Mazars appoints thirteen new partners
Mazars, the international audit, tax and advisory firm, has appointed thirteen new partners across the firm.
The new partners, eight of whom have been promoted from within the business, work within audit, advisory & consulting and business services across the UK. Three of the partners have relocated from Mazars offices around the world.
CEO, Phil Verity, said: “Nurturing talent and developing our people is a vital part of the firm’s culture and strategy, and it is a pleasure to welcome our new partners. These appointments further strengthen the Mazars partner team and our commitment to deliver the highest quality of work to our clients.
“We’re delighted that 4 of the 13 partners are home-grown and joined the firm as graduates. We’re also very pleased to have attracted partners from other firms and organisations and greatly value the experience they bring. All of the new partners should be incredibly proud of their achievement.”
The new partners are:
Tom Ashmore, partner – actuarial
Tom joined Mazars as a graduate in 2012 and is part of the actuarial leadership team in the London office. He is a qualified actuary and specialises in actuarial reserving, capital and audit.
As partner, Tom will focus on developing the actuarial team’s non-audit services with a mix of traditional actuarial work and cross service offerings, including insurance claims and expert witness. Tom will also work to continue building Mazars’ reputation in insurance external audit.
Gerhard Bonthuys, partner – audit
After relocating from South Africa in 2010, Gerhard joined Mazars in 2015 in the rapidly growing South-East privately owned business audit unit.
Gerhard is a keen reader of accounting and audit standards, often passing anything he learns onto the wider team to enable them to build for the future. As partner, Gerhard will assist with capturing a larger proportion of the middle market in line with the firm’s strategy.
Nicolas Cerrajero, partner – co-head of quantitative solutions UK
Nicolas joined Mazars in 2020 and leads the market and counterparty credit risk team in London. Having worked in the financial industry for over 13 years, Nicolas has a global background in quantitative finance.
As partner, Nicolas will focus on further expanding Mazars’ successful quantitative practice, as well as strengthening the brand within investment banks, fintechs and asset managers. Nicolas will also lead on the development of Mazars offerings on quantitative solutions to new risks.
Sarah Cooke, Partner – audit
Sarah joined Mazars as a graduate in 2008 and is now working in the financial services audit team, specialising in asset management. Sarah’s expertise lies in working with global asset management groups and the funds they invest in.
As partner, Sarah will continue to lead and sustainably grow the asset management team, as well as continue to improve the infrastructure so Mazars is able to develop their portfolio in line with the business plan and strategy.
Gregory Derouet, partner – Audit
Gregory joined Mazars as an auditor in 2002 in the Paris office and has been a partner since 2014. He has significant experience in auditing international and listed industrial and services groups.
Prior to his relocation to London, he was the head of the industry management unit in Paris, focusing on audit quality and profitability. As a partner based in the London office, Gregory will be a key part of the audit leadership team and will be directly involved in the growth and development of the Industry & Services audit business unit.
Alan Duley, partner – chief financial officer
Alan joined the firm as CFO in December 2019 and has played a key role in its ongoing growth and development. Alan will continue to lead the delivery of sustainable financial performance in line with the group’s strategic goals.
Looking forward, Alan will contribute to the firm’s strategy, resilience, systems and processes.
Sameena Fonseca, partner – audit
Sameena has joined Mazars from KPMG in the South-East privately owned business audit unit. She will focus on driving quality and audit innovation, using her breadth of experience to grow the privately owned business audit practice, blending commercial insight from being ‘client side’ and operational and quality focus on audit.
Sameena is passionate about diversity and inclusion and hopes to reflect this as she grows her team. Having worked in a part-time capacity for six years, Sameena is also a role model for flexible working and will look to continue championing this in her new role.
Chris Fuggle, global head of sustainability services
Chris joined Mazars in 2007 as director of the outsourcing practice in Bangkok. In 2021 Chris was appointed global head of sustainability services.
His move to the UK enables Chris to continue to build the global sustainability offering whilst also leading the growth of the UK sustainability team. This will ensure Mazars can assist their clients with navigating crucial and rapidly evolving areas.
Lucy Hampson,partner – audit
Lucy joined Mazars as a graduate in 2007 and was audit director in the Milton Keynes office of Mazars prior to being promoted to partner. She specialises in large and listed client engagements and has been instrumental in growing the real estate and asset management audit offering.
Lucy is passionate about improving and promoting flexible working and aims to build an inclusive team where all individuals have the opportunity to thrive. As partner, Lucy will focus on listed opportunities as a result of audit reform and enhancing quality as part of the firm’s One24 strategy.
Pierre-Paul Jacquet, partner – transaction services
Pierre-Paul joined Mazars in 2005 and was part of the transaction services team in the Paris office, before relocating to Singapore in 2011. Prior to moving to London, he led the financial advisory practice for Asia Pacific, with a focus on cross-border buy-side and sell-side due diligence across several industries.
As partner, Pierre-Paul will join the transaction services team based in London to develop Mazars’ transaction services specialist presence in the listed and large corporate market in the UK. He will also contribute to Mazars’ multi-disciplinary Infrastructure & Energy sector team to provide an enhanced sector due diligence offering.
Jon Leece, Partner – audit quality
Jon joined Mazars as a manager in 2012, to establish the firm’s public sector audit methodology. He has subsequently led our audit quality and financial reporting support to Mazars’ public sector external audit team.
As partner, Jon will continue to work with the firm’s key audit partners to deliver on Mazars’ audit quality priorities. He will also take a wider leadership role within the audit quality support team.
Dan Mellows, partner – internal audit
Dan joined Mazars as a graduate in 2007 and leads the Internal Audit and related offerings to the insurance sector. He also leads across sectors on both board effectiveness reviews and external quality assessments of internal functions.
Throughout his time at Mazars, Dan has consistently demonstrated Mazars’ values and has also been invaluable in developing business and client relationships. As partner he will continue to focus on building a thriving advisory practice in line with the firm’s UK strategy, particularly focusing on the financial services strategic market.
Christos Vernardos, partner – audit quality
Christos joins Mazars from the Financial Reporting Council where he was a senior inspector. He has joined the quality and risk management team as an audit quality partner where he will support the firm’s plans to grow sustainably without compromising audit quality. He will focus on initiatives to improve audit quality including building a robust system of quality management.
Christos has a unique skillset within accounting as he has a passion for well-being and mental health. He is a qualified mental health first-aider and is studying to become a qualified counsellor. He hopes to be able to share his knowledge in his new role and lead by example.
