Ballards has strengthened its Birmingham team with the appointment of Sagar Sarkar as Audit & Accounts Director, bringing extensive international experience to the firm’s growing audit and corporate offering.
The appointment comes as Ballards builds on its recent industry recognition, having won Audit Team of the Year at the Accounting Excellence Awards 2026, further underlining the strength of its audit expertise and commitment to delivering high quality service to clients.
Sagar joins Ballards from S&W, having previously held a director role at Deloitte. A member of both the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), he holds UK audit signing rights as a Responsible Individual.
With more than two decades of experience, Sagar has advised multinational groups, private equity backed businesses and owner managed companies across a wide range of sectors, including manufacturing, automotive, technology, mining and aggregates, early years education and investment.
His international experience spans the UK, India, Australia, Canada and the US, giving him a broad perspective on the challenges facing businesses operating across multiple jurisdictions. He brings particular insight into the UK–India business relationship, alongside expertise in international growth, corporate governance, financial reporting and regulatory compliance.
Based primarily in Birmingham, Sagar’s appointment further strengthens Ballards’ ability to support businesses as they grow, navigate increasingly complex reporting requirements and operate in international markets.
Ben Powell, Audit Partner and Head of Corporate at Ballards, said:
“I am delighted to welcome Sagar to Ballards. He brings an exceptional breadth of experience, having worked with businesses of all sizes and across a wide range of sectors and international markets. His technical expertise, commercial understanding and experience of complex, cross-border engagements will be a real asset to our clients.
“His appointment also reflects our ambitions for Birmingham and our commitment to building a strong team that can provide the depth of expertise businesses need as they develop and grow. Winning Audit Team of the Year at the Accounting Excellence Awards is a fantastic endorsement of the work our team does, and we are continuing to invest in our people and capabilities to build on that success and ensure we can support clients with both their immediate challenges and their longer-term ambitions.”
Sagar said:
“I am pleased to be joining Ballards at an exciting time for the company, particularly given its ambition in Birmingham. What attracted me was the pace of the business and its genuine focus on putting clients first. I see a real opportunity to bring my international experience to a firm that understands the importance of practical, commercially focused advice.
“Businesses operating across borders face a range of challenges, from reporting and governance to regulatory compliance and managing growth across different jurisdictions. My approach is to cut through that complexity and give leadership teams clear, practical advice they can act on. The technical detail has to be right, but it is equally important to understand the business behind the numbers.
“I am looking forward to working with the team at Ballards and helping clients navigate their next stage of growth, whether they are expanding internationally, managing greater complexity or strengthening their financial and reporting frameworks.”
