Scot named surveyors' president

KEN McCormack, director and head of business rates at GVA James Barr in Scotland, has been elected president of the Rating Surveyors' Association.

Mr McCormack is the first Scot and the second from GVA to hold the position, following Denise Trollope who became the first female president in 2001.

He said: "It is a huge honour to be the first Scottish president in the association's history, particularly as the majority of the 400-plus members are located south of the border.

"I'm looking forward to progressing the members' views on a number of important issues, not least the next rates revaluation."

Mr McCormack's diary for the year includes attending a special reception at the House of Lords in June.

Surveyor promotes four

FOUR new partners, across three office locations, have been appointed at Scottish surveying firm Graham and Sibbald.

The moves come shortly after the firm opened a new office in Ayr and gears up to invest further in its branch network around Scotland.

Making the move to partner level at the firm are Arran Leask in Edinburgh, Darroch Robertson in Aberdeen, and Alastair Welch and Neil MacFarlane in Glasgow.

Senior partner Iain Leighton said: "These four appointments are well deserved and signify our continued investment in developing our people across our business.

"They come on board following a busy period for the firm. Our Ayrshire presence has grown with another office opening in Ayr last month and our staff numbers are growing steadily to meet increasing client demand."

Partners boost for bto

INDEPENDENT Scottish law firm bto has appointed two new partners within its insurance team, taking its partner numbers to 40 across its offices in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Angus Crawford has joined as a partner from Manchester firm Berrymans Lace Mawer, while Ashley Mawby has been promoted from within bto's professional negligence team,

The moves come as Alan Borthwick, partner and head of the firm's property and real estate, assumes the role of chairman. He replaces long-standing chairman Willie Young.

Bill Speirs, partner and head of bto's insurance team, said: "The addition of Angus to our team ensures that bto remains comfortably one of the largest insurance practices in Scotland with almost 70 insurance professionals.

"The insurance team alone has increased by an average of 13% in the last two years, [and] we have retained all of our panel appointments and secured a number of significant new panel wins.

"I am confident that Angus and Ashley will assist the team in maintaining this level of progress and success and that bto will continue to flourish under the leadership of Alan Borthwick."

Four find Eden

RECRUITMENT firm Eden Scott has promoted four consultants in its oil and gas division in Aberdeen.

The moves will see managing consultant Lucy Nicoll head the firm's temporary and interim accountancy and finance market, with Marta Kotonska and Laura Steel rising to become senior consultants.

Mark Johnston moves into the role of associate consultant, seven months after joining the firm, and will shadow Director James Milne, focusing primarily on design and mechanical engineering roles.

Noting the importance of the oil and gas sector to the firm's growth prospects, Mr Milne said: "These four promotions are testament to the hard work, dedication and quality of service that Eden Scott puts in to every assignment. I offer my heartfelt congratulations to four very loyal and committed colleagues."