PKF Francis Clark expands West Country team

andrewdiprose
Authored by andrewdiprose
Posted Monday, April 3, 2017 - 1:17pm

A raft of senior appointments has been announced as chartered accountants and business advisers PKF Francis Clark boosts its West Country offices.

The investment in new roles comes as the Exeter-based firm – with annual revenue of £38 million, a team of more than 600 people and 60 partners across eight offices – sees continued growth in key areas, particularly tax.

This follows Francis Clark becoming a member of PKF International, the global network linking independent business advisers and accountancy firms, as well as merging with Dorset and New Forest firm Princecroft Willis last year.

The latest appointments, taking effect from April 1, include partners and directors at the Exeter, Torquay, Plymouth and Truro offices, as the firm’s ongoing growth shows no signs of abating.

Client demand for advice of an increasingly complex nature has led to the firm enlarging its specialist departments, offering a comprehensive service to both clients and referrers.

PKF Francis Clark Managing Partner Andrew Richards said: “The scale of our recent recruitment at a senior level has been unprecedented for the firm and we are very excited about the future.

“Over the past six months we've recruited some highly experienced people into this practice - and we have also seen a number of promotions of extremely skilled members of staff.

“This investment has been driven by continued growth in key areas, undoubtedly assisted and driven by our membership of PKF.”

Two new partners are mergers and acquisitions (M&A) taxation expert Holly Bedford and Business Recovery and Insolvency specialist Lucinda Coleman.

Tax specialist Holly, previously with Arthur Andersen in Reading and Chicago and also EY in London and Edinburgh, joined PKF Francis Clark to help lead the tax team in Plymouth.

Licensed Insolvency Practitioner Lucinda, who joined the firm’s Exeter office as a graduate trainee in 2003 and is an authority on Company Voluntary Arrangements (CVAs), has been promoted to partner within the business recovery team.

A number of PKF Francis Clark staff have been promoted to director level:
• Katie Skea in Corporate Services (Plymouth). She trained at Deloitte following a degree at the University of Bristol.
• Ian Pring in Business Tax (Plymouth). He specialises in property taxation and previously worked for HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).
• Jemima Fox (Plymouth). Jemima specialises in Private Client Tax matters having trained with EY in London.
• Adam Kefford in Corporate Tax (Exeter). He specialises in corporate and international business taxes. Adam joined PKF Francis Clark as a trainee from the University of Exeter. 
• Liam Dushynsky in VAT (Exeter). Liam trained with PKF Francis Clark after completing a degree at the University of Exeter.
• Chris Watts in Tax (Torquay). Chris specialises in tax investigations and joined PKF Francis Clark as a trainee.
• Justin Gliddon in Business Services (Plymouth).  He acts for a wide range of family owned and managed businesses.
New to the firm are Daniel Sladen who has joined the Truro office as a Corporate and Business Tax Director having enjoyed a career in London working for Barclays and KPMG.
And former Plymouth University student James Barrett has joined the Plymouth office as a Director in the Business Services department. James joined PKF Francis Clark from KPMG where he worked for 16 years.

Marketing professional Julian Cramp, has joined as Director to head up the firm’s marketing function.

Other firm-wide director appointments and promotions include Frances Kingsnorth specialising in Corporate and Business Services in the Salisbury office, Paul Stout joining the Poole office in Corporate Finance, Lisa MacPherson appointed Head of Tax Technical (Poole), Martin Brown specialising in Rewards Tax (Taunton) and Chris Harrison joining as Corporate Tax Director specialising in R&D tax incentives (Poole).

John Endacott, PKF Francis Clark Head of Tax, said: “Many of the appointments and promotions announced are tax related. We're seeing clients requiring advice of an increasingly complex nature, much of it with an international dimension.

“Our tax consultancy practice which provides advice to other firms of accountants and lawyers is also thriving. We've therefore invested in new recruits across the tax practice, focusing on specialisms that our clients are requesting and who we believe will add significant value.”
 

Share this