Johnston Carmichael, Scotland’s largest independent accountancy and business advisory firm has expanded its leadership team with four new promotions as part of its continued strategy to attract and retain the best talent from across the industry.

Emma Waterman, who heads up the firm’s Inverurie office, and Stewart Pennington, who is based in Edinburgh and plays a leading role in the Food & Drink team, have both been promoted to the position of partner, effective from 1 December.

Ewan Bolt from the Inverness office who heads up the firm’s Digital Solutions team has been promoted to director, along with Suzanne Brownie, based in Edinburgh, who leads the Transaction Taxes team and has responsibility for a portfolio of entrepreneurial businesses.

Andrew Walker, Chief Executive at Johnston Carmichael, said: “Our people are central to everything we do and we are completely committed to retaining and nurturing the very best talent from across the industry.

“Each of the newly promoted partners and directors are making a significant contribution to our business and demonstrate the firm’s core values on a daily basis. I have every faith that our new partners and directors will be key to the ongoing success of our business as we continue to grow and develop our range of services to meet the evolving needs of our clients."

“This December saw over 40 of our people promoted across a range of offices and business lines, taking our total promotions for the year to more than 90. All of these promotions are very well deserved and will help drive the business forward, maintaining the highest level of client service.”

Partner promotions

Emma Waterman studied business studies at Robert Gordon University and gained her ACCA qualification while working for an independent firm in Aberdeen in 2000. She joined Johnston Carmichael in 2016 as a senior manager, with a varied portfolio of corporate and unincorporated businesses. Emma became a director in 2017 and, earlier this year, took on the role of Inverurie Office Head.

Stewart Pennington started his professional career in a small Edinburgh firm where he gained his ACCA qualification before joining Johnston Carmichael in the summer of 2007 as a supervisor in the Business Advisory team. He has been part of the Edinburgh office ever since and now manages a varied client portfolio, as well as playing a leading role in the firm’s Food & Drink team.

Director promotions

Ewan Bolt studied accounting and computer science at Heriot-Watt University. He began his career in a finance and IT role for a third sector organisation, before securing a financial controller role at a Scottish media company that included 22 radio stations and 30 local papers. During his time there, Ewan qualified as a chartered accountant. Since then, Ewan has worked in senior financial and analyst roles for Morgan Stanley and Strathclyde University, before joining Johnston Carmichael 2016. He now heads up the firm’s Digital Solutions team.

Suzanne Brownie graduated from Robert Gordon University in 2007 with a first-class honours degree in accountancy and finance and went on to become a qualified CA and CTA with an Aberdeen based firm. In 2016, she made the move to Edinburgh to take up a senior manager role at Johnston Carmichael. In this role Suzanne developed the Entrepreneurial Taxes team before taking on responsibility for corporation tax compliance and advisory clients. Suzanne’s main focus is now on growing and developing the firmwide Transaction Taxes team.

Johnston Carmichael has 13 offices across the UK, including the recently opened London, and Dundee offices. The promotions bring the total number of partners at Johnston Carmichael to 63.