider team. There’s an excellent client base here, with a focus on the Yorkshire market, and it’s a great opportunity for me to progress to the next stage of my career.
“I’ve been impressed by the enthusiasm and energy of everyone I have met so far. There is a real sense of wanting to go somewhere and constantly improve. The ambition for growth among all the partners is so refreshing to see, and I’m excited to be a part of it.
BHP’s Audit team supports more than 700 clients across the UK and, through membership of the accountancy network Kreston Global, the firm provides a fully international auditing, accounting, taxation and advisory service to organisations that trade abroad.
Paul Winwood, BHP partner and head of audit said: “Danny’s extensive audit experience across a range of sectors will prove to be a huge asset for us moving forward.
“As a core service, we’re always looking for ways to grow and develop the support we offer, so I’m excited to see what influence Danny can bring to our department and the clients we work with in the months to come.”
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Sheffield-headquartered property group, Henry Boot, has appointed Serena Lang as a non-executive director with effect from 1 August 2022.
On appointment she will be a member of the Audit and Risk Committee, Nomination Committee, Remuneration Committee and the Responsible Business Committee.
She will take over from Peter Mawson as chair of the Responsible Business Committee from 1 January 2023.
Lang is currently non-executive chair of AIM-listed technology company Eleco and has extensive strategic leadership, growth and digital transformation experience.
She brings diversity of thought to the Board having worked across multiple industries in complex industrial, engineering and construction environments and culturally diverse markets.
Prior to joining Eleco in 2014, she previously held executive roles as enterprise client executive at Invensys (now Schneider Electric), global VP of transformation at BP plc and as an executive consultant at Capgemini Ernst & Young.
Mawson said: “Serena’s depth of leadership expertise, understanding of the customer and wider stakeholder perspective and her passion for ESG matters will be particularly invaluable.
“I am also pleased that we have made important progress against our diversity targets and will look to make further improvements as part of our ongoing board refreshment programme.”
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From left, Gareth Campbell, Andy Benson and Ross Blackwood
A year on from becoming an employee ownership trust, air conditioning and industrial refrigeration business Airmaster has promoted Gareth Campbell, Andy Benson and Ross Blackwood.
Campbell, who joined the South Yorkshire-based business as an apprentice at 16, became contracts director in 2019 and now becomes operations director responsible for the Design, Contracts, Maintenance and Installation teams.
Benson joined the business in 2019 as finance manager after over 20 years with steel tank and pressure vessel manufacturer, Eddison and Wanless and has been promoted to finance director.
Blackwood who joined Airmaster in 2018 as a project engineer in the Contracts team now takes over from Campbell as contracts director.
In addition, James Dawson becomes head of design and Dan Birch moves from Design to Contracts becoming junior project engineer.
From left, James Dawson and Dan Birch
Lisa Pogson, managing director, said: “This is great news for the business as we strengthen our leadership team and expand our team of engineers. At Airmaster we are always keen to support the skills development of our team.”
The company has also taken on two new apprentices Max Brough, 18, comes from a welding background and Owen Struggles, 17, joins straight from Aston Comprehensive.
The new apprentices add to the team of engineers including Chad Lake, Brad Kimpton and Ash Sanderson who have all now completed their apprenticeships at Leeds College of Building with Lake becoming an installation engineer and Kimpton and Sanderson joining the team of maintenance engineers.
