People on the move: First Ark; Merseyside Engineering College; Q2Q; Crowd UK; Napthens; BDB
Liverpool-based First Ark’s growing social investments have resulted in the recruitment of two experienced financial services executives.
Paula Brown and Mike Strong join First Ark to build on the £1m-plus the company has delivered for 11 different organisations across the North West.
A further £600,000 in funding is waiting to be approved after applications from four social enterprises across the region.
First Ark is an approved partner of the Invest for Impact Fund, a £4m pot which provides a mixture of loans and grants between £50,000 and £150,000.
First Ark supports charities and social enterprises through the application process to maximise their chances of a successful bid. In addition, First Ark is also an approved Access Point for the Reach Fund, an investment readiness grant programme which provides small grants between £5,000 and £15,000.
Brown will take on the role of investment manager at First Ark after a 30-year career at the Co-operative Bank including time as commercial banking relationship manager and a business development role. A Fellow of the Institute of Financial Services, she will be responsible for promoting awareness of and providing access to the social investment funds offered by First Ark.
Brown said: “I came across First Ark in one of my previous roles at the Co-operative Bank and I’ve retained an interest in the company since then. It’s a unique business model and I’m really looking forward to seeing the positive impact our social investment funds will deliver.”
She will be supported by Strong who has been recruited as business support manager. He joins from HSBC where he worked as a business specialist, supporting new and existing businesses to access the financial products and services they required.
Strong’s new role will see him assist social enterprises in the preparation of business plans and financial projections as well as provide ongoing support to successful applicants in the delivery of social outcomes.
Strong said: “There are some really exciting projects out there and I’m looking forward to guiding them along the way and helping them to deliver lasting social impact in our community. I would encourage anyone who has an idea about how they can deliver positive change to contact us and see how we can help them achieve that.”
Hannah Jones, group head of investment at First Ark said: “Paula and Mike bring a wealth of financial services experience with them and will be invaluable to us and our partners as we continue to deliver positive change and investment.
“We have an excellent record of investing to the benefit of our communities but we are incredibly ambitious and want to do even more and having Paula and Mike as part of our team will enable us to achieve this.”
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Merseyside’s Engineering College is expanding its team of technical tutors after appointing a highly experienced welding specialist.
Brian Bowers takes up the role of welding, fabrication and pipefitting tutor and will be responsible for training new apprentices.
Bowers started his career in Birkenhead serving his apprenticeship at Cammell Laird Shipbuilders between 1983 and 1987, working on submarines and surface warships as a welder. He has since worked with other major UK industry brands including BAE Systems and Airbus-UK based at Broughton.
“It’s terrific to be back on Merseyside working at the Engineering College,” said Bowers. “Having started my career around the corner at Cammell Laird’s shipyard in the 1980s I feel I have come full circle.
“My apprenticeship was a great time in my life and the heritage of shipbuilding and industry in this area is second to none.”
The news comes as the Birkenhead College continues its recruitment drive in a bid to source two more training officers, adding to its team of 38 staff. It is witnessing strong growth with apprentice numbers recently rising to 330. These are drawn from around 90 clients ranging from large private businesses to SMEs operating across multiple sectors including construction, nuclear, petrochemical, renewables, oil and gas, the NHS and maritime.
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Lancaster-based IT support specialist Q2Q has made a hat-trick of key appointments as the company prepares for further growth.
With the business acting as the IT department for SMEs throughout the North West of England, six members of the 10-strong organisation are responsible for all things technical. And three of these colleagues are fresh faces to help bolster the firm’s capacity in this high-demand area.
Ash Williams is a new member of the front line technical support, and often one of the first people a client speaks to when they contact the business with an IT challenge. Working on the same team, Tracy Pollard is a new helpdesk supervisor who will ensure a greater degree of front-of-house liaison.
They are joined by Will Hawkins, who has come on board to provide further back-office IT expertise, ranging from server and PC/laptop builds through to more analytical investigations into technical patterns.
The latest hires mean Q2Q now has more than 130 years’ collective experience providing IT support specifically to UK SMEs.
Q2Q’s managing director Andrew Stellakis said: “We have grown steadily since we were formed in 2004, largely as a result of word of mouth recommendations.
“But as customer numbers have increased so too has our workforce – we’re committed to being resource-rich, so that we can provide clients with utmost peace of mind when it comes to the proactive management of their entire IT needs.
“Now that we’re joined by Will, Tracy and Ash we have even more capacity and capability within our technical team, which is crucial as we attract a greater number of enquiries, and many with more complex requirements.”
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Manchester based property asset advisory firm Crowd UK has appointed former Argent senior project director Angela Fielding as a director.
Crowd UK, which was set up in 2016 by managing director Mark Burgess and fellow director Andy Phillips, provides property management, asset management, investment advice and placemaking services to commercial property developers, landlords and local councils.
Based in Barton Arcade in Manchester city centre, the firm also manages the Victorian Grade II- listed arcade on behalf of Mansford LLP, along with managing assets and advising clients in the north west including U&I, Ask, Capital & Centric, WH Real Estate, Salford City Council and Beaconsfield Estates.
Fielding has spent almost two decades on the North Wwest property scene, 15 of which were with Argent where she held roles including marketing manager for the development of Piccadilly Place and senior project director, holding overall marketing responsibility for all of Argent’s Manchester developments.
As well as Piccadilly Place, during her time at Argent she led on the marketing, brand and enlivenment strategies for Airport City Manchester, The Hive and One St Peter’s Square.
For the last two years, she has been consulting under her own name for clients including Argent, Carillion Developments, BCEGI and Relentless Group. Angela will be joining forces with Burgess and the Crowd UK team with the remit to help grow the business as it approaches its second full year of operation, particularly looking at how to develop the marketing, brand and placemaking services provided to clients.
Burgess said: “Angela is one of the most respected voices when it comes to knowing how to create thriving places. She has demonstrated time and again how to deliver brand strategies and sales and marketing plans for property assets, this is going to prove invaluable to our clients.”
Fielding said: “It’s very exciting to be involved in property in the North West at the moment with investment coming in from London, Europe, the US and Far East. The influx of new developments means that asset managers need to be doing more with their properties to attract the best occupiers, the right consumers and establish their own identities.”
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James Gilbert has joined the employment and HR team at regional law firm Napthens solicitors at its Preston office.
Gilbert, who lives in Blackpool, takes up the role of employment law adviser and will advise clients on a full range of employment matters including drafting contracts, policies and company handbooks, as well as discrimination, disciplinary and grievance issues, and employment tribunal litigations.
The experienced lawyer has advised employers across a range of business sectors but has particular expertise in advising clients in the health and social care sector.
Gilbert graduated from the University of Salford in 2011 with an LLB (Hons) degree in Law. He is also an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives and is studying to become a Fellow of the organisation.
Chris Boyle, head of Employment and HR at Napthens, said: “James is a great addition to the team, with experience our clients will find very useful across the board.”
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Hale, Greater Manchester marketing and communications consultancy BDB has appointed Mike Alty as account director.
With a background in planning and delivering award-winning B2B campaigns with clients across a diverse range of sectors, the new hire bolsters BDB’s strategic offering and integrated services.
Alty joins the consultancy with ten years’ experience in food, agriculture, packaging and biosciences. Holding positions at TBWA, Gyro and most recently, BJL, he has overseen and delivered integrated marketing activity with a strong focus on achieving business outcomes. Mike has worked with a range of global organisations including Tate & Lyle, BASF, Dupont and Elsevier.
Alty will lead a number of the consultancy’s flagship accounts in the medical education and packaging industries. He will continue to develop BDB’s full-service offering and work with clients to bring to life integrated marketing communications campaigns which deliver on both creative and commercial objectives.
He said: “Joining BDB was an easy decision, because of its excellent reputation as a leading B2B consultancy and impressive client base. Since starting, I have been struck by the team’s positive culture and wide range of experience and knowledge. I’m looking forward to contributing to the consultancy’s continued growth.”
Matt Smith, managing director at BDB, said: “To reflect our year of extraordinary growth and new business wins, we are hiring exceptional people to ensure we provide a first-class service to our growing international client base. Mike brings a wealth of B2B experience, particularly in advanced campaign planning, which will support our role as a strategic consultancy. I’m delighted to welcome Mike to the team at such an exciting time for BDB.”
