Frenkel Topping, the specialist advice firm focusing on personal injury and clinical negligence cases, has appointed major shareholder Christopher Mills as non-executive chairman.

Mr Mills joined the board of Frenkel Topping as non-executive director in May 2020.

He founded Harwood Capital Management in 2011, a successor to its former parent company JO Hambro Capital Management, which he co-founded in 1993 and of which he was formerly the chief investment officer.

Following several recent exits by Harwood Capital Management, Mr Mills has stepped down from a number of company boards as a non-executive director, providing him more time to devote to Frenkel Topping.

Former chairman Tim Linacre, will remain on the board of the company, as senior independent non-executive director to support Frenkel Topping's strategy going forward.

Richard Fraser, chief executive, said: "Christopher has a deep understanding of the business and our ambitions and brings a wealth of experience in financial services and public companies to support us in our next stage of growth.”

Salford-based Frenkel Topping was established in 1979 as a specialist forensic accountants by John Frenkel and Mike Topping. The company was dedicated to servicing lawyers dealing with large personal injury and clinical negligence claims. It floated on AIM in 2004.

It now has a number of businesses including Cardinal Management which was established in 2015 to provide trauma support and direction. In 2016, Frenkel Topping Group launched its discretionary fund management service, Ascencia and in 2018 it created wealth manager Obiter.

In recent years it has been busy on the acquisition trail, beginning with Manchester and Leeds-based forensic accountancy Forth’s in 2020. In 2021 it acquired civil and commercial litigation costs consultants A&M Bacon and Partners in Costs (PIC), a costs law specialist, both based in Doncaster.

Other businesses in the group include expert witness services company Keystone Case Management, medico-legal litigation expert witnesses business Somek and Associates, costs consultants Bidwell Henderson, costs experts PIC, and civil and Court of Protection costs experts A&M Bacon.

Mr Mills is currently the chief executive officer and investment manager of North Atlantic Smaller Companies Investment Trust plc, a UK-listed investment trust, and a non-executive director of several companies including AssetCo plc, MJ Gleeson plc and Oryx International Growth Fund Limited.