Pictured: Ann Bibby 

Ann Bibby, a tax expert in the Birmingham office of Mazars, has been promoted to partner.

It comes as the international accountancy firm celebrates its first anniversary of amalgamating its Midlands operation in premises at 45 Church Street, since when 37 new staff, including eight graduates have been recruited.

Ms Bibby has nearly 20 years experience in helping growing businesses and individuals manage their tax obligations.

She has been more than three years at Mazars and prior to that gained extensive experience with national accountancy practices.

"I am thrilled at being made a partner," said Ms Bibby. "It is a proud moment for me and the culmination of my career to date.

"I very much enjoy working with the high-powered team we have here. It is a stimulating environment and I am determined to play my part in expanding our offer. Tax is an ever present issue for businesses. We have a growing range of clients, from SMEs to major plcs, and it is a privilege to be able to advise them on their tax affairs."

Midlands managing partner David Chapman said: "Ann is highly regarded by all of us at Mazars.

"She has total command of her sector, is a team player and this promotion is richly deserved.

"It is a further example of how strongly our presence in Birmingham is developing. Despite the difficult economic climate we continue to drive the operation forward, taking advantage of opportunities as they arise - for example becoming a specialist adviser to new academy schools.

"We continue to recruit talented people when they become available."

Recruitment had been across all divisions and had been driven by new business wins and Mazars' international reach.

Mr Chapman added: "Since moving into the centre of Birmingham, we have won new business from blue chip clients such as Pertemps and Aviva, and the team here already works for an expanding list of international and quoted clients including Alstom UK, Manganese Bronze Holdings, Portmeirion Group, Schneider Electric, GeoPost and Arval. We know Tata well in India and we work for Jaguar Land Rover in the Midlands."

Recruitment was driven not only by the need to service new clients but also an increasing volume of work in specialist areas such as forensics, corporate finance and governance and internal risk control.

Arrivals have included leading corporate finance specialist Nick Johnson who led the corporate finance arm of Deloitte in the Midlands for several years.