People on the move: Flat Cap Hotels: RateSetter; UHY Hacker Young; WYG

Flat Cap Hotels has appointed Katy Viner as events and sales manager at The Courthouse Hotel in Knutsford, Cheshire.

Viner brings more than 20 years experience in the hospitality industry into her new role and will focus on driving new sales and creating opportunities for growth at the newly launched hotel.

She has a strong track record in sales, most recently working as wedding, events and reservation manager at Belle Epoque, where she was responsible for dealing with all aspects of weddings and events from initial enquiry to execution.

In addition, Viner has a vast experience working as sales manager for a number of organisations including the Macdonald Portal Hotel and Stock Restaurant in Manchester.

Dominic Heywood, co-founder of Flat Cap Hotel Group, said: “Katy is a great addition to the team here at The Courthouse and brings a fresh perspective that will help us to drive sales, events and conferences at The Courthouse. She has a vast experience in the hospitality sector and I wish her every success with us.”

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Peer to peer platform RateSetter has appointed Dave Bibby to its Manchester-based specialist property development team, RateSetter Property Finance.

In a newly-created role, Bibby will have responsibility for development of RateSetter Property Finance’s business across the North of England.

Bibby has more than 30 years of experience in the banking sector, with 20 years spent specialising in property finance, including 15 years at NatWest and two years at Santander.

Over his career, Bibby has managed lending portfolios worth more than £1bn of client loans, with a particular emphasis on development funding in the residential and commercial property sectors.

He said: “The property finance industry has seen tremendous change over the past few years, with modern sources of finance such as RateSetter offering incredibly fast drawdowns and personal service. I’m excited to play a part in its future growth.”

Neal Moy, RateSetter’s Head of Property Finance, said: “We are delighted that Dave has joined our team. He brings decades of property finance experience and expertise which I am certain will help us expand our customer base in the North of England.”
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Top-15 firm UHY Hacker Young has announced the appointment of Darren Grimes as tax partner in its Manchester office.
Grimes joins the company from DSG in Liverpool, where he spent three years as a director. Prior to that, he spent six years at Deloitte.

He has more than 17 years of experience advising on a wide range of tax issues, with specialist knowledge of advising owner managed businesses on investment and innovation.

Grimes has experience in implementing the Enterprise Investment Scheme tax reliefs for companies raising finance and also helping businesses make R&D claims, both of which will be part of his new role at UHY Hacker Young.

He said: “UHY Hacker Young are leaders in the field of tax and the firm has an impressive reputation both on a national and international scale. The decision to join UHY was an easy one for me.”

Mike Wasinski, managing partner in Manchester, said: “I am really pleased to have Darren on board. He has a wealth of experience in the tax space which will further bolster our existing corporate and personal tax offering.”

Grimes joins existing tax partners Clive Gawthorpe and Sheila Berry boosting UHY Manchester’s tax team leadership to three full time partners.

Meanwhile UHY has made to internal promotions. Zoe Duffy, who joined the company in 1996 as a trainee accountant has become audit director and Jennifer Carline, who arrived in 2014, becomes payroll manager.

Mark Robertson, partner of UHY Hacker Young Manchester, said: “Both Zoe and Jennifer are prime examples of employees who have joined the firm and demonstrated an incomparable work ethic and an impressive commitment to their roles, as well as a strong skill set and determination to succeed.”

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Professional services firm WYG has appointed Matthew Good as planning director (housing & economics) – a newly-created role focussing on housing need and delivery.

Good will lead on objectively assessed housing need work nationally and will also help to grow WYG’s planning business in the north and north west.

Formerly planning manager (Northern Regions) for the Home Builders Federation (HBF), Good represented HBF members’ interests on all aspects of town planning.

He also participated in more than 50 Examinations in public, mainly on issues of housing need and delivery. Before joining the HBF, he worked for three different local authorities in the north in development management, planning policy and community involvement roles.

Good has sat on Local Enterprise Partnership housing boards and has been a key member of the ‘Housing the Powerhouse’ campaign group in Greater Manchester.

WYG planning director Simon Chadwick said: “Matthew will be able to provide our clients with his expertise in relation to housing requirements and objectively assessed need, particularly when it comes to challenging Local Plans and Core Strategies at Examinations. He has a wealth of experience advising house builders on this matter and other relevant areas of planning and we welcome him to our team.”