People on the move: Miller Homes; Furness Building Society; EDP; The Write Angle

People on the move is sponsored by family law firm Hall Brown

Miller Homes, one of the UK’s largest national house builders, has appointed Jeremy Pollitt as its new land director covering the North West region.

The appointment is part of Miller Homes’ strategy to actively acquire land across the region in order to fulfil the demand for its homes.

Pollitt joins the business with more than 30 years of industry experience, including time spent in senior roles at Bellway, Crosby Homes and more recently as land and planning director at Prospect Homes in Liverpool.

In his new role, Pollitt will have responsibility for identifying new land opportunities, negotiating land deals as well as liaising with other areas of the business including the technical, commercial and sales teams to co-ordinate their input into the land acquisition process.  He will also manage the overseeing of the planning process for the house builder across the region.

Miller Homes already has more than eight active developments across the North West and has recently acquired land on the Omega development in Warrington where they expect to receive planning consent for 200 units within the next couple of weeks.  There are also plans in place for additional significant developments that will see more than 300 homes built across the region in 2017.

Steve Birch, managing director of Miller Homes’ North Region, said: “We’re delighted to have Jeremy on board to help drive forward our ambitious growth strategy.

“Miller Homes has always had a strong presence in the North West and we look to build on this position by actively seeking new land and opportunities in order to offer our award winning homes to buyers in the region.”

In 2016, Miller Homes delivered an operating profit in excess of £100m for the first time, completing a total of 2,380 homes, of which 348 were affordable homes.

The company operates across three divisions – Scotland (612 completions), North of England (953 completions) and Midlands & South England (815 completions).

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Barrow-based Furness Building Society has announced the appointment of Euan Ballantyne in a new role as head of products.

Ballantyne joins the Furness as a financial services business leader with experience and achievements across a range of retail and business banking sectors.

Most recently he was head of mortgage intermediaries programme for Tesco Bank, leading its development and launch into the intermediaries market.

Prior to that he was director for the price comparison website Tesco Compare, and had roles in cards and payments at Visa Europe and Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

Ballantyne said:  “I’m really looking forward to being part of the Furness team and helping to manage a service and product proposition which will continue to deliver great service to our customers both locally and across the UK.”

Sue Heron, marketing and sales director at Furness Building Society, said “I am delighted to welcome Euan to the Society, his proven ability and experience in the industry will be an asset and we all look forward to working with him.”

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St Helens-based health, safety and environment consultant EDP has appointed Steve Crookes as consultancy director.

Working in the health and safety, risk and compliance division of EDP, Crookes has been tasked with continuing the successful growth of EDP’s consulting division for clients such as The British Museum, Societe Generale and Universal Music.

On a day-to-day basis, Crookes will be involved in both strategic and operational activities such as strategic planning for the growth of the consultancy business, managing development programmes both internally for the business and externally for our clients, and expanding the consultancy business portfolio.

With international experience of embedding HSE management systems to standards OHSAS 18001  at BSI Group, Crookes has worked in Asia Pacific, North, South and Central Europe, the Middle East and North, Central and South America.

Crookes said: “I’m looking forward to working for EDP and its clients, reviewing their Health and Safety compliance issues in a holistic way and offering innovative and value for money solutions.  I believe that an organisation achieves the level of health and safety risk management they demonstrate they want, but this is not just about exhibiting the right behaviours,  it is about active, genuine engagement at all levels.”

Mark Haydock, managing director at EDP said:  “With international experience of embedding HSE management systems, vast technical expertise and fantastic qualifications, Steve is perfect for this role.

“We have clients globally – as far and wide as Singapore, Australasia and the USA – requiring first class health, safety, risk and compliance services to support their strategy and operations, and we’re confident Steve will go above and beyond to meet these needs.”

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Marketing communications agency The Write Angle has recruited Sally Fairclough as associate director and Jen Hill as client services director.

Fairclough has 16 years’ experience across both in house and agency roles in London, Sydney and Manchester.

A specialist in creative campaigns, her previous clients include Iceland, Aldi, Bacardi, Specsavers and Marriott Hotels. Fairclough is responsible for key accounts and will also drive creativity and growth across the agency.

Hill joins from Workhouse Marketing with 17 years’ experience in client and agency roles. She has a strong background in brand and strategy and is responsible for growing TWA’s integrated offer. As client services director she will oversee and grow the ten-strong team to ensure excellent delivery and results.

Managing director, Julie Cheston said: “Sally and Jen bring big agency and brand experience to our team. Their experience broadens our offer, bringing strong integrated and digital skills.

“This is an investment in the agency and gives us a solid platform for growth. I am excited about what we can achieve as a management team together.”