People on the move: Brooks Macdonald; MSIF; Q2Q

Brooks Macdonald, the investment manager with £11bn in funds under management for clients in the UK and internationally, has announced the appointment of David Mulholland, who joins as a business development manager at the firm’s Manchester office.

Mulholland will be responsible for supporting and developing intermediary relationships throughout the UK. He will also be responsible for promoting the best route to financial advice for vulnerable individuals.

With more than 20 years’ experience working in sales in the financial services industry, Mulholland previously worked as an investment consultant, and at Aviva UK Life and Pensions as a Sales Consultant.

He will report to Simon Wombwell, head of distribution at Brooks Macdonald.

Wombwell, head of distribution at Brooks Macdonald, said: “We are pleased to welcome David to our growing team. His considerable experience and knowledge will be a great asset when developing new relationships with intermediaries and expanding our vulnerable individual’s advice offering.”

David Mulholland, business development manager at Brooks Macdonald, added: “I am excited to join the team at Brooks Macdonald. I look forward to helping the business grow by building relationships with professional and intermediary connections and helping vulnerable individuals secure their future.”

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Liverpool-based MSIF have welcomed Jeff Cummins, who is joining the team as a new portfolio manager.

Cummins will be working alongside portfolio director, Marion Savill. He will be responsible for MSIF’s relationships with businesses where there is an existing equity investment, and will also work on new opportunities alongside the current investment team.

Cummins joins the team from Nat West, after recently completing 38 years of service, having worked in the Liverpool City Region for most of that time.

During his time at Nat West he dealt with most business sectors, including more recently the Motor Trade. He held roles such as regional lending director, covering the Liverpool City Region, Cheshire and North Wales, supporting managers with a drive for new business.

During December, 2017 and into January, 2018, Cummins will be fronting an MSIF Roadshow travelling around the Liverpool City Region, visiting local SMEs and support hubs.

He would like to meet SMEs and entrepreneurs alike who are in the process of searching for or considering funding for their business, or looking to find out more about MSIF, what MSIF does and how MSIF can assist their business.

Lisa Greenhalgh, chief executive of MSIF, said: “I’m really happy to welcome Jeff to the team. He brings with him a great deal of knowledge and contacts and will make a great addition to MSIF.”

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IT specialist Q2Q, headquartered in Handforth, Cheshire has expanded its technical team with a duo of appointments as the firm sets its sights on further growth.

Providing managed IT support to SMEs throughout the surrounding region, the newly created positions will enable the company to continue tackling clients’ often complex IT issues and meet a growing demand for proactive systems support in the region.

Martin Bilton will join the 10-strong team as technical manager, bringing 18 years’ of industry experience to the position. With vast expertise in IT consultancy, end user support and systems management, he will be contributing his technical know-how to helping customers alongside enhancing existing internal procedures and proactivity.

Meanwhile, Phil Irwin will assume the role of technical support analyst. Having provided support for government and legal organisations in previous roles, he has a wealth of knowledge acquired through almost 20 years in IT. Irwin will be assisting clients both remotely and on-site, resolving any issues and helping with new system set-ups.

These latest hires follow the recent expansion of Q2Q’s services to include GDPR assistance, alongside the core portfolio of managed IT support, proactive systems monitoring, cloud management, data recovery back-up and cyber-security protection.

With a 20% revenue increase projected for the 2017/18 financial year, when compared to the last annual figures, a further recruitment drive for customer support experts is already on the horizon for the IT specialist.