BUSINESS recovery firm Portland, based at Whiteley, has promoted Stewart Goldsmith to associate director.

Stewart joined Portland 16 years ago as an entry level administrator, and then served as a senior member of the Portland team for a number of years before taking on this new role.

He has also passed his JIEB (Joint Insolvency Examination Board) exams which is the highest obtainable qualification in the insolvency profession.

Stewart’s promotion comes off the back of an office move and a recruitment drive which has seen the processing team grow by a third.

He said:: “The increasing number of appointments which we have seen in the past 18 months has meant that in order meet the needs of our introducers and business partners, staff are required to take on more responsibility. I am pleased that the board has faith in my abilities and has rewarded me with this new challenging role. My qualification has enabled me to accept my own appointments for a little over a year now which has been a personal goal of mine and I am fortunate that I have the team at Portland supporting me.”

Managing Director of Portland, Carl Faulds said: “We are very pleased to welcome Stewart into his new role at Portland. Over the years Stewart has proved that he has the right work ethic and temperament to deal with complex financial distress scenarios. The new role means Stewart will have an even greater involvement in directing cases and be pivotal in the decision making process."