Penningtons Manches Cooper appoints new finance director

Posted: 01/04/2021

Top 50 law firm Penningtons Manches Cooper has appointed Sophia Pole as its new finance director. Sophia takes over from Tim Wright, who will retire this summer after 34 years at the firm.

Having worked in senior roles for a number of corporations, Sophia joined Penningtons Manches Cooper in 2018 as a financial controller, and, prior to her promotion, managed the firm’s central finance and reporting division as head of accounting and tax. She trained and qualified with top ten accountancy firm RSM Tenon (now RSM UK), and has been awarded the ACCA fellowship.

Her new role will also see her take a place on the firm’s management board, reporting to CEO David Raine. He comments: “We are delighted to announce Sophia’s new role, and to welcome her to the management board. Her technical expertise is second to none, and her broad experience working across complex organisations is a real advantage in managing and supporting the extended international footprint of our business.”

He added: “I would also like to take this opportunity to personally thank Tim for everything he has done for the firm over more than three decades. During his tenure and strong direction as our FD, the firm has changed out of all recognition, from a firm with a turnover of around £6 million, to the Penningtons Manches Cooper we have today.”

Highly skilled and robust central support teams are one of the key strands of the firm’s growth strategy. As such, it has taken steps to further strengthen its finance function in recent years, including a reorganisation of roles around the four key areas of accounting and tax, cashiers, working capital and financial systems. Alongside this, recruits for senior roles have been selected specifically with succession planning, stability and growth of the team in mind. 

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