People on the move: Shoosmiths; Iceni Projects; ResponseTap; True Bearing; The Write Angle

The real estate practice at the Manchester office of national law-firm Shoosmiths has boosted its ranks further with the appointment of a team of five expert lawyers, from the Sheffield office of Irwin Mitchell.

The new hires include two partners – Thomas Hall and Kellie Hatton – along with senior associate David Goy and solicitors Emma Cowell and Holly Bennett, all of whom have specialist real estate backgrounds and in-depth knowledge of the Northern marketplace.

Hall has a broad range of experience but has a particular focus on strategic land and providing advice on all legal aspects of taking sites through the development process. He started his legal career at MacFarlanes before taking up a role at Irwin Mitchell.

Hatton is a development specialist with more than 15 years’ experience and has worked across a broad variety of real estate transactions. Prior to her time at Irwin Mitchell, she held roles at Berwin Leighton Paisner and Denton Wilde Sapte.

Manchester office head Vaqas Farooq said: “As a firm, one of the ways we differentiate ourselves is through our culture and commitment to our people and have recently embraced agile working for all colleagues at our new, purpose-built agile work-space at XYZ in Spinningfields, Manchester.

“We are excited about our innovative approach to agile which will enable us to work in a highly collaborative and flexible manner, and allow us to deliver a market-leading service and a first rate experience for an enviable list of clients across the North and the rest of the UK.’

Shoosmiths’ national real estate group is one of the largest in the UK, extending across eight offices and with a team comprising 62 partners and 310 people in total.

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Award-winning property advisory firm Iceni Projects announced two new appointments in its Manchester-based team
Murray Graham joins as director for planning and Chris Mawdsley joins as head of engagement (Manchester), providing political communication and community engagement advice.

The new recruits will join Rebecca Fieldhouse, who has been growing the Manchester office since it opened its doors in November 2016.

Ian Anderson, executive director, said: “Iceni Projects is fresh with energy and ambition as we continue to expand our offer across the UK.

“I am delighted to welcome Murray and Chris to our Manchester office as we continue to grow our Iceni tribe. Their appointments are a signal of our intent to continue expanding our client relationships and grow our presence.”

Graham joins from his own business Urban Roots which he ran for eight years. He was formerly planning and regeneration manager at Cheshire County Council with responsibility for managing spatial planning, development management and design and regeneration teams.

Mawdsley has extensive political experience in both parliament and local government. For a decade, he ran the parliamentary and constituency offices for a Member of Parliament. He has previously served as a councillor in Lancashire where he was Labour Group Deputy Leader and planning and regeneration spokesman.

Mawdsley also spent several years considering planning applications on the planning committee. Through his own consultancy, Evoke Communications,

Chris provided communications and public affairs services to clients in the health, housing and property and development sectors.

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Manchester-headquartered marketing technology brand ResponseTap has strengthened its management team with the recruitment of a head of customer success.

The newly-created position has been filled by Barry Cochrane, who joins the call intelligence specialist with more than 20 years’ customer service experience.

Having begun his career in the insurance sector, he moved to renowned accounting software brand Sage, where he went on to become the senior manager of customer operations.

Following almost a decade with this multinational company, he spent more than seven years supporting the growth of start-up tech firm Just Accounts, where he progressed to the role of customer service director.

Here he acted as the crucial link between the product team and those responsible for optimising client satisfaction, ensuring that greater software usability and support led to improved customer efficiencies and, ultimately, client retention.

Armed with this insight, he has come on board with ResponseTap at a pivotal time in the firm’s expansion.

With more than 2,200 clients, ResponseTap is witnessing growth both in the UK and USA, as marketing departments, digital marketers and contact centres alike invest in the technology to make every call count.

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Chorley-based independent financial adviser True Bearing has hired four new team members.

Michael Hawthorne joins the practice as an independent financial adviser, while Peter Passi has been recruited into the para planning team.

Andrew Green is the company’s new training and competency supervisor and Stephen Bailey has joined the firm’s support team, acting as adviser dssistant.

George Critchley, chairman of True Bearing, said: “Our aim is simple – to deliver good advice and good service to our clients.

“The new team members add to our capability of providing professional, trusted advice by an experienced, qualified and friendly firm. We tailor our service around the individual needs of each client in order to get them the best solutions and we strongly believe in in building long term relationships with our clients.

“These appoints strengthen further, the professional advice True Bearing offers and demonstrate our continued commitment to providing the very best service to our clients.”

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Chorley-based marketing communications agency, The Write Angle (TWA), has expanded its ranks with the appointment of two account executives.

Daniel Hill has four years’ in-house experience in several industries and joins the company from a Preston-based professional services firm. He developed an interest in marketing whilst completing his Business Administration degree at the University of Central Lancashire. From this, he went on to complete the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) Level 4 qualification.

Rosie Lulat graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in 2014 with an MA in publishing. She now has more than two years of industry experience, which she gained whilst working in an in-house PR and event management role at the University.

At TWA, the pair will be working across the mix of the firm’s B2B and B2C accounts.

Hill said: “I’m really excited to be joining a dynamic and growing team that really goes above and beyond for their clients. TWA really stood out to me because of its culture and growth plans and I look forward to take on new challenges and experiences at the agency.”

Lulat added: “I’m thrilled to be joining the team and I can’t wait to get stuck in. I know that TWA will give me the experience needed to move ahead with my career.”

Julie Cheston, managing director at TWA, commented: “This is an exciting time for us. We’re delighted that Dan and Rosie are now part of the team and plan to recruit for further roles as our client portfolio continues to grow.”