Former Deloitte Director appointed Partner at Saffery Champness

Saffery Champness has brought a new Partner on board from Deloitte, as the firm looks to strengthen its Manchester office. Diane Petit-Laurent has been appointed as a new Corporate Partner, having also previously been employed by Mazars.

Founded in 1855, professional services firm Saffery Champness has grown into an international entity, with offices in the UK, Guernsey, Switzerland, Russia and China, among other locales. The firm provides financial, tax and business advisory work for clients across the UK and beyond, and boasts professionals familiar with a complex range of issues involved in amassing wealth, protecting it, using it to best effect, and passing it on.

As the firm looks to build on this reputation in its office in Manchester, Diane Petit-Laurent has joined Saffery Champness as a Corporate Partner. Her appointment brings a wealth of expertise in providing solutions to owner-managed business clients with both a national and international presence, as well as private equity-backed entities.

She has arrived from Big Four giant Deloitte, were she spent more than six years, first as a Senior Manager and then becoming a Director, also in Manchester. She previously spent four years at mid-tier auditing and advisory firm Mazars, where she became a Senior Manager, following her qualification as a chartered accountant in 2005.

Petit-Laurent will now work alongside fellow Partners Mike Hodges and Simon Kite in the firm’s Manchester office. She will focus on entrepreneurial clients in a number of industries including technology, manufacturing and retail, working with the firm’s wider teams to deliver integrated advice throughout the enterprise lifecycle, from start-up to growth to exit.

Matthew Burton, Managing Partner at Saffery Champness, commented, “Diane joins us during a period of rapid growth in Manchester and is a key addition to the team as we continue to enhance our client offering to the local market in the North West. Diane has an outstanding track record and is the perfect fit for Saffery Champness both professionally and culturally; we look forward to working with her.”

Diane Petit-Laurent added, “Saffery Champness is immersed in UK entrepreneurship and, having worked alongside members of the Manchester team before, I am excited to be joining them and to be bringing my skills and experience to bear for the benefit of the firm’s entrepreneurial clients – particularly in the North West, as well as nationally and internationally.”