Perspective Financial Group has promoted two members of staff to board level and established a new operational board.

The two members of the head office team who have been promoted are David Hesketh, who becomes group M&A director (formerly group M&A manager) and Julie Hepworth who is now group regulatory director (formerly group regulatory manager).

Both will join the new operational board which also includes managing director, Damian Keeling; financial director, Phil Carr; group operations director, Peter Craddock; and group practice director, Ian Wilkinson.

The main board of Perspective Group remains the same and includes executive and non-executive directors.

Ian Wilkinson’s role as group practice director has also been expanded and he will now chair the board of all Perspective’s regional offices in the north. He replaces Peter Craddock in this function, who will continue to chair the board of all Perspective’s regional offices in the south.

“The purpose of the new operational board is to lead the strategic direction and planning of Perspective over the years ahead,” explained Craddock.

“The promotions reflect David and Julie’s significant contribution to the group since they joined in 2008 and 2010 respectively, and acknowledge their strategic importance to the continued growth of Perspective. Across Perspective it is always our preference to promote from within where possible in order that we retain a consistency of approach – we believe this ultimately leads to consistent support for our offices and a consistent service to our clients.

“The fact these two key individuals have been promoted also reflects the importance we place on both M&A and compliance. Continued strong acquisition activity and retaining high compliance standards are central to our overall strategy for future growth. Perspective is now an established presence in the financial advisory sector and we believe the combination of consistency and our long-term outlook is attractive to those potential vendors who may be looking to join us. Growth will continue to come organically through our existing offices and we also intend to continue acquiring.”

Wilkinson added: “The changes we are making at operational board level reflect the need for Perspective to continue to evolve and grow to meet the needs of our business. Our intention is to acquire more firms throughout the country and we have therefore decided to make board changes at our regional offices in the North which will mean I will work in conjunction with Peter Craddock.

“This is a necessity as we grow the number of offices within the group given that our acquisition strategy continues – we expect 2013 to be a successful one in this regard and currently have three deals in legals and several more in the immediate pipeline. The promotion of David and Julie is designed to deliver on our commitment to invest further in the head office team, as we provide greater ongoing support to all our offices.”