March movers

Mr Mee will work on existing accounts and develop his own client portfolio. He was previously with Farnham firm, Bells.

He said: "Charles Lucas & Marshall is renowned for its expertise in wills and estate planning and has one of the biggest teams in this region. This will give me the opportunity to diversify and move forward with my career."

ABINGDON: Recruitment firm Aligra Personnel has appointed Lisa Pankau as operations consultant - driving.

Managing director Mark Neilson said: "Lisa will be responsible for co-ordinating and maintaining all existing clients as well as generating new business as we continue with our aggressive expansion plans throughout the south.

" Her extensive transport experience will be of significant benefit to the whole business and will ensure customer satisfaction is maintained."

The company has also been appointed as one of only 34 Gold Standard agencies nationwide, by industry experts de Poel Consulting.

BLOXHAM: Driver training specialist Drive & Survive has been awarded the BusinessCar award for best Risk Management Supplier for the second time.

BusinessCar editor-in-chief Tristan Young said: "Any well-managed fleet will be aware of the need to take every step to protect their drivers and the votes from BusinessCar readers show that Drive & Survive is giving the industry what it needs."

Drive & Survive sales manager Ryan Brittain said: "To be recognised again by our clients in this way really does make the effort worthwhile."

HENLEY: Accountancy firm Hurst Morrison Thomson has appointed two new partners to the audit and tax compliance team.

Jason Mitchell joins as an audit partner and Christopher Boulet as a tax partner heading up the firm's tax compliance group.

Mr Mitchell previously spent eight years with KPMG and brings the audit team up to three partners.

Mr Boulet has returned to practice having spent the last tenn years in London mainly working for international law firms Linklaters and Bird & Bird.

He said: "When clients work with us they realise we have business skills and attitudes that are closely aligned with theirs."

OXFORD: Nazee Amraei has joined Gray Baynes & Shew Consulting as an architect.

Born in Tehran in 1982, Ms Amraei left Iran in 2001 and came to Oxford to study English before studying at Oxford Brookes University gaining an honours degree in interior architecture last year.

She said: "I am a very ambitious person and believe that if you want to achieve something you must work hard for it and not give up easily."

BICESTER: Accountancy firm Titcheners has appointed Simon Granger to head up its new corporate finance division.

With more than 20 years' experience in finance, Mr Granger will focus on financial due diligence for business acquirers and fundraising.

Before joining Titcheners, he ran a sole practice that offered a broad range of services, from due diligence investigations to advising on acquisitions and fundraising.

He said: "My experience in fund raising and acquisitions compliments the great work that the team here has undertaken to support both clients and the company's own growth strategy."

OXFORD: Caroline Nightingale has been appointed director of commercial banking at The Royal Bank of Scotland in the city.

Ms Nightingale has worked with RBS for more than 20 years in both corporate and commercial banking, most recently specialising in the education sector.

She will lead a 20-strong team of relationship managers and support staff, who bring a broad range of specialisations to customers including corporate finance, property, healthcare, education and technology.

Ms Nightingale said: "It is a pleasure to continue working in an area, and with customers, that I know so well, following 20 years in the business. I look forward to strengthening our relationships with existing customers and facilitating new relationships."

OXFORD: Law firm Morgan Cole has appointed solicitor Kathryn Woodward to its private client practice.

Ms Woodward, 29, previously worked at Hodsons in Abingdon where she qualified four years ago. She specialises in wills and probate and is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners.

She said: "Coming to Morgan Cole will allow me to take on a more challenging role. I am looking forward to working with the team here."

WANTAGE: Abigail Witting, human resources manager at solicitors, Charles Lucas & Marshall, has become a chartered member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

It follows two years of intensive study which has resulted in her gaining the Institute's Professional Assessment of Competence award.

Ms Witting joined Charles Lucas & Marshall two years ago to advise on recruitment policy and to develop the firm's human resources strategy.

She said: "I have now worked in HR for seven years so felt it was important I got a professional qualification to validate my experience."

OXON: The Four Pillars Hotel Group held a Night of the Stars evening to reward the achievements of its staff.

Elaine Chamber, assistant reception manager at the Oxford Thames hotel in Sandford took the Front of House Employee of the Year title while Mahesh Weeramanthri, a commis chef, at Witney was named Food Beverage Employee of the Year.

They received a trophy, framed certificate and a cheque for £500.

The Unsung Hero Award went to Lithuanian Mira Prusevic, a general assistant at the Oxford Spires in Oxford since November 2005 who has overcome the fact she could speak no English at all when she started.

The Hotel of the Year was awarded to the Oxford Spires and its staff were treated to an all-expenses paid party plus £1,000 worth of prizes to kit out the staff room.

BANBURY: Westminster Group, the stockmarket-listed supplier of system solutions and products to the security, defence, fire protection and safety markets worldwide, has appointed Sir Michael Pakenham non-executive director.

Sir Michael has had a distinguished career in the Diplomatic Service and in Whitehall he served for three years as Cabinet Secretary for Defence and Overseas Affairs, as Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee and as Intelligence Coordinator. He retired from the Service in 2003 at which point he was British Ambassador to Poland.

Chief executive Peter Fowler said: "Sir Michael Pakenham brings a wealth of business, political and international defence industry experience to the group."

FARMOOR: Green Accountancy run by husband and wife team David Wilson and Miranda Handscomb is amongst the first 23 companies to be listed in a groundbreaking ethical business accreditation scheme on the www.SEEcompanies.com website.

Aimed at building public trust in socially and environmentally responsible business, the SEE Companies scheme is the only one that accredits companies, not individual products, across a broad range of social, environmental and ethical (SEE) issues.

OXFORD: The Bank of Scotland and Oxford Investment Opportunity Network (OION) has launched a £2m co-Investment programme to provide new funding for innovative companies.

The cash will be provided by the bank to invest during 2008 alongside investor members of OION, and its sister investment networks, Thames Valley Investment Network and Oxford Early Investments.

The bank will typically invest from £25,000 to £250,000 per deal.

Malcolm Kpedekpo, associate director of Bank of Scotland Growth Equity, said: "In a country which is built on entrepreneurship, we're determined to play our part in helping the entrepreneurs of today and tomorrow realise their ambitions and to create jobs and growth."

OXFORD: Justin Ray has re-joined the corporate finance team of finance firm Critchleys Mr Ray was previously a senior manager at Grant Thornton and has a career in corporate finance stretching back 12 years, advising on more than 50 transactions worth more than £450m.

He said: "It is exciting to come back to Critchleys and I look forward to building on all the good work that Keith and his team have done."

Managing partner Robert Kirtland added: "We are delighted that Justin is joining us as we continue to expand our presence in the corporate finance market."

OXON: Estate agent Buckell & Ballard has almost doubled the size of its operation in the region.

The company has expanded its coverage to include Abingdon, Cowley, Wantage and across the M40 corridor into Aylesbury, Princes Risborough and Thame.

Linked to the expansion, Buckell & Ballard has introduced new corporate branding.

Managing director Daren Barney said: "We are all tremendously excited about the fresh look and additional branches but keen to retain the traditional values and excellent service standard enjoyed by our clients over many years."

MILTON PARK: Biotech firm Oxford Genome Sciences has appointed Professor Elke Jaeger to its Scientific and Clinical Advisory Board.

Professor Jaeger is one of the worlds leading cancer immunologists, with significant experience in therapeutic antibodies and cancer vaccines.

She has been the chief physician of the Medical Clinic II, haematology-oncology, Hospital Northwest Frankfurt, an academic teaching hospital of the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Frankfurt since April 2003. She is also director of the Ludwig Institute Clinical Trial Centre, Frankfurt.

She said: "The company has taken an impressive approach to develop its own portfolio of antibodies for the treatment of cancer and has great potential to generate products to deliver important benefits to patients with this devastating disease."