BUSINESS and financial adviser Grant Thornton has promoted Paul Addison to director of the East Anglian team.

BUSINESS and financial adviser Grant Thornton has promoted Paul Addison to the position of director in the East Anglian team.

Paul specialises in business recovery and reorganisation, working from the firm’s offices in Ipswich, Cambridge and Norwich.

Commenting on his promotion, Paul said: “I am delighted to take up the position of director in such a successful and well respected business as Grant Thornton. Our East Anglia recovery and reorganisation team work hard to provide businesses across the region with expert advice and support, to help them restructure both financially and operationally, and I am looking forward to building on these partnerships in the future.”

An ACCA qualified accountant and licensed insolvency practitioner, Paul graduated in 1992 with an accounting and finance degree before starting his career as a trainee with Grant Thornton.

After 15 years of working in London, he made the move in 2008 to look after clients across East Anglia. He has worked on a number of high profile assignments including ITV Digital, Wimbledon Football Club and MBM Produce. Paul also spent 19 months on secondment with HSBC Bank, gaining valuable knowledge on bank financing.

Grant Thornton office managing partner for East Anglia, Richard Proctor, said: “As a valued member of our expanding East Anglian team, we would like to congratulate Paul on his promotion. Paul has a wealth of experience in recovery and reorganisation which has, and will continue to benefit businesses across the region.”

ROB Butler has joined recruitment firm Time Appointments’ expanding team of consultants at Ipswich.

Rob is the latest consultant to join the company. He will be responsible for building his own client base and providing further support to the team and Time Appointments existing clients. Rob brings with him an enviable work history gained from within media account management and insurance brokerage. His client driven background makes him the perfect candidate for this role as he has previously been responsible for maintaining client detail and always delivering a professional approach to his work.

Managing director Craig Dade said: “We are delighted to welcome Rob to the team. He is extremely professional, polished and determined. We firmly believe that his attributes will make him an asset to our company and will bring him great success in his new role.”

TWO accountants from PKF’s Ipswich office are broadening their professional horizons.

Matt Button, 23, has recently gone to work for New York firm Eisner Amper LLP which is a member firm of PKF International, a global network of accountancy firms. For three months he is working on financial services and auditing for New York Hedge Funds, gaining specialist experience to bring back to the UK. Matt has been with PKF four and a half years and is from Ipswich.

Twenty-five-year-old Xandra Curnock has recently returned from Australia where she was seconded to PKF Melbourne increasing her auditing experience under the international financial reporting standard, which she is now able to pass on to her East Anglian clients. Xandra has been at PKF six and a half years and lives in Colchester.

PKF Ipswich partner in charge, Graham Randall said: “We encourage our staff where possible to gain accountancy and business experience around the world through the PKF International network, so that this additional and complementary expertise can benefit our UK and East Anglian clients.”

A FAMILY-RUN Suffolk IT company, based at Deben Mill Business Centre in Woodbridge, has added a new member to the team.

Rebecca Pledger joins the React Computer Partnership as a full time employee strengthening the team yet further as they head into their 14th year.

Richard Pledger, director and also Rebecca’s father, said: “As a family run firm, I work alongside my brothers Francis and Alan the other directors and our sister Penny also works with us on the administration side of the business. I’m delighted to be able to now also bring my own daughter into the React fold.”

Rebecca’s new full time role will involve further SharePoint development and technical IT support for React’s clients.

VICE Principal of West Suffolk College Martyn Wagner has joined the committee of Haverhill Chamber of Commerce.

West Suffolk College is one of the largest apprenticeship learning providers in the region with more than 1,000 apprentices and in addition delivers training for around 1,400 employers to in excess of 3,000 staff, a significant number of these in the Haverhill and surrounding area.

Sarah Howard, chairman of Haverhill Chamber of Commerce, said: “We are delighted to welcome Martyn to our committee.

“Many of the West Suffolk College’s full time students live in the Haverhill area and for a number of years Martyn was a governor at Castle Manor Upper School, this together with working with local employers and developing the College’s Haverhill Learning Centre, has given him a knowledge of the area and a desire to see enterprise continue to grow and thrive for the benefit of the local community.”

Martyn will join fellow committee members: Alison Bowyer, Abbeycroft Leisure; Matt Bryant, Castle Manor Business and Enterprise College; Alan Caldwell, ,Stevens Solicitors; Justin Friend, Amicus Financial; Rob Maidment, Suffolk Development Agency; Marian Merch-Chammon, Samuel Ward Academy; Paul Millar, Ipswich Building Society; Donna Revell, The Days Inn, and Sue Warren, Simply PR.

Martyn said: “I am very pleased to be joining the committee, the chamber run excellent events and it is an excellent forum for engaging with business for mutual benefit.”

AVIS UK has announced the appointment of Tracy Wollaston as regional sales manager for East Anglia and South Midlands, as the car rental company looks to significantly grow its business to business (B2B) portfolio.

Reporting into business development director, Chris Longmuir, Tracy will be responsible for identifying and securing new corporate clients across the regions. The newly created role is part of Avis’ long term plan to maintain the double digit growth which the B2B business achieved in 2010.

Bringing with her a wealth of experience in the car rental industry, Tracy will be working alongside seven other new regional sales managers and one national manager to drive new business across the breadth of the UK.

Commenting on her appointment, Tracy said: “This is an extremely exciting time to be joining Avis and I’m looking forward to working for a company that has such a strong reputation in the car rental industry. East Anglia offers a multitude of opportunities for new business which will be vital in delivering the tough, but realistic, targets which have been set for the newly expanded corporate team.”

Chris Longmuir said: “We’re delighted to welcome Tracy to the team at Avis and I’m confident that she will make an immediate impact to our corporate business which is indicative of our strategy.

“This is a time of significant growth for our corporate division and reflects not only Avis’ success last year in the B2B sector, but our commitment to continuing, and hopefully increasing, it throughout 2011”.

JOHN Quinton, Ipswich-based mower makers Ransomes Jacobsen’s former regional sales manager for the southwest and northwest of England and Wales, has been promoted to the position of sales manager, UK and Ireland with immediate effect.

Reporting to sales director Rupert Price, he will be responsible for business development, equipment sales and dealer support throughout the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

John, a graduate of Harper Adams University College in Shropshire where he gained a HND in agricultural engineering, joined Ransomes Jacobsen in May 2010 from Hayter Ltd, where he held the position of territory manager west. Prior to this he spent a year as sales manager with RS Bird, Ransomes Jacobsen’s former turf dealer in south Wales, and three years with Glendale, based in Preston, as a supervisor and subsequently machinery manager.

Before coming to the United Kingdom, John farmed arable crops in his native country, Zimbabwe. He currently lives in Monmouth with his wife Victoria and their two daughters, Sophie aged six and four-year-old Emma, but will be relocating to Suffolk in the near future.

Mr Price said: “John has only been with the business for a short while, but in that time has impressed everyone with his drive and determination. His rounded experience of the turf industry will certainly be an added strength together with his undoubted management skills that are a requisite for this demanding post. I am delighted to congratulate him on his appointment.”