Walker Morris has appointed former Deloitte managing partner Stuart Counsell as its first non-executive board director.

Counsell joins Walker Morris following more than 30 years at Deloitte, during which time he held a variety of senior management positions including UK managing partner.

More recently, Counsell headed up the finance and legal division at the accountancy giant where he was responsible for the financial and legal aspects of a £2 billion professional services business. He was also heavily involved in the firm's continuous systems improvement and acquisition programmes.

Walker Morris managing partner Ian Gilbert said: "As our very first appointment of a non-executive director we wanted someone who not only had knowledge and experience of operating at the highest level in the professional services industry but also understood the unique culture and ethos of Walker Morris."

Counsell said: "I'm very much looking forward to renewing my relationship with Walker Morris, a firm I worked closely with on many corporate finance engagements while at Deloitte. I've seen at first hand their strong service and performance culture and I'm pleased to be part of their on-going growth and success.

Walker Morris becomes the latest firm to appoint a non-exec in recent weeks after DWF appointed former Eversheds managing partner David Gray to the role in early June while in May Ashurst signed-up ex-UBS banker Robert Gillespie to its board.