Here is our regular round-up of jobs news from some of the region’s biggest firms:
LLEP
Salma Manzoor (pictured above ) has become the new partnerships and Business Gateway Growth Hub manager at the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership.
Her first roles included taking part in the Leicester Business Festival and meeting small business and her short-term plans include meeting representatives of the county’s district councils, small business organisations, financial institutions and enterprise teams at the three local universities.
She said: “It was perfect timing to start the job just before the launch of Leicester Business Festival.
“It presented an ideal opportunity to get out and about and listen to small businesses speak about their aspirations, challenges and opportunities.”
Salma started with the LLEP on November 1 and is now actively working to deepen the Business Gateway Growth Hub’s network of SMEs across all sectors in Leicester and Leicestershire.
She will use her experience of business strategy and relationship-building to find new ways of showcasing the range of support available for SMEs throughout the city and county.
The Business Gateway Growth Hub helps small businesses obtain funding, provides business toolkits, training, and programmes of support for small businesses in the city and county. Anyone can make contact and learn about routes to growth.
Trained solicitor and former practice owner Salma worked as key account manager for Invest in Leicester’s Inward Investment team prior to starting work with the LLEP.
She supported major direct investment in the region, working for Leicester City Council with partners including the Department of International Trade and Midlands Engine to support foreign-owned companies. This fostered innovation, supported expansion, won funding, and led to the creation and retention of jobs.
Salma has previously worked for both city and county councils on commercial property, working on complex developments and regeneration projects including Space Park Leicester, Pioneer Park, Haymarket Health Clinic, and New Market Square.
She also has experience of hosting events for De Montfort University Women’s Network from the Innovation Centre and Leicester Castle Business School.
Leicestershire Law Society
Gina Samuel-Richards has become the latest president of Leicestershire Law Society and the first back Muslim female president in its 162 years.
She has spent most of her life in Leicester and is well respected for her legal and business acumen, support and contributions to the Leicester business, voluntary and education community for more than two decades.
Ms Samuel-Richards set up her first law firm in 2011, which she went on to sell and is co-founder and director of AGR Law, which she set up in 2016 with Ruth Goward.
She said during her tenure the main focus will be encouraging young people into a career in law, and is planning joint events with the Leicestershire Junior Lawyers Division, such as a Christmas party and panel discussions to promote legal education and careers.
Her charities for the year include Focus, set up to empower young and disenfranchised individuals, the Sickle Cell Society and Zynithia’s Trust, an initiative to break the cycle of poverty for vulnerable women.
BDO
Accountancy and business advisory firm BDO has strengthened its Midlands team with the appointment of Chris Rowe as VAT partner, following a raft of promotions across the region earlier this month.
Chris joins the Midlands tax team and brings over 13 years’ experience to the position.
In his previous role as a director at EY, he led the automotive team nationally for indirect tax, and was also tax lead on a number of key accounts. Chris also brings sector expertise across retail and manufacturing.
He will be responsible for helping to build the Midlands VAT team, both in terms of people and revenues, adding value to the firm’s Midlands manufacturing hub, while working nationally in the automotive market.
He said: “I’m really excited to get started at BDO. The culture within the business is fantastic and truly encourages collaboration, not only within specialist teams, but across the various sector disciplines, both regionally and nationally.
“The opportunity to build what is already a strong VAT team, as we look to capitalise on the significant market potential, is very exciting and I’m delighted to be playing a key role in realising those ambitions in the Midlands.”
Earlier this month, BDO promoted 97 people across its team in the Midlands, including three promotions to partner.
Cooper Parry
Following the significant recent investment from Waterland Private Equity, Castle Donington-based Cooper Parry has strengthened the leadership team to help deliver its ambitious plans for five-fold growth by 2027.
Timothy Mahapatra has been brought in as a strategic adviser to spearhead the focus on growth opportunities through senior hires and acquisitions as well as to support the overall strategy.
He brings senior partner level experience with a number of leading professional services firms –notably Deloitte and Alvarez & Marsal – including senior leadership roles across a range of business areas globally and in the UK.
Mr Mahapatra took a leading role in trebling the size of A&M’s EMEA region over four years and developed new services and various industry groups.
As the global managing director for financial advisory at Deloitte he led a global team achieving significant growth. Prior to that he led the same business in the UK. More recently, he has been working with private equity firms and their portfolio companies on both origination and post deal value creation as well as non-exec roles for tech and high growth firms.
He work alongside chief executive Ade Cheatham and the rest of the leadership team, including the recently appointed chief operating officer Phil Erridge.
He said: “As soon as I discovered CP’s vision, I was hooked. It is bold, as well as challenging.
“It is also brilliantly disruptive. I relish the combination of growing organically by doing what we’re best at, and accelerating it even more through finding like-minded firms to join us.”
Tank PR
PR-led digital marketing agency Tank has appointed three of its senior team as full directors, as it continues a period of sustained rapid growth.
Martin Stone, previously an associate director, has been with Tank since 2010 and jointly handles the day-to-day running of the agency, as well as overseeing client experience and strategies for both the PR and digital PR divisions.
Having worked in PR for 14 years, Martin has first-hand newsroom experience, having been a journalist for radio and television with various broadcasters, including the BBC.
Max Bevis, also previously an associate director, has been with the agency for a decade.
He oversees both the digital and content divisions, and works alongside Martin to facilitate day-to-day running. With a background in both property and political PR, Max began his time at Tank as a senior account executive and worked his way up through the agency to join the board.
Phil Kelsey has been Tank’s commercial director since March 2021. Before joining the agency, he built a successful web agency followed by director-level roles in tech-led automotive and financial service businesses.
The appointments come as Nottingham-based Tank continues its expansion plans, with the agency continuing to grow both its client base and range of services.
Last year, it launched its digital PR division, which now boasts clients such as food sensitivity specialist YorkTest, housebuilder Miller Homes, software firm Mintsoft and AI expert SAS.
The past 12 months have also seen the team expand considerably, with several new appointments, taking the agency’s headcount to almost 40.
Founder and director Trevor Palmer said: “To date Tank has been one of the fastest growing agencies in the Midlands, and certainly one of the most talked about.
“We have a fantastic team that has stayed together to build an enviable network and client base.
“I know that in their newly defined roles, Martin, Max, Phil will lead the broader team and help the agency to exploit its many advantages in the coming years.”
Browne Jacobson
Former Jack Wills chief executive Suzanne Harlow has been appointed non-executive director of retail, consumer & logistics at Nottingham law firm Browne Jacobson.
Ms Harlow was also previously chief executive of RSL Awards and sat on the board at Debenhams.
She has extensive experience in retail covering a range of fashion, home and premium beauty brands, both in the domestic and international markets.
It is one of several sector-driven appointments for Browne Jacobson’s corporate sector in recent months which includes leading General Counsel Anneliese Reinhold becoming the firm’s first non-executive chair of its corporate sectoral strategy board.
Ms Harlow said: “I’m delighted to be working with Browne Jacobson as they develop a deeper sector driven approach and I’m looking forward to supporting the retail, consumer and logistics team in achieving its strategic aims.”
Browne Jacobson’s national retail, leisure and logistics lawyers work with many household name brands that cut across various sectors including fashion and beauty, logistics, retail, sports and leisure, restaurants, bars and hotels.
