Here is our regular round-up of appointments and promotions from across the East Midlands:
Anicca Digital
Anicca Digital has appointed two new team members following a recruitment bootcamp at its Leicester office.
Demand for places on the five-day digital marketing bootcamp was high, with 52 applications submitted for the 13 places available.
On the back of it the digital marketing agency has welcomed Aneta Kowacka and Baz Keshwala, as paid media executives.
Aneta, who is from Poland, has joined the team after graduating from De Montfort University with a first in BA marketing management.
Baz, from Leicester, has had a career switch, having previously worked in the fashion industry as a senior print designer.
The bootcamp is designed to help train the digital marketing experts of the future by providing first-hand experience of paid media tactics, including Google and Bing Ads.
Candidates are then tasked with developing a paid media campaign for a real world brief.
Anicca founder and chief executive Ann Stanley said: “Aneta and Baz were stand out candidates throughout the bootcamp and we look forward to helping them develop their digital knowledge further as part of the Anicca team.”
Marketing Derby
One of the founders and former chairs of Marketing Derby has been inaugurated as the new High Sheriff of Derbyshire.
Mike Copestake, an experienced corporate lawyer, who for many years was senior partner at Freeths’ Derby office, has now taken up the role.
Up until recently, Mike was chair of Enterprise for Education (E4E), an organisation backed by Derby City Council dedicated to getting employers into local schools to help schoolchildren with things like CV writing, interview techniques, career talks and mentoring.
Social mobility in Derbyshire is one of the lowest in the country and Mike sees his new role as an opportunity to help children and young people in Derbyshire to set aspirational goals for themselves.
He said: “There have been a lot of studies relating to young people in Derbyshire. Unfortunately, many parts of the county suffer from worryingly low levels of aspiration and social mobility among our young people.
“This is at odds with some of the highly paid jobs which are available for those with the right qualifications.”
Nelsons
Nelsons law firm has welcomed a new partner and associate to its expert clinical negligence team in Nottingham.
Lucy Wilton, who joins as partner, has built a career as a specialist clinical negligence solicitor over the past 15 years, having previously worked for Russell-Cooke LLP in London, where she became a partner in 2018.
Associate Rachel Benton began her career at Freeths almost four years ago where she trained and qualified as a solicitor, before joining Nelsons.
Lucy and Rachel both specialise in clinical negligence which, for Lucy, also includes representing and advising clients at inquests.
Cases they advise on involve medical, nursing or health-related care where someone has been injured or, tragically, died as a result of potential errors or failings.
Lucy, who studied law at the University of Oxford, said: “My top priority is always my clients. I can’t wait to really begin to make a difference in people’s lives and am also excited to get involved in the charitable activities that Nelsons is well known for.”
New Care
Kerry Smith, from Lincolnshire, has been appointed by New Care as its regional manager.
She is part of the senior management team and will be responsible for supporting the care home operator in the Yorkshire and East Midlands regions. She will work with New Care’s individual home managers to maintain the highest operational and quality standards and ensure the best levels of care for its residents.
She will also help with the commissioning of new homes as the company expands, supporting the opening of two new homes this year and next.
Kerry has worked in healthcare for more than 30 years starting out as a student nurse in 1988. She has been working in care homes since 1994 and in the management of care homes since 2006.
Prior to joining New Care, she held regional management positions for other care home brands and also worked for a not-for-profit operator.
She said: “It’s such an exciting time for New Care and I am pleased to be a part of it.”
Bridge Help
East Midlands-based commercial bridging loan provider Bridge Help has appointed a new business development manager.
Tina Panayi from Macclesfield brings 25 years of business development experience in the finance sector to her new role at the growing short-term finance firm.
She said: “Being a qualified broker I fully understand clients’ requirements and where Bridge Help can add value to the loan process. It’s an exciting opportunity to be able to use all my skills.”
Tina’s career history includes roles with a number of high street lenders, including Bank of Scotland, B M Solutions, Aldermore Bank and, most recently, specialist lender Together Money.
Tina’s appointment follows significant growth for Bridge Help during 2021 in which the short-term lender exceeded its own projections, lending more than £23 million and is on track to lend £40 million in 2022.
Stepnell
Construction partner Stepnell has announced two new strategic hires with the appointment of Lewis Archibald as framework director and Sheona Macmillan as sustainability manager.
Both roles will support Stepnell’s framework performance growth and bolster its sustainable commitments to project delivery for customers.
Stepnell is based in Rugby, and has offices in Nottingham, Wantage, Bristol, Bromsgrove, Poole and Southampton.
Lewis joins with nearly 30 years of industry experience, having spent his career working across a variety of preconstruction and estimating roles.
At Stepnell, Lewis will continue to add to the firm’s 15-strong portfolio of regional and national frameworks. And will be responsible for increasing that number so that Stepnell can continue to provide better service, earlier contractor involvement and more certainty of delivery.
Lewis said: “I’m delighted to be taking on this role during a time of significant growth for Stepnell. Our work to deliver construction excellence - via an increasing number of framework projects - is crucial to our service proposition and the success of the business.”
Stepnell’s new sustainability manager Sheona brings seven years of environmental management experience to the role from across rail, construction and military sectors.
Sheona will be instrumental to the implementation of sustainability solutions for projects across the entire business.
Knights
Legal and professional services business Knights has bolstered its real estate team in the Midlands with the appointment of a new partner.
Bryan Guest joins Knights with a wealth of experience of both residential and commercial development projects, as well providing advice for both investors and occupiers in leasehold transactions.
He joins the business as a partner in Leicester, and will support Knights’ team across the Midlands.
Bryan has worked with a wide range of clients, including developers, investors, occupiers, private individuals and insurers.
As a result, Bryan is well-used to building a close relationship with clients to achieve their objectives.
He said: “The approach that Knights takes fits very well with how I like to work – because building a relationship with clients is key. I am looking forward to getting started.”
Ampa
Legal and professional services group Ampa has announced 32 promotions across its house of brands including Ampa, Shakespeare Martineau, Lime Solicitors and Marrons Planning.
As of May 1, the group is promoting seven people to membership level.
Taking an equity share in Ampa is chief marketing and people officer Ben Buckton, who first joined Shakespeare Martineau as marketing director in 2019 and was promoted to CMPO during the firm’s organisational restructure in 2020.
Joining the membership and taking the role of partner within Shakespeare Martineau is Nicola Holton, Peter Mayhew, Sneha Nainwal and Verity Kirby.
Insolvency expert Nicola Holton has more than 10 years’ restructuring and insolvency experience having worked with a wide variety of clients ranging from insolvency practitioners and litigation funders to corporates and their directors.
Peter Mayhew, who works as part of the corporate team, has extensive experience in fund structuring, tax advantaged schemes, private equity investment, disposals and restructuring.
Heading up Shakespeare Martineau’s India desk, dual-qualified partner Sneha Nainwal has extensive experience in acting for clients – both businesses and private individuals – in complex litigation before Indian and English Courts, as well as international arbitration and mediation.
Part of the private client team, Verity Kirby specialises in estate administration, inheritance tax and capital gains tax planning, trusts, wills and succession.
Planning experts David Pendle and Gary Stephens, who work within the group’s non-legal planning consultancy Marrons Planning, have also joined the membership.
Taking the role of salaried partner within the Shakespeare Martineau brand is commercial property expert Mark Jones, and litigation and dispute resolution specialists Ben Humphreys and Gareth Hegarty.
Clinical negligence expert Nikki Fahey, of Lime Solicitors, has also been promoted to salaried partner.
Stepping into the role of legal director at Shakespeare Martineau is education specialist Anieka Sheppard, commercial development expert Ben Darlow, conveyancing expert Claire Langford, experienced IP advisor Daniel Goodall, residential development specialist Holly Lockley and corporate lawyer Jennie Davis.
Personal injury specialist Vicky Blodwell has been promoted to legal director for Lime Solicitors.
Those promoted to associate level within Lime Solicitors include clinical negligence experts Catherine Leong and Maryam Abdullah.
Within the Shakespeare Martineau brand there have been 12 promotions to associate level, including construction specialist Adam Watson, IP expert Daniel Kelly, litigation and restructuring lawyer Danielle Long, real estate finance expert Dominique Appleby-Freeth and property dispute specialist Habib Khan.
Also promoted to associate is Hannah Awcock, who specialises in commercial property and development, corporate lawyer Jade Price, residential development expert Joe Davies, private client advisor Kuldeep Chauhan, corporate lawyer Matthew Shephard, residential conveyancer Raza Ali and estate planning expert Victoria Taylor.
Chief executive Sarah Walker-Smith said: “It's our people who make our business – and it’s our clients who benefit from our investments in them, so rewarding high performance is part of our culture.”
