This week's London appointments

Dani Patel, Robbie Wirdnam and Joel Coulson, FRP Advisory

Advisory firm FRP Advisory LLP has welcomed three new faces to its London-based corporate finance team.

Dani Patel, joining from Saffery Champness, has experience advising on range of transactions.

His remit at FRP will include supporting shareholders, directors and investors as they go through strategic changes such as acquiring or selling companies, undergoing management buyouts or securing investment.

The firm has also appointed Robbie Wirdnam, previously of SRC Corporate Finance, and Joel Coulson, who moved from Beever and Struthers. Both have taken on the role of assistant manager.

Matthew Flower, FRP Advisory corporate finance partner, said: “We are delighted to welcome Dani, Robbie and Joel to the team.

“It is an exciting time for them to be joining our growing corporate finance team, as we continue to build and develop our national offering.”

He added: “Our new colleagues have a fantastic mix of skill sets and experiences that will be effectively put in to practice as we work to support our clients who are going through significant organisational change.”

David McGougan, Dinny Shaw and William Bayston, St. Modwen

Developer St. Modwen has added to its management team for the South East with three hires at its London office.

David McGougan joined the company as senior development manager for the region, Dinny Shaw (pictured) as planning manager and William Bayston as development manager.

David will be responsible for securing planning consents and leading the development of industrial assets on strategic sites.

Dinny, a chartered town planner, will manage the planning activities of projects to support St. Modwen’s growth plans in the region.

William will work to drive the firm’s growth in the residential sector.

Adrian Howells, Quantuma

Quantuma, the business advisory firm, has appointed a new corporate finance director.

Adrian Howells’ remit as an advisory and debt advisory specialist will see him strengthening the Quantuma brand in the UK.

He previously led the debt advisory practice at HMT LLP.

Quantuma’s head of corporate finance, Mark Lucas, said: “Thanks to the strength of our teams and our client focus, we are seeing a surge in demand for our corporate finance advisory services.

“Adrian is a highly respected expert with specialist knowhow in debt advisory and equity transactions and has a great track record of closing deals.”

Mark continued: “Adrian’s skillset will bolster the team, as it continues to provide first-rate financial and operational solutions to clients across a range of sectors.”

Adrian commented: “It’s clear that Quantuma is committed to growth, with an expanding portfolio of mid-market corporates and SMEs seeking the firm’s corporate finance expertise.

“I look forward to bringing my experience in helping private companies realise their optimum value as we continue to strengthen the team at Quantuma.”

Paul Schulz, Perkbox

Employee engagement platform Perkbox has appointed Paul Schulz as its chief technology officer.

Paul is the former head of mobile technology at web services giant Yahoo!

With Perkbox, he will be will be responsible for the platform’s architecture, tech strategy and global engineering roadmaps.

Paul has more than 27 years’ experience in the tech industry, including a stint with Finnish tech firm Nokia.

In more recent years he has worked as a CTO for early stage tech businesses in London.

Saurav Chopra, CEO and cofounder of Perkbox, said: “Paul and I first worked together 13 years ago at Yahoo! where Paul led the mobile engineering platform globally building some of the most engaging mobile products touching hundreds of millions of users worldwide.”

“He emerged as the obvious choice given his track record and our focus on building mobile first solutions that engage tens of millions of employees worldwide.”

Paul commented: “When Saurav first discussed Perkbox with me, I was impressed by how quickly it had scaled in the UK and how it had democratised employee engagement.

“I am confident that with the right technology infrastructure it has the potential to become the market leader globally. It’s a privilege to be part of this journey joining a highly talented and experienced team to bring new energy and accelerate its growth.”

David Lloyd, Boom Cycle

Indoor cycling studio Boom Cycle has appointed David Lloyd as non-executive chairman.

The company launched in London seven years ago and today operates across four studios in the capital.

A new Boom Cycle venue will open in early 2019, with plans to follow it up with more sites outside London in the coming years.

David Lloyd,who will guide the business as it pursues expansion, said: “The team at Boom Cycle have clearly defined the indoor cycle space in the UK, and have developed the most compelling, differentiated customer proposition.

“Customer engagement is remarkable, execution of the customer experience is unique, and margins are strong.”

He added: “They have proven themselves as the leader in this space, and we expect the company to grow both by organic expansion as well as a consolidator of the sector going forward.”

Boom Cycle co-founder Hilary Rowland commented: “We are thrilled that David Lloyd is joining us as chairman.

“Every single week we deliver thousands of exhilarating classes to happy riders, all done in our particular style, all delivered by our energetic and committed team members. We can grow even faster and deliver our unique experience to more riders.”

Co-founder Robert Rowland said of the appointment: “We’re proud of what we have accomplished at Boom Cycle, and delighted that David is joining as chairman to add his renowned experience and network to our cause.”