This week's London appointments

Jim Boylan - Mazars

Mazars, the international audit, tax and advisory firm, has appointed Jim Boylan as a tax partner in its London office. Jim joins Mazars from EY, where he was an Associate Partner.

Jim will be responsible for driving further growth within the Specialist Tax Services team, with a focus on the Large and Listed sector, both in London and across the UK. He brings more than 30 years of experience,​ having previously worked in Government at HMRC and in private practice at Big 4 firms.

He will predominantly be working with large businesses to ensure that they effectively manage their employment tax risks. His recent areas of focus have included IR35, National Minimum Wage (NMW) and during the pandemic ensuring that employers have implemented their Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) arrangements correctly.

​In an ever evolving ​and complex employment tax market, he is looking forward to contributing to the continued growth and success of the team, and further building Mazars’ brand and profile.

Clive Fathers, head of Mazars Specialist Tax Services, said: “It is a pleasure to welcome Jim to our rapidly growing team. Our rate of growth over the last 18 months is approaching 20 per cent, as the reputation of our high quality team grows and market reform accelerates the demand for our Specialist Tax Services.

“I look forward to working with Jim as we continue to invest in and grow our excellent team and provide our clients with an innovative and highly skilled alternative service offering.”

Rory Stewart-Richardson - Terra Virtua

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

Rory brings a wealth of experience to the business development role, having worked in similar positions in marketing. He’s also developed sponsorship marketplace Conexxi Partnerships over the past five years, its customers include some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment.

Rory’s appointment is part of a number of recent hires at Terra Virtua as the business continues to grow, which will also see Gary Bracey’s role change to Chairman as Jawad Ashraf takes up the position of CEO.

Terra Virtua is an immersive collectables platform, which offers exclusive social, gaming and creative metaverse experiences, through Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). Existing partners span multiple sectors, including: film, TV, sports, video games, publishing, art and entertainment.

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

Rory commented: “I’m excited to join Terra Virtua, a market-leading business in an incredibly innovative industry. Terra Virtua is already engaged in exciting conversations with many major licensing opportunities. I can’t wait to develop those partnerships, create new opportunities and then share them with our community.

Terra Virtua CEO and co-founder Jawad Ashraf aded: “As more and more brands start thinking about the metaverse and NFTs, developing strong commercial partnerships is essential. Rory is going to play a vital role in developing key opportunities for Terra Virtua and will be integral to the next stage in the growth of our business.”

Mark Sands - Apex Litigation Finance

Litigation funding specialists Apex Litigation Finance have announced the appointment of Mark Sands as Head of Insolvency, where he will be taking overall responsibility for the company’s presence in the insolvency sector.

Mark has more than 35 years of experience in the insolvency profession, most recently in a senior role at Quantuma. A former President of the Insolvency Practitioners Association, Mark’s career previously included roles at KPMG and Tenon.

His career as a licensed insolvency practitioner has focused on working on the insolvencies of individuals and SMEs. Apex say that this focus makes him a strong fit for their business, as the firm specialises in supporting small/mid-sized claims rather than the multi-million-pound claim focus of other litigation funders.

Mark also brings a history of success with contentious insolvency. He believes that his ability to delve deep into cases will be an asset for Apex and its clients: “It’s an exciting time for the company, which has established itself as a force in the litigation funding market in a relatively short period.

“Once cases are taken on, a thorough investigation can be the key to winning settlements. I am confident that my experience in investigation services will prove to be a great benefit. I will also be able to draw on my wide network of IPs, litigators and other professionals to grow Apex’s position in the insolvency sector.”

Apex CEO Maurice Power says: “It’s a pleasure to have Mark joining our team. His experience and expertise are perfect for the role, and we know that he will add huge value to our business and our clients.

“Testament to Mark’s abilities is his excellent track record in winning cases that have gone to court. Although we always prefer cases to settle without the need for a court hearing, Mark’s proven investigative ability and diligence can only strengthen our capability in ensuring positive outcomes for our clients and supporting access to justice.”

Colette Shields - Localz

Localz, last-mile customer engagement, location and messaging technology specialist, has announced a newly appointed head of customer & partner success for Europe, Colette Shields.

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

In the next phase of growth, Colette will help to continue developing existing and new customer and partner relationships as Localz plans aggressive expansion across the region.

Colette said: “We have had a successful year of growth across Europe and this comes down to our customer-centric approach. We know that customer expectations have drastically changed, so it is crucial to our continued success that we focus on their changing needs.

“I am excited to be heading up our customer and partner success programme as we enter this next exciting phase of growth.”

Tim Andrew, CEO and co-founder at Localz, added: “Our customers and partners are crucial to our success and growth. Colette has been a vital part of the Localz team and it was an easy decision to appoint her as our new head of customer and partner success as we look to grow across Europe.

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