Accountancy firm BDO has taken on a new batch of students at its Ipswich office who are training for their ACA (Associate of Chartered Accountants (ACA) or Associate of Accounting Technicians (AAT) qualifications.

Greg Matthews, 23, of Ipswich, an audit trainee in local public service, studied at the University of Leicester and is originally from Saffron Walden.

Tori Adams, 18, a trainee business adviser from Ipswich, studied at Suffolk One Sixth Form College.

Claire Gallant, 29, who works in audit and advisory, recently finished her PhD at Royal Holloway, University of London, and lives in Colchester.

Jonny Hargraves, 21, of Ipswich, is an audit trainee in local public service and went to Medway, University of Kent.

Georgia Howlett, 18, who lives near Halstead and was at Colchester County High School for Girls, and Tayler Fordham, 18, of Manningtree, who studied at Colchester Sixth Form College, are both trainee business advisers.

James Baker, 22, of Ipswich, is originally from Birmingham. He studied at University of East Anglia and is an audit trainee in assurance and advisory.

Daniel Hines and Emily Tricker have also joined the BDO Ipswich office.

Partner in charge Graham Randall said: “We are pleased to welcome the new recruits to BDO in Ipswich as part of our school leaver and graduate recruitment programmes. Developing young, intelligent new talent is vital to the future of our business.”

: : Roger Burton has rejoined the team at Gipping Homes as senior quantity surveyor.

Roger, who worked for the Ipswich-based company three years ago, has a BSc (Hons) in building surveying from Reading University and will be involved primarily in The Bartlet hospital development at Felixstowe.

: : The Bureau of Engineer Surveyors (BES) has named Stowmarket engineer Gary Higgins as the first ever BES Engineer Surveyor of the Year.

The award was launched by professional body BES in a bid to promote the vital work done by engineer surveyors in encouraging safety in the workplace.

Gary, who works as the East Anglia regional engineering manager for HSB Engineering Insurance Services, was selected because of the passion and commitment he brings to his job. Gary worked as an equipment technician in the RAF and at a lifting equipment company before reading an article on engineer surveyors that inspired him to pursue a career in the field.

“Being an engineer surveyor has given me the opportunity for personal development while working within an industry that makes a difference to people’s lives,” he said.

“I am delighted to win this award and there has been a great sense of pride within HSB Engineering Insurance, which reflects the standing of the BES within our industry.”

BES chairman Alan Fitzpatrick said: “It was with great pleasure the Bureau of Engineer Surveyors Council chose Gary Higgins as our Engineer Surveyor of the year 2013. Gary’s application highlighted his abilities as an engineer, a motivated leader and a manager.”

As part of his prize, Gary wins £500 worth of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and will be presented with his award by members of the BES Council at the annual SOE Lunch in London’s exclusive Royal Automobile Club.

: : Professor Mike Saks is standing down as provost and chief executive of University Campus Suffolk (UCS) to focus on a number of key projects as an internationally renowned researcher.

Professors Saks, who has spent more than 20 years in senior university leadership positions, will continue his association with UCS as a research professor.

He was appointed provost and chief executive of UCS in December 2009 and has led it through a challenging time for higher education, with a dramatic reduction in public funding and the introduction of much higher levels of tuition fees.

“I am proud over the past three/four years to have led UCS to a position where it is poised over the next few years to take on independent university status,” he said. “The stage is now set for a new provost and chief executive to take UCS through the coming, very intense period of activity and into the future. Meanwhile I look forward to being able to pursue research on key projects in the immediate future, and having the space necessary to complete these.”

Professor Edward Acton, University of East Anglia vice-chancellor and chairman of the UCS board of directors, said Professor Saks had done “a tremendous job” for UCS.

“Few, if any, university leaders manage to maintain an international research presence,” he said.

“That Mike has achieved this for so long is quite remarkable; many colleagues in leadership roles in Higher Education will identify with his dilemma and understand the difficult choice that he has now made. I am therefore delighted that he will be continuing as a Research Professor at UCS.”

UCS said his successor will be appointed by its board “in due course”.

: : Ron McConnachie has joined building supplies company Kent Blaxill as commercial director.

Ron, 53, brings a wealth of experience and a highly commercial mindset, having previously been chief operating officer at Rapid Electronics Ltd and before that operations director at Smith & Brooks Ltd.

Simon Blaxill, managing director of the company, which is based in Colchester, said: “We are very pleased Ron has joined us. He has an outstanding record that demon­strates strategic thinking, vision and delivering impressive results.”

Ron said: “I am delighted to have joined Kent Blaxill at such an exciting time. KB, through its 175-year heritage, has built a strong stable business with great staff and a loyal customer base. We live in an ever more competitive world which brings new challenges and I want to get the company actively listening to its customers and responding to their needs of today.”

Outside of work, Ron, who lives in Kelvedon, enjoys spending time with his family and first grandson, as well as scuba diving and fishing.

: : Financial advice firm Scrutton Bland has promoted Grant Buchanan to director.

Grant, who joined the firm in 2008, is based at the firm’s Colchester office.

He advises on wealth management and has a specialism in helping clients to generate income in retirement from pensions and other assets.

: :Property agency Savills Ipswich has boosted its business space team with the appointment of Tony Lockwood (MRICS) who joins as an associate director.

Tony will concentrate on rent reviews, valuations and other professional commercial instructions. Previously at London based Turner Morum, Tony has more than 14 years’ experience working on the professional side of the commercial property sector.

Chris Moody, director at Savills Ipswich, said: “We are extremely pleased to announce the appointment of Tony Lockwood and are confident he will be a positive addition to the team, bringing with him a range of expertise in the professional sector to help underpin the services offered by Savills Ipswich.”

: : Business broker Axis Partnership UK Ltd has appointed three new team members to strengthen its Bury St Edmunds operation.

Managing director Robin Boxall-Hunt said: “We are extremely pleased to have attracted three talented team players to the Axis Team. Their appointments support key departments such as marketing, valuing and brokering. Interestingly, all three new team members come from a B2B background supporting other businesses which will be an excellent benefit to our clients.”

Shaun Russell joins the management team, heading the brokering arm of the business. He has led and worked on many transactions within the UK and Europe, on both the buy and sell side, with a collective value well in excess of £1billion, and is looking forward to contributing to the further development of the scale and scope of operations Axis provides for its clients.

David Scates, who previously worked for Business Link in Suffolk, becomes business valuer. He has been involved in training at blue chip organisations and has extensive project and case management experience supporting small firms.

Chris Honeyball joins the marketing team and brings a wealth of experience gained at Foundation East. He continues his marketing studies through the CIM’s Chartered Marketer programme and hopes to develop strategic offline and online marketing projects. He will take responsibility for much of the day to day work on the direct marketing calendar working with the marketing manager Gill Evans.

Chief executive Richard Haden-Scott said: “During the past 16 years our friendly, practical and skilful approach to company sales, has assisted clients in achieving the smooth and successful sale of their companies.”