Lesley Smillie and Stephen Pratt have been appointed to partner in Edinburgh and Michael Caullay has been promoted to partner in Glasgow.

Meanwhile, Nikola Doig and Alan McClements have been promoted to director in Edinburgh; Alison Sheridan and Thuy Vo have been promoted to director in Glasgow; while Kat Innes and Bradley Watts have been promoted to director in Aberdeen.

The promotions also increase Deloitte’s female representation at partner level in Scotland to 23% and director level to 35%.

Lesley Smillie joined Deloitte in 2005 and now leads the firm’s Public Sector Business Operations division both in Scotland and across the rest of the UK. Lesley has a long history of successfully leading and managing major public sector transformation programmes and has been integral in growing and developing Deloitte’s public sector business across the UK.

Lesley Smillie said: “I’m thrilled to be taking the step up to partner and to continue leading such a fantastic group of talented people at Deloitte. I have dedicated the last 12 years of my career to delivering programmes that make a fundamental difference across the public sector in Scotland and beyond. The Public Sector Business Operations division continues to go from strength to strength; I am incredibly proud of the work that we have done, and I am looking forward to taking on more of a leadership role across the business.”

Michael Caullay joined in 2004 and works in Deloitte’s Audit & Assurance practice. Michael has built a team specialising in providing high quality audit services to the investment fund market and, leveraging deep industry knowledge, leads and supports specialised advisory engagements across the investment management sector. Stephen Pratt joined in 2006 and also works in Deloitte’s Audit & Assurance practice, but with a focus on large complex listed and larger corporate entities. All newly appointed roles take effect this month.

Nikola Doig, Kat Innes, and Thuy Vo have all become directors in Deloitte’s Audit & Assurance practice; Alan McClements in Deloitte’s Mergers & Acquisitions Consulting Services practice; Alison Sheridan in the firm’s Tax practice; and Bradley Watts in the Financial Advisory practice.

Steve Williams, senior partner for Deloitte in Scotland and Northern Ireland, said: “The past 12 months have posed many unique challenges for businesses right across the country and we, along with our clients, have had to be agile to changing market conditions and shifting consumer behaviours. Our business in Scotland however remains in a strong position and that is down to the expertise and dedication of our staff, who have adapted to new ways of working and have supported our clients through these uncertain times.

“Lesley, Michael, and Stephen have each played an integral role in growing and nurturing their teams and respective business areas and should feel incredibly proud of this achievement. Congratulations also to our six new directors who have shown their ability to navigate these uncertain times, while continuing to support our clients and colleagues within the business.”

Following the acquisition of Keytree, an international award-winning technology consultancy which completed last October, Deloitte recruited an additional three new external hires at partner and director level in Scotland. Keytree chief operating officer Derek Lithgow joined Deloitte as a partner based in the firm’s Glasgow office, while Christine Maguire, Global Head of Success Factors at Keytree, and Peter Trace, Solutions Director at Keytree, also joined as directors in Scotland.

Meanwhile, in January Mark Weir and Paul Irvine joined Deloitte as partners in the firm’s Cyber Risk Services practice.

Overall, Deloitte has promoted 79 people to partner across the UK this month. Deloitte UK also recently announced three new additions to its leadership team with Lisa Stott joining as the managing partner for tax and legal, Jackie Henry taking over as managing partner for people and purpose and Kirsty Newman being appointed as UK market chair. Females now represent a third of the UK Executive.

The number of UK partners overall now stands at 1115. Deloitte also recruited an additional 68 new external hires at partner level in the UK during the financial year from June 2020 to the end of May 2021.

Deloitte North and South Europe (NSE) is the second largest member firm in the Deloitte Global network, spanning 28 countries and over 50,000 people. NSE has promoted 231 people to partner including 64 women.