Claire Jolly has been appointed head of technology, media and telecoms at Deloitte in the North West as Jodi Birkett adopts a national TMT role.
Jolly, a director in Deloitte鈥檚 forensic team, has been at the company for more than 15 years having originally worked for the firm鈥檚 audit practice.
She has a wealth of experience in the tech space working with clients ranging from multinationals to start-ups and entrepreneurs.
Jolly will lead Deloitte鈥檚 TMT initiatives in the North West, including the Fast 50 rankings, TMT Predictions and TMT Hotspots.
鈥淭he North West is home to some of the most innovative TMT businesses in the UK that compete on the global stage,鈥� said Jolly.
鈥淲e have an eclectic mix of start-ups, scale-ups, entrepreneurs and industry heavyweights and this makes the region a hotbed of innovation and creativity.
鈥淚鈥檓 very optimistic about the future of our sector and want to support growing TMT businesses in every way possible.鈥�
Birkett, a partner in Deloitte鈥檚 transaction services team, is moving to a pan-regional role with responsibility for Deloitte鈥檚 UK TMT teams in all markets outside of London.
She said: 鈥淐laire is the perfect person for this role. She is a great advocate for the tech industry and has an in-depth knowledge of the regional landscape.
鈥淚 will continue to champion the North West鈥檚 TMT sector which I鈥檝e no doubt will go from strength to strength in the coming years.鈥�
In addition to advising tech businesses on a range of issues 鈥� from audit to M&A and cyber security 鈥� Deloitte has also invested in more than 30 disruptive start-ups through its 拢25m Innovation Investments scheme, including a 拢2.5m investment into the launch of Propel by Deloitte, a cloud-based accounting and analytics service.
Jolly added: 鈥淚nvesting in innovation is vital for the future of all business, including ours. It is something we take very seriously at Deloitte.
鈥淲e know that it鈥檚 important that we continue to diversify our business model so we can serve our clients with leading services, products and technologies.
鈥淧artnering with and investing in start-ups which complement our core areas of expertise is an important part of that.鈥�