Azets, the accountancy firm specialising in the SME market, has unveiled several senior appointments in Scotland led by the promotion of Greig McKnight to regional managing director for Scotland. 

David Eardley, a public sector audit specialist and Gemma Monaghan, head of Azets’ R&D in Scotland, have been appointed partners.

Further appointments include the promotions of Andrew Turnbull (tax), David Meldrum (restructuring and insolvency) and Gordon Burns (corporate finance) to director and Iain Black and Farran Kerr (accounts and business advisory) to associate director. In total, more than 40 staff have been promoted across Scotland.

Mr McKnight has been in the profession for more than 20 years, specialising in external audit where he predominantly works with larger privately owned and private equity backed clients.

For the last three years he has led the development and expansion of the Glasgow office. In his new role he will focus on driving the integration and growth of the business across Scotland and be part of the UK leadership team responsible for delivering Azets UK strategy.

Mr Eardley is responsible for leading the delivery of internal audit, external audit and risk management services to an expanding range of public sector clients including the NHS, universities, colleges and central government bodies.

He is a member of the NHS technical accounting group, has helped train members of the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors (Scotland) and has many years of experience as a non-executive trustee of a £13m turnover local leisure trust charity.

Ms Monaghan is head of R&D tax in Scotland and is an advisor to SMEs and fast-growing businesses on the increasingly complex area of R&D tax credits, patent box and tax efficient innovation investment.

Having trained as an industrial chemist, she brings valuable insights into how businesses approach the funding of innovation and is well-placed to ensure they maximise their investment and innovation.

Mr McKnight said: “Azets is growing rapidly in Scotland, and we are investing heavily in the development and progression of our staff. 

“We encourage everyone to take full advantage of our development programmes and if they have the ambition, we have the opportunities, which is why I am very pleased to note that such a substantial number have been promoted this summer.”