EY strengthens Scotland business with eight partner appointments

Will Asher, Mark Higgins, Laura Mitchell, Fiona Queen, Richard Rainey, Ross Robertson, and Mike Winn have been appointed partners. Tom Sanders, who was appointed partner in the Aberdeen practice in 2022 has been promoted to equity partner.

The new appointments bring the EY Scotland partner team to 87 across a range of sectors and service lines including audit, tax, energy, corporate finance, technology consulting, and financial services.

Ally Scott, EY Scotland managing partner, said: “These promotions mark a significant career milestone for our new partners, and it’s particularly meaningful when we celebrate people reaching partner who originally joined as graduates.

“It’s the result of a lot of hard work and dedication, and I’m proud to be part of a firm that provides opportunities for skills growth and career advancement here in Scotland.

“Our new partners appointments will further strengthen the business and put us in a great position to continue our strong performance in the years ahead. The depth and breadth of expertise of our EY Scotland team will help us to serve our clients as they look to transform their businesses and navigate the uncertainty in the external environment.”

Sue Dawe, financial services managing partner for EY Scotland, said: “Continued investment in our people not only highlights EY’s dedication to nurturing local talent and leadership but also reflects our confidence in Scotland’s potential as a global hub of financial services excellence.

“Our new appointments will continue to bring a wealth of experience to our clients, many of whom are focused on large-scale transformation as the world pivots to adapt and find new ways of working to navigate the complexities of emerging technology and climate change.”

About the new partner appointments in Scotland

Tom Sanders, equity partner, audit, has worked in the Aberdeen office for the last 15 years in the energy sector, joining EY shortly after he graduated. Mr Sanders has experience of auditing a range of different companies, including international groups, PE backed businesses and UK subsidiaries. He has recently set up the Audit Centre of Excellence in Edinburgh, where his team deliver UK statutory audits for large companies.

Will Asher, partner, consulting, has been promoted to partner in the risk consulting practice after joining EY 15 years ago. Mr Asher, based in Edinburgh, advises clients in the energy, resources and industrials sector nationally and works with a broad range of companies on risk management including controls and compliance and internal audit.

Mark Higgins, partner, tax, based in Edinburgh, has been promoted to partner in Tax. He joined EY in 2017 after founding a technology company in 2006. At EY, Mr Higgins has designed and implemented finance and operations systems for organisations across the UK and globally, and now leads the EMEIA technology pursuits team with increasing focus on financed managed services.

Laura Mitchell, partner, audit, has 13 years’ experience in the wealth and asset management assurance practice in Edinburgh. Ms Mitchell originally joined EY as a graduate and has extensive experience of auditing listed investment companies and regulated funds, along with managing other non-audit assurance engagements.

Fiona Queen, partner, audit, has 16 years audit experience and has spent her career in the financial services sector with EY in both Edinburgh, where she is based, and San Francisco. Ms Queen has worked on large domestic and global audits and, whilst a specialist in regulated funds, has significant experience in other aspects of wealth and asset management, such as property funds, partnerships and management companies.

Richard Rainey, partner, strategy and transaction, based in Edinburgh, has been appointed to partner in EY’s award-winning mergers and acquisitions team. Since joining EY as a graduate in 2008, Mr Rainey has built extensive experience across a range of buy and sell-side transactions, private equity, fundraising, cross-border deals and IPOs. He has led a number of transactions in the Scottish business sector, including the fundraising for Trojan Energy through BGF and the Scottish National Investment Bank (SNIB), and sales of GAP Vehicle Hire to Sixt, Grant Westfield to Norcros plc, Central Car Auctions to Arnold Clark Automobiles and ETB to Roko.

Ross Robertson, partner, audit, has worked in the Glasgow office for the last six years, having spent the first three years of his EY career in London, joining as a graduate from university. Mr Robertson works on a range of both listed and private companies across industries, including, recruitment, transportation and renewable energy.

Mike Winn, partner, audit, joined EY as an audit graduate in 1997 and has 27 years of audit experience based in the Aberdeen office. Mr Winn has predominantly worked on oil & gas, energy and power & utilities audits across a range of listed, private and inbound companies, as well as a range of other industries and is responsible for the Edinburgh Audit Centre of Excellence (ACE) team.