Crowe has appointed Buki Obayiuwana as managing director and head of transformation in the risk consultancy and sustainability practice to head up Crowe Risk Consulting’s transformation services. A chartered accountant and transformation specialist with 20 years’ experience, Obayiuwana has a proven record of leading and delivering complex portfolios of change and transformation across many functions and sectors. Most recently she was a director at consulting firm Baringa Partners LLP, she is also chair of the finance compliance risk committee at 38Degrees.

BDO has hired Claire Franjou and Zsolt Szelecki as partners in the advisory team. Frangou joins BDO as an M&A partner in the firm’s north corporate finance team in Manchester, having built up over 25 years’ experience as a corporate financier. She will work closely with owner-managed and private equity-backed businesses to support their growth and development. Previously she was a director, corporate finance at KPMG. Zsolt Szelecki will be based in BDO’s London office and joins as partner and head of people advisory service in the firm’s digital, risk & advisory service (DRAS) team. He will support businesses with culture and organisational transformation projects, and has significant experience in talent management, organisational effectiveness, and leadership team alignment. He joins BDO from a non-executive director position having previously been senior client partner EMEA at Korn Ferry after more than a decade at Deloitte. 

PwC UK has named Glasgow-based Fraser Wilson as regional leader for financial services overseeing activity with financial services clients across the UK regions outside of London – including Wales, the Midlands and north of England. Fraser already leads on financial services for PwC Scotland, and will continue to work closely with key clients in the Scottish financial services market and partners including Scottish Financial Enterprise and Fintech Scotland. In his 23-year career with PwC, Wilson has specialised in risk, governance and controls across the financial services industry, becoming partner in 2014.

Grant Thornton has made three senior appointments in the restructuring and insolvency practice with Philip Stephenson promoted to head of restructuring in the northwest. With more than 25 years’ experience in restructuring and insolvency, Stephenson is currently a partner in the London restructuring team. He will continue to jointly lead the firm’s accelerated M&A offering. Licensed insolvency practitioner Jon Roden has been promoted to partner in the central and Midlands region, and he will also lead the firm’s work nationally with the asset based lending community. Rob Parker will become the UK wide restructuring lead for construction clients.

Johnston Carmichael has appointed Neil Dempsey as restructuring director based in Aberdeen. He joins from Cayman Islands based international asset recovery firm KRyS Global, where he specialised in offshore focused fraud investigations, cross-border insolvency, restructurings and litigation support. Dempsey has more than 20 years’ insolvency experience and has previously worked at a number of accountancy firms in Aberdeen, including a Big Four restructuring practice. He has significant experience of complex, multi-jurisdictional insolvency cases and insolvency processes in Scotland, as well as the financial services sector.

Dunkley’s Chartered Accountants have promoted Joe Weston to director. He originally joined the firm as an apprentice in 2015. In this time he has grown into a pivotal figure at the firm, achieving both the ACCA and CIOT qualifications, along with developing an in-depth level of practical experience and expertise.   

Kilsby Williams has appointed qualified accountant Ffion Clarke as a manager in the business services team responsible for preparing accounts for a portfolio of clients. Graduates Bethan Mulcaster and Scott Webb-Edwards have joined as trainees, while Sebastian Mathers O’Donnell has transferred from the firm’s payroll department to begin a new role. The trio will work on accounts and audits while training to become chartered accountants. Catrin James has joined as a graduate trainee in the firm’s tax team and will work towards becoming a chartered tax advisor.

Kreston Reeves has hired 54 trainees and students across offices and service lines in London, Kent and Sussex. The intake of trainee accountants will be studying under the firm’s apprenticeship scheme, rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted in 2022 for a range of qualifications including ICAEW, ATT, ACCA and CFAB qualifications. The intake includes a mix of GCSE, A-level, graduates, and industrial placement students.

Old Mill has appointed chartered financial planner Tim Blowers to the wealth management team. He has more than 12 years’ experience in financial services, with particular expertise in retirement planning and sustainable and ethical investment. Previously he was an associate director in the wealth management team at Evelyn Partners. He started his career at investment platform Novia Financial Plc and spent a number of years in technical roles before joining Brunel Capital Partners as a paraplanner in 2016.

The Serious Fraud Office has appointed Nick Ephgrave QPM as director. He brings to the SFO over 30 years of experience at the top of UK law enforcement. He previously served as assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service and chief constable for Surrey Police. Most recently, he was chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council Criminal Justice Co-ordination Committee, and held roles on the Criminal Procedure Rules Committee and at the Sentencing Council.