A SENIOR accountant has been appointed as the new chairman of the Bradford Professionals Network.

Roger Thompson has succeeded Yorkshire Bank’s Andy Davidson in the post, after Mr Davidson moved to take on a job at the bank’s headquarters in Leeds.

Mr Thompson is a partner at BHP Clough & Company Chartered Accountants, where he leads the audit department.

He is the firm’s audit compliance principle and joined them in 1981 as an articled clerk. He qualified in 1986 and was made partner at the firm five years later.

He is a past president and current treasurer of Bradford Society of Chartered Accountants.

The Bradford Professionals Network (BPN) is run and managed by the West and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce.

The network meets every quarter and is open to people who work within the banking, legal, finance and insurance sectors.

It invites guest speakers to talk on a wide variety of business topics in the Bradford district. These have included former Bradford City manager Phil Parkinson, who spoke to the network in 2013 about the club’s success.

The meetings also help Bradford district businesspeople to network with one another.

It was founded by Bradford Council to improve the engagement and communication between those sectors and its staff.

Mr Thompson, a long-standing member of the network, praised its work among the district’s business community.

He said: “The network is a good forum that succeeds in several ways. It facilitates a better understanding between the Council and the sector represented.”

Mr Thompson added: “Speakers will be rigorously questioned but also welcomed and valued for the insights they provide.

“I’m looking forward to following on from Andy and working with the steering group to deliver more successful events for the network.”

Mr Davidson, who held the role of chairman for a year, praised the work of the group as he stepped down from his role.

He said: “It’s been a pleasure to chair the group. The meetings help bring the local business community closer together and complement the activities of other organisations, like the Chamber of Commerce.

“It’s important to keep businesses informed and connected and to put the right speaker in front of the right audience – and that’s one of the things that BPN does very well.”

Previous chairmen of the network have included Joe Deegan, of Rex Procter, a chartered surveyors which has an office in Bradford, Linda Hollings, from Saltaire-based architects Rance Booth Smith, and Paul Mackie, who also worked at Rex Procter at the time of his appointment.

For more information on the BPN, call the Chamber of Commerce on 01274 230057 or go to wnychamber.co.uk.