London dates this week | Daily

Jim Boylan – Mazars

The international auditing, tax and advisory firm Mazars has appointed Jim Boylan to their London office as their tax partner. Jim joins Mazars from EY where he was an Associate Partner.

Jim will be responsible for driving continued growth within the Specialist Tax Services team, with a focus on the large and publicly traded sector, both in London and across the UK. He brings over 30 years of experience having previously worked in government at HMRC and in private practice at Big 4 companies.

He will primarily work with large corporations to ensure they are effectively managing their payroll tax risks. His recent focus areas have included IR35, the national minimum wage (NMW) and, during the pandemic, ensuring that employers have correctly implemented their Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) regulations.

In a constantly evolving and complex job market, he looks forward to contributing to the continued growth and success of the team and to further developing the Mazars brand and profile.

Clive Fathers, Head of Mazars Specialist Tax Services, said, “We are delighted to welcome Jim to our rapidly growing team. Our growth rate over the past 18 months is approaching 20 percent as the reputation of our highly skilled team grows and market reform accelerates the demand for our specialized tax services.

“I look forward to working with Jim as we continue to invest in and grow our excellent team and provide our customers with innovative and high-quality alternative services.”

Rory Stewart-Richardson-Terra Virtua

Terra Virtua prides itself on building strong third-party relationships to create new experiences through digital collectibles. Rory Stewart-Richardson will play a leadership role in building existing relationships with major brands as well as developing new partnership opportunities.

Rory brings a wealth of experience to the business development role having worked in similar positions in marketing. In addition, over the past five years he has developed the sponsorship marketplace Conexxi Partnerships, whose clients include some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment.

Rory’s appointment is part of a series of new hires at Terra Virtua as the business continues to grow, which also leads to Gary Bracey becoming chairman as Jawad Ashraf takes over the position of CEO.

Terra Virtua is an immersive collector’s platform that offers exclusive social, gaming and creative metaverse experiences via Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). Existing partners span multiple sectors including: film, television, sports, video games, publishing, arts and entertainment.

Through its existing partnerships with leading brands such as Legendary Pictures, Dynamite Entertainment, Nitro League and the Hero Indian Super League (ISL), several exciting digital collectibles are now available through the Terra Virtua marketplace.

Rory commented, “I am excited to join Terra Virtua, a leader in an incredibly innovative industry. Terra Virtua is already having exciting discussions with many major licensing opportunities. I can’t wait to develop these partnerships, create new opportunities and then share them with our community.

Jawad Ashraf, CEO and Co-Founder of Terra Virtua, added, “As more brands start thinking about Metaverse and NFTs, it is imperative to develop strong commercial partnerships. Rory will play a critical role in developing important opportunities for Terra Virtua and will be an integral part of the next phase of growth in our business. “

Mark Sands – Apex Litigation Finance

Litigation finance specialist Apex Litigation Finance has announced the appointment of Mark Sands as Head of Insolvency, where he will assume overall responsibility for the company’s presence in the bankruptcy sector.

Mark has more than 35 years of experience in bankruptcy law, most recently in a senior position at Quantuma. As a past president of the Insolvency Practitioners Association, Mark’s previous career included positions at KPMG and Tenon.

The focus of his career as a licensed insolvency administrator was the processing of insolvencies of private individuals and SMEs. Apex says that focus makes them a strong partner for their business as the company specializes in helping small and medium-sized claims rather than other litigation financiers’ focus on multi-million pounds.

Mark also has a track record of litigious bankruptcies. He believes his ability to delve deep into the cases will be of benefit to Apex and its customers: “It’s an exciting time for the company that has established itself as a force in the litigation finance market in a relatively short period of time.

“Once cases are accepted, thorough investigation can be the key to winning settlements. I am convinced that my experience in the investigative service will be of great use. I will also be able to draw on my wide network of IPs, litigation attorneys and other professionals to help build Apex’s position in the bankruptcy sector. “

Maurice Power, CEO of Apex, said, “It’s a pleasure to have Mark on our team. His experience and expertise are perfect for the position and we know he will add tremendous value to our business and customers.

“A testament to Mark’s ability is his excellent track record in winning legal cases. While we always prefer to settle cases without the need for a trial, Mark’s proven investigative ability and diligence can only reinforce our ability to ensure positive outcomes for our clients and facilitate access to justice. “

Colette Shields – Localz

Localz, specialist in last mile customer loyalty, location and messaging technology, has announced Colette Shields as the newly appointed Head of Customer and Partner Success for Europe.

Colette has over 16 years of customer success and account management experience. During her time at Localz, Colette has worked with some of the biggest names in the housing, utilities and field service while helping small and medium-sized businesses understand where they can make the most impact.

In the next phase of growth, Colette will help develop existing and new customer and partner relationships as Localz plans an aggressive expansion throughout the region.

Colette said, “We have had a successful year of growth across Europe and that’s because of our customer-centric approach. We know customer expectations have changed dramatically, so it is critical to our continued success that we focus on their changing needs.

“I look forward to leading our customer and partner success program as we move into this next exciting phase of growth.”

Tim Andrew, CEO and Co-Founder of Localz added, “Our customers and partners are critical to our success and growth. Colette was an important part of the Localz team and it was an easy decision to appoint her as our new Head of Client and Partner Success as we want to grow in Europe.

“We have aggressive growth plans across Europe for the next year and Colette will lead a critical part of our business to help us achieve those goals.”

Would you like to advertise your product / service to SMEs in your region?