Accountants look to scale with two hires and one promotion
Azets, the UK Top 10 accountancy firm, has further scaled its Birmingham office with two senior appointments and one promotion.
Steve Tennant joins as wealth management COO, and Helen Parks as director of public sector audit. Claire Purbhoo has been promoted to regional head of outsourcing, based at Azets in Coventry.
Steve joins Azets Wealth Management from Mitie where he was the customer experience and operations director. He has worked in wealth management for more than 20 years, starting his career as a financial planner before moving on to regional, national and international roles.
The appointment is part of the group 's ambitious plans to scale Azets Wealth Management in response to growing demand for financial advice, from investments to inheritance tax and retirement planning.
Steve was responsible for establishing the Barclays Financial Planning Academy which created careers in wealth management for over 100 planners.
He is passionate about creating company-wide customer cultures, driving positive engagement, creating an environment of continued service excellence, and the use of innovative and transformational initiatives.
In his new role, Steve will use his vast skills and experience to help grow the Azets Wealth Management team nationally, through recruitment and acquisitions on the back of demand.
Helen has over 10 years ' experience auditing public sector organisations, having trained with the Audit Commission before joining the dedicated Public Sector Assurance department within Grant Thornton.
Prior to joining Azets, Helen worked with the second and third lines of defence within a variety of industries and companies, such as TNT Logistics and HSBC UK.
Claire, who has been promoted to regional head of outsourcing, specialises in accountancy outsourcing, systems and guiding businesses with the impact of legislation on their operations.
She is FCA qualified and has over 20 years ' experience advising owner managed businesses across a variety of industries and is now working with multi-site operations and franchises to improve their financial information, reporting and benchmarking.
Claire works closely with the Digital Delivery team and local Office Partners to ensure technology, software and communications remain relevant and effective for a clients ' business needs.
Paul Clifford, Regional CEO at Azets commented: “Both of these senior appointments and Claire 's promotion show Azets ' commitment to grow the teams, and reflects the confidence we have in the market.
“Their skills and experience will allow us to further support clients across a multitude of sectors, as well as developing the teams and our internal operations, in line with our expansion strategy.
“It 's an exciting time to join Azets and I look forward to working closely with Claire, Helen and Steve. ”
All vacancies can be found at www.azets.co.uk/careers where applications from those who are looking to work flexibly or part-time, reduced hours or term-time are encouraged.
Pictured from left to right: Helen Parks and Steve Tennant