People: BDO; FRP; HW Group; and more
Accountancy and business advisory firm, BDO, has promoted 74 people in Yorkshire, including two promotions to partner.
The new partners in the firm’s Leeds office are Andrew Souyave and Nick Millward.
Nationwide, BDO has promoted over 2,400 of its people, including 36 new partners. The promotions are effective from 1 November.
As national lead for Digital Transformation, new digital partner Souyave supports clients in implementing large-scale, business-led IT changes.
Since joining BDO in 2021, he has been instrumental in the growth of the firm’s Digital Transformation services, overseeing successful projects such as supporting the major transformation of a £650m healthcare business and growing the team’s headcount from zero to 20.
New tax partner Millward, meanwhile, leads BDO’s Transaction Tax team for Yorkshire and the North East, focusing on tax due diligence and tax structuring advice on acquisitions, disposals and refinancing.
He has a depth of experience in transactions across a range of sectors, managing the tax affairs of owner-managed and private equity-backed companies.
Gareth Singleton, regional managing partner at BDO in Yorkshire and the North East, said: “Andrew and Nick have demonstrated exceptional skills and dedication in their fields, and their promotions reflect both their achievements and our confidence in their leadership to drive growth in Yorkshire and the North East.
“This latest round of promotions reinforces our commitment to investing in our people, whose expertise and dedication are key to our long-term success.
“Congratulations to all 74 of our new promotees, who have each shown talent and hard work and richly deserve this recognition.”
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Harry Trick
Specialist business advisory firm, FRP, has made 30 promotions, as it continues to invest in its team across the UK.
These include four promotions to director level. Ramandeep Sandher (Birmingham) and Stephen Hole (Brentwood) have been named directors in the business’ restructuring practice, with Shaun Hudson (Sunderland) being named an appointment-taking director.
Meanwhile, Harry Trick – based in FRP’s offices in Leeds – has been appointed a director in the business’ forensic services team.
The 26 other promotions span the business’ restructuring advisory, debt advisory, corporate finance, financial advisory and forensic services pillars, along with its case accounting and finance teams.
In total, 12 colleagues have been promoted in FRP’s London offices, six in Brentwood, three in Sheffield, two in Sunderland and others across Preston, Leeds, Birmingham, Brighton, St Albans, Manchester and Newcastle.
Jeremy French, chief operating officer, said: “These promotions are a recognition of the skill, talent and commitment of our team, as they continue to go above and beyond in delivering for our clients.
“This is an exciting time for our business as we embark on a new phase of growth, buoyed by new acquisitions that have brought even greater reach and further deepened our pools of experience.
“As part of this journey, we’ll be continuing to expand our teams and invest in our colleagues and their career development, to support their own ambitions.”
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HW Group – an executive search specialist which serves some of the world’s biggest brands – has launched a new finance division to meet the growing demand for expertise in the North.
HW Finance, as the new business will be known, will be led by a four-strong team who have joined from the Leeds office of Marks Sattin which they built from a start-up 14 years ago.
Rafi Davies, Ross Broad, David Clamp and Ryan Johnson between them have over 60 years’ experience in the recruitment sector.
They will be based in Leeds and cover the whole of the North and the Midlands, with plans to expand nationally.
HW Finance will provide a professional talent acquisition service for “emerging leader” roles with a salary level of up to £120,000 across all areas of finance including tax, treasury and audit.
It will complement HW People, which focuses on “emerging leaders” in disciplines other than finance, and HW Global, which focuses on C-suite appointments in the UK and internationally.
It also has HW Global Interim Solutions which matches interim and change management executives with Plcs, large private companies, SMEs and private equity-backed organisations in the UK and globally.
HW Group – which is based in Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham and London – was founded in 2006 by Adrian Hitchenor and John Wakeford and serves clients including L’Oréal and Mars.
Rafi Davies, managing director who will lead HW Finance with the three co-founding directors, said: “As a team we had achieved everything we set out to do at our previous firm and wanted a fresh challenge with the opportunity to build a national finance offering.
“HW Global is one of the most respected executive search firms in the UK and their culture and ambition were a perfect fit.
“Although it is a time of uncertainty and political change, we are a resilient team, having launched our last venture during the credit crunch and ridden out recessions and seven Prime Ministers.
“The current climate means there will be a lot of movement within finance teams and this, together with relocations and other factors, means now is a perfect time to launch.”
Adrian Hitchenor, founder and partner at HW Global, added: “North shoring has been a key trend in recent years, with names such as the Bank of England, HMRC, Starling Bank and Channel 4 all building teams here to reduce costs and access talent in the region.
“Our work with financial services, retailers and FMCG organisations in the region has highlighted the growing demand for financial skills, which was the one gap in provision.
“HW Finance is the missing piece of the jigsaw for HW Group. The launch reflects our ambition to offer a unique multi-disciplinary service to clients across all sectors and all parts of the country.”
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York-based Continuum Attractions Group, known for its portfolio of UK tourist attractions, is revealing growth plans following a recent strategic review.
The company has appointed long-time executive Andrew Pawson as acting chief executive officer, aiming to leverage his nearly 40 years of experience to drive expansion and enhance visitor engagement through new data-driven, immersive technologies.
Continuum operates The Real Mary King’s Close as well as the Coronation Street Experience and Emmerdale Village Tour in partnership with ITV, Oxford Castle & Prison, York’s Chocolate Story, Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth, North Wales’ Greenwood Family Park and The Loch Ness Centre, along with others including a partnership with Explorado.
Pawson said: “We specialise in bringing history to life and in curating memorable and enjoyable experiences for our guests.
“I am thrilled to accept the position of acting CEO and thank the board for the confidence they are placing in me.
“After nearly 40 years in the business, my passion has never waned, and I look forward to the next steps in the growth of the company.”
Continuum’s chair, Sue Garland-Worthington, former deputy CEO of British Tourism and Visit Britain, has recently augmented the group’s board.
She said: “We are going to invest in becoming a more data driven business, and in augmenting our famous storytelling capabilities by using GenAI and augmented reality to enhance visitor delight, all while retaining our hugely successful approach to human-led storytelling at the forefront of our business.”
Garland-Worthington leads the board alongside Judith Donovan, former chair of the Eden Project amongst other major national attractions, and Andrew Marsden, a business and brand strategist.
Pawson added: “We are now actively looking for new opportunities to bring the unique skills of our extremely capable teams to bear on attractions which need revitalisation, a more commercial approach, and which would benefit from our experience operating an exceptional variety of attractions.
“Owners can trust us to care for their brand and to achieve appropriate commercial returns.”
