Anderson Anderson & Brown (AAB) has made six new appointments to its virtual finance function (VFF) following a period of growth.

The accountancy firm has hired Arlene Cummings, Alex Wheelan, Alina Burns, Mandy Ross, Keri Innes and Sarah Drummond.

VFF is a new approach to the traditional outsourcing model, where a businesses’ financial information is taken out of the office and managed under a 'virtual roof', instead of being taken out physically.

Cummings re-joined AAB as a senior manager in the VFF team. She started her career at the firm, before moving into industry where she worked with international and local businesses, predominantly in the energy sector.

Wheelan has been made a manager at AAB. She specialises in accounting standards and renewable energy.

Burns, Ross and Innes all join as assistant managers, while Drummond is the team’s first graduate trainee.

The appointments follow an increase in client demand for the VFF service. In the last 12 months, AAB's client numbers have doubled, with fee income increasing by 60% during the same period.

Lauren McIlroy, VFF director at AAB, commented: “The increase in client demand is a result of many different factors - some clients are growing, others are downscaling, some have completed mergers or acquisitions and we are also supporting a few start-ups which have secured their first round of funding and need to put key functions in place.

“However, the majority of our new, and existing, clients are businesses who are embracing virtual finance functions as an alternative to recruiting in-house finance teams.”

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