Appointments.

PRACTICE

– Ernst & Young has announced the arrival of Jeremy McCallum, who joins the firm’s financial service practice as a banking partner. He has over 10 years’ experience in legal practice, as a solicitor with Linklaters and Coudet Brothers, where he was an international tax partner and head of the London tax practice. He also spent five years’ in the banking sector with Credit Lyonnais and Morgan Stanley, where he was European tax counsel.

– CLB has recruited Mike Gillibrand as a partner in its Lancaster office. Gillibrand joins from Jacksons, chartered accountants in Wigan, where he was a partner from 1996. His experience also includes time spent in Ernst & Young’s corporate tax department and Begbies Traynor. At CLB’s Bolton office Diane Hill has been appointed a partner. She joined CLB in 1989 and is a licensed insolvency practitioner and corporate recovery specialist with 16 years’ experience. David Clift has also been appointed as a partner after working at CLB since 1998. He was formerly at United Utilities plc and Ernst & Young. He is based at the firm’s Manchester office where he specialises in corporate finance. He also assists companies in raising finance in particular via admission to OFEX.

– Larking Gowen has promoted Tim Angell to tax manager. Based at the firm’s Dereham office Angell, 37, will have overall responsibility for strategic planning, tax mitigation and compliance. He has worked for the firm for 11 years and spent that time building his own portfolio of personal tax clients along with clients in tax-based consulting.

– Leeds chartered accountants John Gordon Walton & Co has promoted Clive Smetham to partner. He joined the practice as senior manager two years ago. With a particular interest in corporate finance activities he specialises in advising owner-managed businesses from a broad range of financial and commercial sectors.

– Grant Thornton Corporate Finance has appointed Mo Merali as a partner in its London office. Merali’s appointment is intended to boost the existing 80-strong team of corporate finance specialists. Merali first joined Grant Thornton’s Transaction Support team in 1995. His experience has been wide-ranging including viability reviews, due diligence for acquisitions and fundraising, flotations and public company transactions. Merali has led teams on all aspects of transaction support work including a number of cross border assignments. He spent 15 months on secondment to the firm’s national management board, working on a number of strategic projects.

– Teather & Greenwood Ltd, has appointed Jeff Keating, 43, as a director of corporate finance. He joins after 15 years at Smith & Williamson and six years for Ernst & Young where he qualified.

– HLB Kidsons has appointed three new partners. Rob Aitken and Robin Mason have been appointed as general practice partners in the Liverpool, Chester and Hereford offices, while Jackie Hall has been appointed as tax partner for the Hull/Grimsby offices. Aitken joined the firm from Ernst & Young in 1998 as a senior manager in the corporate services department. He will be based in Liverpool, but working closely with the firm’s Chester office. Mason has been with the firm since 1988 and was senior manager in the corporate services department prior to his appointment as partner. Hall joined the Hull/Grimsby offices of Kidsons in 1981 straight from university. She developed her career within the firm and was promoted to director of private tax services three years ago. In her new position, she will be one of two specialist tax partners covering the Humber area.

– Andrew Watson has been promoted to the role of corporate finance manager with Cooper-Parry. Watson has worked for the firm for more than five years. He joined its compliance team in 1995 prior to specialising in corporate finance following the inception of the team in January 2000. Cooper-Parry has also made David Browne corporate finance partner at the Cooper-Parry firm. He brings more than 10 years’ corporate finance experience to the Nottingham partnership, including a period with a Big Five firm, experience of overseas and cross border transactions, two years’ experience in London and a period in Australia.

– Angela Harrison has joined Chadwick chartered accountants as a manager in the audit department. With over 10 years’ experience providing financial advice to owner managed businesses, Harrison was previously with the Liverpool office of BKR Haines Watts.

– Mazars Neville Russell has recruited Tom Elliott as director/partner designate in Stockport. Elliott joins having spent the last 10 years working for Big Five practices in both Leeds and Manchester, most recently as senior manager heading up KPMG’s regional private client practice.

– Forensic accountant Sat Plaha has been promoted to partner of BDO Stoy Hayward. Plaha, aged 41, heads BDO’s forensic accounting and litigation support unit for the firm, which has offices in Birmingham,Wolverhampton and Walsall. He has worked for BDO, and its predecessor Moores Rowland, for 14 years.

BUSINESS

– Biocompatibles International has appointed Swagatam Mukerji to the board as financial director. He replaces Julian Steadman. Mukerji has held a number of senior positions, most recently managing director of the Virgin Drinks Company. Prior to that, he was business integration director at the McVities international division of United Biscuits plc and director of finance at IDV Europe, part of what was then Grand Metropolitan plc.

NGI Private Equity has appointed Richard Morley as its third executive director, having moved from PricewaterhouseCoopers where he was corporate finance partner. Morley spent nine years as corporate finance advisor with PwC, mostly at partner level. For three years prior to this he was finance director of a building products company. In addition Peter Watt has joined as an associate. Watts previously worked for Coopers & Lybrand and Knights in Australia and more recently for British Airways.

– Corporate software specialist Tax Computer Systems has appointed Nick Temple, chairman. Temple is former chief executive of IBM UK and was the first IBM corporate vice-president to be appointed from the UK, later becoming a member of its worldwide management council. He is a non-executive director of Blick and Electrocomponents and a regular lecturer on management for change, business leadership and the information age.