Azets Group announces double Executive appointment
Azets, the international advisory, outsourcing, and compliance Group, has announced a double Executive appointment, strengthening its Group leadership team.
Neil Martin has been appointed as Group Chief Financial Officer (CFO), while Paula Darvell joins as Group Chief Marketing Officer (CMO).
Neil is a seasoned finance leader, with 30 years’ experience operating in both private equity (PE) backed and FTSE listed companies. He joined Azets in March 2024 as Interim Group CFO and now undertakes the role permanently.
Neil has broad strategic and financial leadership experience in the professional services and technology sectors. He started his finance career with Exxon Mobil where he spent seven years working in the UK and Italy. He then spent 15 years in professional services, at firms including FTSE listed Spring Group plc which was sold to recruitment giant The Adecco Group, where Neil spent seven years as CFO UK&I.
Most recently, Neil was Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of leading educational technology provider RM plc, having joined the business as CFO in 2015. His permanent appointment as Group CFO at Azets comes one year after the Group welcomed new PE investment from PAI Partners, alongside existing owners Hg.
Neil Martin, Azets Group CFO, commented: "I am delighted to take on the permanent role of Group CFO at such an exciting time for Azets. The Group has a strong platform for growth, supported by a talented team and a clear Pathway strategy to drive continued success. I look forward to working closely with our teams and investors to deliver against our purpose and realise the ambitious goals we have set.”
Paula is an experienced marketing executive with a career spanning more than 30 years in senior leadership roles with global technology and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) companies including Unisys, IBM, Apptio, and Snow Software.
She has delivered strategic, multi-channel marketing, brand, and demand-generation programs as the leader of world class and geographically dispersed marketing teams, driving client engagement and profitable growth.
Paula will lead the Azets’ global marketing function and play a key role delivering its ambitious five-year Pathway strategy, accelerating its transformation into a £1bn turnover Group and deepening its presence in new and existing markets across Europe.
Paula Darvell, Azets Group CMO, said: “I’m thrilled at the opportunity to lead Azets’ global marketing function and collaborate with leadership teams and international colleagues, to help the Group continue on its successful growth strategy. As a purpose-driven leader, I immediately felt a strong connection with Azets’ mission: to improve the lives of our colleagues, clients and communities, in a sustainable way.
“Azets has scaled at pace and my focus will be on strengthening the Group’s market leadership, expanding client engagement, and establishing our value proposition as the advisor, employer, and acquiror of choice for businesses in new and existing markets across Northern Europe and beyond.”
Azets was launched seven years ago in response to the digitalisation of financial compliance processes for ambitious businesses and their owners. It is backed by leading private equity investors PAI and Hg.
The Group has grown to become one of the largest tech-enabled providers of professional advisory, financial and accounting services globally, delivering accounting, tax, payroll, audit and advisory services to more than 100,000 clients, operating in the UK, Ireland, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Romania and Estonia.
Neil and Paula will sit on the Group Executive Committee, reporting directly to Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Chris Horne. Neil will also be a member of the Azets Group Board.
Chris Horne, Azets Group CEO, said: "We are thrilled to confirm Neil’s appointment as Group CFO and welcome Paula to the business. Neil’s extensive experience, along with his proven leadership in large and complex organisations, makes him an ideal fit to help guide Azets through our next phase of growth. Neil’s contributions as Interim Group CFO have been exceptional, and we are excited to have him onboard in a permanent capacity as we work towards delivering our five-year strategy.
“Paula brings considerable executive level experience to Azets and we are delighted to have her join our Group Executive Committee. Paula adds a wealth of marketing and technology expertise, and will be great addition in achieving our ambition and strategic growth targets through performance- led and data-driven marketing.”