The Business Exchange Swindon & Wiltshire May Edition | Page 7

APPOINTED

EXPANDING
TEAM AT BANKS
ACCOUNTANTS
Swindon chartered
accountants Banks have
strengthened their team by
appointing Edwin Samu as
a new Accounts Senior.
Edwin, 35, joins the 21-strong team
helping to look after accounts production
for SMEs and private clients, including
management accounts, corporation tax,
VAT and personal tax.
Edwin was born in West Africa but
moved to the UK in his twenties to join
his family in Leicester. He took his AAT
(Association of Accounting Technicians)
and ACCA (Association of Chartered
Certified Accountants) professional level
exams before joining a firm of accountants
– he also holds a BSc (Hons) from Oxford
Brookes University. Edwin then moved to
the Ministry of Defence in stock accounts
and logistics supplies, based first in
Chippenham and then in Abingdon.
In 2012, Edwin moved back into private
accountancy, working in London Docklands

and then Aylesbury, before joining Banks
in April.
“I am delighted to be working with
Banks,” said Edwin. “It is an exciting move
and I am looking forward to relocating to
Swindon because we have a lot of friends
in the area.”
Banks director Richard Mathews said:
“It’s great to have Edwin on board. He will
be a great asset to the team, which we
are building on all the time with the aim
of improving and extending the range of
services we offer to our clients.”
Edwin, from Wantage in Oxfordshire,
is married with three children. In his spare
time he reads in church and is a keen
participant in football and athletics.
Edwin will continue his professional
training at Banks to become a Fellow
ACCA chartered accountant.

THRINGS MAKE SURE EVERYTHINGS IS IN TRIPLICATE
Commercial law firm Thrings has appointed three new recruits to advise the firm’s
fast-growing portfolio of commercial property clients. Partner Edward Jackman,
associate Iain Mason and Natalie Sokolov joined the team last month.
Edward has moved to Thrings from Oxford based real estate
and property legal firm Brookstreet Des Roches, where he
had been a partner since 2005.
He has broad experience of commercial property
work, in particular advising clients on the acquisition and
disposal of land for development, commercial landlord
and tenant transactions and property work in the utilities
sector. Edward has also acted for FTSE 100 and FTSE 250
companies, as well as large private companies and
private clients.
Iain moves to Thrings from Bath based firm Stone
King, where he was an associate solicitor in the firm’s
business property team. His experience includes the sale
and purchase of freehold and leasehold properties, acting
on the grant of commercial leases, and development and
regeneration projects.
Iain has provided commercial property advice to a range
of clients, including small and medium-sized enterprises,
owner-managed businesses, large corporates, private
individuals, investors and lenders.
Natalia worked previously for national firm Clarke
Willmott in their Bristol office specialising in construction
law. She has acted for a number of clients from the
renewable energy sector – particularly wind, solar and
biogas – and has acted on a range of major domestic

and international construction and engineering projects.
In her new role, Natalia will advise clients on construction
procurement, dispute resolution and in the management
of construction and engineering contracts. She will also use
her extensive experience of negotiating building contracts,
professional appointments, collateral warranties, bonds
and guarantees for national and international developers,
employers and contractors.

“The commercial property market
has shown significant signs of
improvement and stability”
Colin Stratton, Commercial Property Partner at Thrings, said:
“In the past nine months, the commercial property market
has shown significant signs of improvement and stability,
thanks to an improving economic outlook, an increase in
the number of residential and commercial developments
and a marked return to activity in the construction market.
There i ́