Head of residential conveyancing Emma Liddle has been promoted to partner at Jesmond-based Mincoffs Solicitors.
With more than 20 years of experience in the field, Ms Liddle has been pivotal in growing the service at the firm since she joined in 2013, with restructures to both the team and its processes. Her promotion takes the number of partners at Mincoffs to 12.
She said: “It has been an incredibly tough couple of years for everyone involved in the property market, with the uncertainty of Brexit and the pandemic followed by a surge in demand bolstered by the stamp duty holidays. My team has put their all into their work, going from strength to strength and focusing on providing excellent customer service for our clients.
“I am delighted to be appointed to partner and I hope to assist the firm as a whole so we can continue to grow and flourish.”
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Urban Green Newcastle, the charity responsible for the management of Newcastle’s 33 parks and more than 60 of its allotment sites, has announced Carol Pyrah as its new chief executive.
The new role Newcastle marks a return to the North East for Carol, who spent more than 15 years working in the region before moving to the West Midlands to head up Historic Coventry Trust.
said: “I am delighted to be joining Urban Green Newcastle at this exciting stage in its development and to be returning to the North East.
“If the pandemic taught us anything, it is the value of our local green spaces to the health and wellbeing of local communities. I am looking forward to leading the work to ensure that Newcastle’s parks and allotments are healthy, safe, welcoming places to be, and havens for biodiversity.”
Newcastle-based Peacocks Medical Group has appointed Tracey Rhodes as head of business development.
Having previously worked as UK commercial manager at Trulife for 17 years and most recently as area sales manager at Promedics, she will head up the UK business development team with a strong focus on driving forward the firm’s commercial services.
Ms Rhodes said: “This is an exciting time to join Peacocks Medical Group. Over the years a number of opportunities arose for me to join the business but I felt that now was the right time to make the transition.
“I am looking forward to working alongside the directors and senior management team to help grow the business through existing markets and exploring ways in which we can diversify.”
Newcastle chartered accountancy and business advisory firm UNW has appointed David Paul as senior manager in its employment taxes team.
Led by Lee Muter and aided by Paul Tucker, the team provides clients with advice and support on all aspects of employment tax from both a compliance and advisory perspective.
Mr Paul brings a wealth of experience to UNW, having started his career in HMRC before working in Big Four practice for more than 20 years, leaving EY as an associate partner in December. He is originally from the North East, but has spent most of his career working in the Midlands.
He said: “What appealed to me most about the firm is the strength of its relationships with clients. UNW has a unique brand and a very experienced team that puts client service at the forefront of whatever it does, which is evidenced by some very powerful client testimonials.”
Three senior figures from the Materials Processing Institute have been invited to contribute to a United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) initiative to decarbonise heavy industry.
Chris McDonald, the Institute’s chief executive, will sit on the Low-Carbon Standards Advisory Group, which supports the development of material-specific standards or guidelines for measuring the life cycle of greenhouse gas emissions of steel, cement, and concrete.
Dr Gerard Stephens, director of operations, joins the Green Public Procurement Advisory Group, which aims to agree a joint approach to measuring and reducing embodied carbon in concrete and steel in public construction projects, while chief technology officer, Alan Scholes, will advise the Data and Reporting Advisory Group, which will draw up guidelines for data collection and green public procurement reporting frameworks.
Mr McDonald said: “The Materials Processing Institute is already a globally-recognised centre for research and development into the commercialisation of the technology that can deliver industrial decarbonisation. It is a measure of the knowledge and expertise available at the Institute, that it has been invited to contribute to each of the IDDI’s three advisory groups and we are all honoured to take part.”
Sunderland technology specialist Mesma has appointed two new apprentices as it launches a recruitment drive to develop home grown talent.
Harry Byrne has been hired as a software developer apprentice and Ben Chorlton as a business development executive apprentice, with their apprenticeship training being provided by Baltic Training and Education Partnership North East respectively.
Founder and CEO Louise Doyle, who also coaches school outreach ambassadors in local universities, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Harry and Ben, who reflect our commitment to developing our own talent. They also reflect a broader emphasis in encouraging high quality careers guidance in schools aligned with technical education.
“Indeed, no business is too small to create opportunities, particularly in the current climate when it’s becoming harder to recruit skilled people at a cost that is affordable for SMEs.”
