People on the move: Linder Myers Solicitors; Harrison Drury; Riddelltps; Gray Scanlan Hill; Rider Levett Bucknall

Laura Hitchen

Linder Myers Solicitors has strengthened its family law team with the appointment of Laura Hitchen as a solicitor in its Sale, Greater Manchester office.

Since moving to practice in Manchester in 2012, Hitchen has developed a strong reputation for herself winning “Lawyer of the Year” at the Made in Manchester Awards 2015.

Following the changes to the legal aid system in 2013 Hitchen undertook a considerable amount of work offering training and events to charitable organisations so they could assist service users access legal aid and also develop a greater knowledge about issues affecting the community.

Some of the high profile speakers included Tony Lloyd MP, Polly Neate, chief executive of Women’s Aid and Shabana Abassi MBE, Senior Head of Service at CAFCASS.

Hitchen has established two successful legal clinics for local domestic violence support organisations in Manchester and in 2016 was invited, along with members of Wythenshawe SafeSpots, by Tom Watson, deputy leader of the Labour Party, to the launch of the “Scrap the Fee” campaign at the Labour Party Conference.

This nationwide campaign aims to stop victims of domestic violence from being charged GP’s fees to obtain a letter confirming they are a victim of domestic violence, one of the forms of evidence which can be needed in order to access legal aid.

Hitchen said: “I am thrilled to be working alongside Tony Broadley, the head of the well-respected childcare team at Linder Myers. Tony has a great reputation in Manchester and an incredible depth of knowledge. I hope my clients will benefit from the wealth of experience available in this growing and dynamic team.”

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North West law firm Harrison Drury has appointed professional services heavyweight Gavin Wright to the newly-created role of chief executive.

Wright, a former senior director at Deloitte and BDO, joins Harrison Drury after three years as chief executive at Forbes Solicitors.

John Chesworth, who took over as managing partner at Harrison Drury in 2007 and has built it into one of the region’s fastest-growing firms, becomes executive chairman of the business.

Chesworth will continue leading the board of directors, developing the future strategy of the firm and helping build stronger relations with existing clients and other businesses.

As CEO, Wright, who has spent more than 25 years in senior positions in law and accountancy, will be responsible for leading the management team, improving the way services are delivered and delivering the next phase of growth at the firm.

Chesworth said: “This appointment is about leading Harrison Drury into the future and putting in place a management structure to enable growth. Gavin’s record in the professional services arena speaks for itself. He has extensive experience of law firm management and developing growing businesses.”

Wright added: “Harrison Drury has grown through having a strong and clear vision and a culture to match. I’m looking forward to helping the firm enjoy continued success. My role is to make it possible for John and the board to deliver this next period of growth in line with the excellent values for which it has become known.”

Since 2007 staff numbers at Harrison Drury have gone from 12 in one office in Preston to more than 90 across five offices in Lancashire and Cumbria.

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Investment and asset management business Riddelltps has recruited Ben Roberts to join its team based at 86 Deansgate in Manchester city centre with the aim of developing and expanding the well-established and successful practice.

Riddelltps was set up by Gareth Riddell more than 20 years ago and has recently reviewed its growth ambitions and recruited Ben to work alongside directors Gareth Riddell and Andy Crompton as consultant director of investment with immediate effect.

Roberts was previously former head of the Manchester office and partner for Capital Markets at Cushman & Wakefield.

After the company’s merger with DTZ he acted as director of development and PRS.

Roberts has since operated in consultancy roles with a number of property clients including Derwent Estates and Greenridge Investment Management.

He is a North of England commercial property investment and development specialist with more than 25 years’ experience working both agency and client side with UK institutional investors and property companies.

He has been involved with a wide range of acquisitions and sales across the full commercial and residential property spectrum.  Roberts will be working alongside Andy Crompton and focusing on procuring investment acquisitions and disposals, as well as providing asset management services.

Gareth Riddell, founding director at Riddelltps said: “With Ben’s support, we have an opportunity to grow Riddelltps into the future by creating new services and building a team.

“We have worked with some great clients on ground-breaking transactions and managed some excellent assets and Ben coming into the business, as well as being a real coup, means we can start to realise our ambitions.”

Riddelltps clients include, amongst others, the Duchy of Lancaster, Orchard Street Investors, Frogmore Estates and Cerberus.

Roberts said:“I’m really excited about joining a well-respected, niche Manchester practice to develop its client-base and help grow the team.

“I’ll be actively seeking new investment opportunities across the commercial property spectrum as well as the ever expanding ‘Build to Rent’ sector. I will also be focussed on winning new asset management/property management mandates to build upon Riddelltps’s already well-established management portfolio.”

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Manchester-based independent building surveying practice Gray Scanlan Hill has appointed Darren Hughes as director.

Recent growth from within Gray Scanlan’s longstanding and loyal property investment and development client base has driven the decision to recruit in order to continue to offer director level consultancy expertise.

Hughes joins from Lambert Smith Hampton where he spent more than 13 years primarily as a director in building consultancy, more recently moving to Liverpool to re-establish the practice’s building consultancy presence in the city in 2016.

Hughes, who has been chartered for over 20 years, joined LSH Manchester in 2003 and has held roles including head of Manchester Building Consultancy and regional head of building consultancy for the North before becoming business development director and deputy head of The Manchester Office in 2014.  Prior to this he spent time in building consultancy roles at Fuller Peiser, Arcus Consulting and Natwest.

Commenting on his new role as director at Gray Scanlan Hill, Darren Hughes said: “Gray Scanlan Hill is a well-established Manchester-based building surveying practice focussed on providing high service levels and crafted independent advice to some impressive clients.

“The business is conscientiously evolving with its clients firmly in mind and holds exciting potential for further development.

“I am pleased to be joining a first-class team and look forward to making an effective contribution to what the company has to offer.”

Gray Scanlan Hill acts for clients including, amongst others, Commercial Estates Group, Peel Holdings, Emerson Management Services, Property Alliance Group, The Oddfellows, Beaconsfield Estates, Henry Boot Developments and Mulbury Homes.

Simon Hill, Director at Gray Scanlan Hill said: “We’ve known Darren for a number of years and it’s a real coup that he has decided to join us.

“He has a wealth of experience and expertise that only someone that’s been in the industry for more than 25 years can offer.”

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Independent construction, property and management consultant Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB) has appointed industry specialist Conor Ellis to head up its UK Healthcare Sector out of its Manchester offices with immediate effect.

Ellis has been involved in the healthcare sector for more than 20 years, including 10 years in hospital management in the UK.

He has held several senior management roles in the private sector including being a Partner at Tribal, Head of Health Sector UK and Europe, EC Harris (Arcadis) and most recently, head of health, Citrica.

During his career, Ellis has worked extensively for health organisations, private sector operators, investment houses, government departments and contractors to achieve efficiency and best evidenced based practice on clinical and non-clinical design/space.

This includes total asset and estate solutions. Ellis also regularly lectures at international conferences, participating in NHS England Estate panels, DQI, several strategy design forums and in completing NHS toolkits.

“The team at RLB has a great record of working closely with its clients and I look forward to joining them to collaborate with CCGs, Trusts, Government Agencies, investors, contractors and the design community to improve patient, staff and carers environments and outcomes,” said Ellis.

“With a global reach at RLB, my role will be to work closely with the organisation’s health team to ensure our best practice is transferred to our clients.”

Dean Sheehy, RLB director, said: ‘We are delighted to welcome Conor as a partner to RLB to lead our expanding healthcare business.  His breadth of international healthcare experience plus absolute focus on customer delivery will be a tremendous asset to our business.”

Russell Bolton managing partner, Manchester, said “ Having worked at senior level with Conor for several years at EC Harris it is a tremendous feat to have him join us at RLB bringing his national persona in this exciting sector.”

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