South West Financial Planner and accountancy firm Old Mill has appointed Adil Taha as its first chief operating officer to expediate growth at the business and develop its operational infrastructure.

The firm said the appointment was a key strategic hire as it heads into its next stage of growth.

Old Mill is currently halfway through a five-year plan to double in size and said Mr Taha will work alongside chief executive Kevin Whitmarsh and the board to lead the business through the next three years of growth and beyond.

Mr Taha has wide experience in leading operations and executing strategy within a range of sectors, including private equity, legal and investment banking.

He was involved in turning around London law firm Child & Child as its chief operating officer through a private equity strategy, before going on to launch a corporate boutique start-up law firm on behalf of Top 50 UK law firm Taylor Rose.

He then assisted UK consultancy law firm Gunnercooke LLP with its launch in New York, and most recently, was commercial director at start-up law firm Mezzle where he led the strategic international expansion of the firm’s consultancy model.

At Old Mill he will complete a strategic review of operations and over the next 12 months will help restructure the business to enable faster growth.

Mr Taha said: “Old Mill has the drive and growth ambitions of a corporate but with the ethos and culture of a people-centric local business. That combination is something that doesn’t come along very often, and from the moment I met the board, I knew that, after a number of consultancy roles across three industries, I had found something I wanted to be a part of for the long term.”

Kevin Whitmarsh said: “The recruitment process for this role was vigorous, and there were several hugely talented and experienced candidates in the running for COO. Adil impressed us all with his ambition, drive, and alignment to Old Mill’s values.”