A string of top businesses from across the North West have made a series of top hires and promotions over the last seven days.
The likes of technology companies, law firms and manufacturers are among those to make this week's list.
Below, we round up the latest hires and promotions that we feel you should not miss.
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If you have a new or recent appointmen t or promotion that you would like featured in our next round up, please e-mail jon.robinson@reachplc.com.
Total Processing
A City grandee who was part of the £1.1bn deal that saw TalkTalk taken over has joined the board of a Manchester fintech.
Martin Gilbert has taken on the role at Total Processing which was co-founded by Jean-Michel Soopramanien, Alex Leigh and Matt Hamer in 2015.
Mr Gilbert is also the chairman of AssetCo plc, Revolut as well as the Net Zero Technology Centre in Aberdeen and Scottish Golf.
MEPC
MEPC, the development and asset manager behind Manchester city centre’s 20-acre neighbourhood NOMA, has welcomed two new team members to its team.
Based in the team’s new headquarters, the Pavilion on Angel Square, Olivia Hewitt and Alice Bolton-Gough have recently joined the team.
Olivia Hewitt joins as development manager from One Heritage Group and previously worked for real estate services group Cushman & Wakefield.
Having previously worked at JLL, Mileway and Squarestone, Alice Bolton-Gough joins as an asset manager. Although based in Manchester, her responsibilities will sit across both NOMA and MEPC’s Wellington Place development in Leeds.
Harrison Drury
Law firm Harrison Drury has added to its family law and private client teams in Lytham with two senior hires from Coupe Bradbury.
Solicitors Emma Panchal and James Patterson have both joined having previously worked across Coupe Bradbury’s Lytham and Kirkham offices.
Emma Panchal joins the firm as a senior associate solicitor and specialises in family law. Associate solicitor James is a STEP qualified expert in private client matters.
Dow Schofield Watts
Dow Schofield Watts has made four promotions in its award-winning North West corporate finance team.
Callum Sellar and Tom Dutton have been promoted to director, while Ross Thomas has been made associate director and Alex Odlin becomes manager. All joined Dow Schofield Watts having previously trained with the big four accountancy firms.
Gregg Pendlington, who leads the team, said: "Nurturing and developing our home-grown talent, and providing opportunities for promotion is a key priority at Dow Schofield Watts.
"These promotions recognise the hard work and dedication of the team members over recent years in what has been a very busy trading period for the business."
eStar
eStar, the Mercedes-Benz Truck and Van franchise partner in the North West and North Wales, has promoted Kate Howdon to HR director.
She has been in the HR profession for nearly 20 years and is a chartered member of the CIPD, holding a master’s degree in human resources management.
During her career, she has worked in retail, not-for-profit, medco-legal, and PLC, as well as spending 12 years in the motor trade.
Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance
Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance has expanded its nationwide network of sales professionals with the appointment of Andrew Welden as regional sales director for the North West.
Mr Welden joins from Breal Zeta CF, where he led on the firm’s asset-based lending strategy across Merseyside and Cheshire, with a focus on facility sizes between £5m and £150m. He also helped the firm establish a presence in Manchester as it opened a new office in the city.
He said: "Having already built up a strong base across the North West, asset-based lending has quickly become a new passion of mine, allowing me to work with some of the region’s most exciting businesses."
Aaron & Partners
Law firm Aaron & Partners has made a new hire to its restructuring and insolvency team.
The Chester-based firm has hired Adila Malik as a solicitor – the sixth member of the expanding department, which was formed last year as a standalone team to be led by partner Mark Davies.
She said: "I am delighted to have joined Aaron and Partners, the firm has a superb reputation, particularly in the Insolvency sector."
fulfilmentcrowd
International fulfilment services provider fulfilmentcrowd has appointed Mitchell Bryant as head of development UK.
He joins the Chorley-headquartered business from MyTAG, where he was a corporate account manager supplying material handling equipment, warehouse management system (WMS) technology and SaaS cloud-based operations technology.
Mr Bryant said: "fulfilmentcrowd has a solid business development and marketing plan in place and it’s clear the business operates to position customer support and advanced technological supply chain solutions at the forefront of its offering.
"It’s this strategic and ambitious approach, along with the agile Fulfilment Network Partnership model, that really stood out and attracted me to the role."
Alsico
The Preston-based UK arm of workwear manufacturer Alsico has appointed Charlotte Clarke as its new managing director. Current managing director David Toon will step into the role of chairman.
Currently serving as UK commercial director, Charlotte Clarke has overseen the transformation of Alsico’s sales operation.
She said: "I am thrilled to be furthering my career with Alsico, and stepping into a role that means as much to me personally as it does professionally."
DLA Piper
DLA Piper has announced that North West-based lawyers Charles Weems and David Cook have been promoted to partner.
Mr Weems is a debt finance lawyer with experience acting for private credit funds, banks, private equity sponsors and corporate borrowers with a focus on leveraged acquisition finance and corporate lending matters.
Mr Cook advises on contentious cyber security and data protection matters and has worked on some of the most high-profile and significant cyber security incidents and data breaches in the UK and internationally.
PM+M
PM+M, the Blackburn and Bury-based chartered accountancy, business advisory and financial planning group, has made Roger Phillips and Ceri Dixon partners.
Mr Phillips joined the tax team as a director in 2021. He started his career at PwC in Leeds and prior to joining PM+M he was director of private client at Fairhurst where he worked for over 11 years.
Ceri Dixon joined the audit, accounting and advisory team in June 2015 and has overseen the delivery of the team’s full range of services.
Sustainable Building Services
Lancashire-based specialist retrofit decarbonisation turnkey provider Sustainable Building Services (SBS) has made two new promotions to its board of directors as annual turnover is forecasted to increase to more than £50m.
Steve Roberts and Ian Jones, both regional directors, have joined managing director Gary Lawson, divisional director Mike Easdon and chairman Derek Horrocks on the now-five-man board.
These promotions are two of four senior appointments across the business, with Daniel Owens and Dwayne Jones both stepping into roles as regional operations managers.
Lockton
Independent insurance broker Lockton has appointed Simon Jesson as business development manager to its commercial wholesale team based in Manchester.
Mr Jesson brings over 20 years’ commercial broking experience to Lockton, joining from RIB Group Ltd, where he spent more than four years as director and managed the process to sell the business to GRP in 2020.
Prior to that, he spent six years at Lockton between 2011 and 2017, and held positions at Henderson Insurance Brokers and Aon.
MHA Moore and Smalley
Accountancy and business advisory firm MHA Moore and Smalley has made a new senior appointment in its Manchester tax team.
Sean Mitchell has joined the firm as tax partner. His experience includes two spells at Grant Thornton, the first in a variety of roles between 1997 and 2015. He returned to the firm in July 2018 as tax director.
He also spent three years as tax director at BDO between 2015 and 2018.
Jones Hargreaves
The Manchester office of commercial building, project and sustainability consultancy Jones Hargreaves has hired a senior associate partner.
Alan Wales joins from Hollis in Manchester, where he held an associate role.
He has previously worked at Colliers as associate director and CBRE where he was a chartered building surveyor.
Pannone Corporate
Law firm Pannone Corporate has promoted Paul Jagger to head its debt recovery team.
Mr Jagger, who first joined in July 2022, takes over the lead role from Karl Williams, following his retirement earlier this year.
He said: "When I joined Pannone, I was blown away by the wealth of opportunity and potential that exist at the firm, particularly in the debt recovery team."
Weightmans
Law firm Weightmans has bolstered its number of partners in Manchester.
Adele Shortman, an employment, pensions and immigration specialist, has been promoted.
Sally Cook, a private wealth specialist, has also been promoted to legal director.
DC Advisory
Investment bank DC Advisory has hired Richard Darlington as executive director in Manchester.
Mr Darlington brings over 15 years of investment banking and accounting experience, primarily in the technology, media and gaming sectors.
He joins from Zeus Capital, where he was director in the investment banking division, and has previously held positions at Barclays Capital and KPMG.
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