East Anglian financial services firm Scrutton Bland has expanded its partnership team as it takes on five new partners and becomes a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP).

The move, which happens in April, will allow the partnership team to make operational decisions with more agility and enable the management team to appoint new members with greater ease, attracting new talent into the firm and providing greater opportunities for existing staff.

The firm recently expanded its Ipswich and Diss offices, relocated its Colchester office to a purpose-built site in Severalls Business Park, and opened a new office in Cambridge.

In addition to partner James Bolton, who joined the business at the end of 2016 tasked with developing a specialist employee rewards and benefits service, from April 1, five more partners will join the management team.

Luke Morris joins from Larking Gowen as a corporate partner, bringing with him a wealth of experience in all areas of corporate finance.

Gavin Birchall joins from the Scrutton Bland tax team alongside Graham Doubtfire. Gavin is a tax lawyer with a particular specialism in transactional and property tax which will enable the firm to grow its tax advisory service. Graham is a highly experienced tax specialist.

Dan Bligh will work alongside senior partner Tim Mulley in strengthening the partnership’s insurance expertise. He has worked at Scrutton Bland for 13 years building up a robust client base and managing an expanding insurance team.

Chartered independent financial adviser Grant Buchanan takes up the role of financial planning partner.

The expanded partnership team will be headed by tax partner Jason Fayers, who takes up the mantle of managing partner from Tim O’Connor as he comes to the end of his four-year tenure. Jason has been a tax partner at the firm since 2003.

“The future is looking bright for Scrutton Bland as we enter a period of inevitable change with the impending HMRC requirement for Making Tax Digital and the challenges that Brexit will undoubtedly bring,” said Jason.

“We are in a robust position to support our clients and have exciting plans for future growth.”

•Bury St Edmunds-based recruitment firm Compass Point Recruitment (CPR) has appointed Beverley Gedge to the post of operations director as the flow of job vacancies in the region rises.

She has more than 20 years of experience of working in recruitment in the East Anglia region. She will be taking over operational activities from managing director Rebecca Thurlow who has been the figurehead of the business since its formation in 1995.

In her new role, Beverley will be working with a team of seven recruitment managers covering sectors including sales and marketing, secretarial, personal assistants and administration, engineering, industrial, accountancy and human resources.

The 10-strong business based at Abbeygate House in St Andrews Street South.

•Bury St Edmunds-based live experience agency Inspired, which produces events for well-known brands, has welcomed Katy Hurst as its new head of client engagement.

The role is key to supporting the growth of the business, with the emphasis on developing Inspired’s specialist sectors, automotive and technology.

Katy brings a wealth of experience with her from across the live experience industry. She has worked in both event organising and logistics for the conference and exhibition industry, organised special events for a large national charity and corporate events for BBC Worldwide, and led business development in a consultancy looking after HP partners’ training programmes. Her most recent role was as Head of Operations at a dynamic London tech start-up, Freeformers, working on the frontline of digital engagement with large financial corporations and FTSE 100 companies.

Katy said she was “excited” to be joining the firm.

Founder and managing director Ben Cole said: “Katy’s enthusiasm for our industry is infectious and makes her a great ambassador for our brand and our business. With a blend of practical experience in the events world and a genuine interest in identifying opportunities to enhance our clients’ face-to-face activity, she is a great fit for Inspired and I look forward to working with her as we embark on the next chapter of our growth strategy.”

•Ellisons Solicitors has welcomed family solicitor Martin Chambers.

Martin, a member of both Resolution and the Law Society Family Law Panel, was recruited to the family department of the firm, which offices in Colchester, Ipswich, Frinton, Clacton and Dovercourt, as a locum solicitor to cover maternity leave.

He has more than 30 years of experience working in the family sector, and his specialisms include all areas of family law - divorce, civil partnership dissolution, cohabitants’ disputes, financial/property and pension claims as well as private law children cases.

He will be based in the Colchester office, alongside associate solicitor Lisa Dawson.

“I was delighted to join such a long established firm with such an excellent reputation. I am looking forward to providing high quality legal advice to my clients,” he said.

Nicky Coates, head of the family department, said: “Martin is a great addition to Ellisons.”

•Ipswich PR firm Genesis PR has appointed Phoebe Campbell as senior account manager.

Phoebe joins with PR experience from both agency and in-house roles. She began her career at global agency, Grayling where she worked on a range of sectors including property, travel and FMCG, before moving on to specialise in broadcast PR and online video placement at specialist agency, 4mediarelations. She also gained in-house experience as PR manager at national cancer charity Maggie’s.

Phoebe said: “I am very excited to join Genesis PR at a time of significant growth for the agency and look forward to bringing my skills and experience to help deliver successful PR campaigns for our clients and to continue the agency’s success in 2017.”

Director Penny Arbuthnot said: “We are delighted to welcome Phoebe to the team to support our business growth. Her experience in working at some top flight London agencies will be a valuable addition to the agency as we continue to expand.”

•Peter Lee has joined Coderus, a software development company based at Adastral Park, Ipswich.

Peter started in the tech sector but his career also spans fast moving consumer goods, local government and Smart Cities.

In 1987, he co-founded an industrial design unit at what was then BT Labs and helped grow the team to more than 20 3D product and 2D graphical user interface designers as part of the human factors division before joining BT corporate relations to lead brand, marketing and design management.

“I’m excited to join Coderus to lead their marketing and PR,” he said.

Chief executive Mark Thomas said: “We are delighted to welcome Peter on board. There is great synergy between us including track record; approach and values. Peter is well connected in the region and his help supporting clients plus developing new relationships allows me to accelerate our technical capacity to the next level.”