BBC director appointed to the ASB

Smith will take over the chairmanship of the board’s public sector and not-for-profit committee, when the present chairman stands down.

BUSINESS

Media Audits Group, the media and advertising consultancy, has announced a number of appointments to its Board. Terry Noys joins as group finance director, with responsibility for HR and IT, as well as finance. David Howard has also joined the company as non-executive chairman. He is currently a director of nine companies and was previously with Ernst & Young. Julian Spooner continues as chief executive of the group.

– Margaret Ewing is to replace Russell Walls as finance director of BAA when he retires in the summer. Ewing is currently group finance director of newspaper publisher Trinty Mirror. Prior to this she was partner in charge of UK corporate finance transaction services at Deloitte & Touche.

PRACTICE

– NR Barton & Co in Wigan has announced a merger with the Standish office of north-west practice with John Schofield now becoming senior partner. Schofield, an Oxford graduate set up the Standish office in 1996. He said: ‘Having managed the Standish practice, it seemed a natural progression for both firms to join to enhance the quality of services to all our existing and future clients.’

– wbs has launched a forensic services division consisting of three core units: fraud investigations, dispute resolution and tax investigations. Newly appointed partner Clayton Ruthven heads fraud investigations. Leading dispute resolutions is newly appointed partner John Pearn while recently appointed partner John Burke will head tax investigations.

– Bentley Jennison Financial Services, the IFA arm of Bently Jennison, has appointed Gordon Clark as a financial advisor to be based at its Birmingham office. Clark said: ‘Because of the increasing complexities surrounding pensions and investments, it is imperative that clients receive professional advice from people dedicated to that particular area of expertise.’

– Richard Pike has been appointed the new head of tax for Tenon’s north-west division. He joins the company from the Blackburn-based Scapa Group, an industrial tapes manufacturer, where he was business development manger. Pike began his career with Price Waterhouse in Newcastle, before moving to Arthur Andersen as a newly qualified accountant and working in Leeds and Manchester before moving to Scapa.

– The Manchester office of Hacker Young has expanded its forensic department by appointing Tony Tesciuba as a new partner. He joins the firm with more than 20 years of experience including involvement in several high profile commercial, share-holder and partnership disputes.

– Reeves & Neylan has announced the appointment of two new partners, Margaret Connolly and Richard Heasman, to the firm. Connolly joins the firms Canterbury office to develop its tax department. Most of her career was spent at KPMG where she was senior member of its entrepreneurial solutions group. Heasman will be based within the forensic accounting department at Ramsgate. He was brought into the department in 1995 from the firm’s Dover office.

– Management accountant Steven Stolworthy and tax specialist Mark Hannah have been promoted to managers with Lovewell Blake. Stolworthy joined the Great Yarmouth office in 1987 as a member of the corporate service team. In 1977 he began assisting the management accountant and the next year took over the role. Hannah joined in 1987 when the firm took over Carter Edmonds & Co, where he had worked since leaving Wymondham College in 1981.

– Grant Thornton has announced the appointment of Amit Ruparelia as senior manager to its risk management services group. Previously he was a manager at global risk management solutions, the consulting arm at PwC.