People on the move: Hill Dickinson; Mills & Reeve; Absurd; Hall Brown Family Law

Law firm Hill Dickinson has announced the appointment of Gavin Jones as a partner within the firm’s restructuring and insolvency team in Manchester.

He was previously the national head of business restructuring at DWF, and returns to Hill Dickinson having worked as an associate at Hill Taylor Dickinson between 1993-97.

His appointment is effective as of January 2018. Gavin will be working closely with head of restructuring Paul Spence to further expand the restructuring and insolvency team nationally and drive growth across the firm’s UK offices in Manchester, London and Liverpool.

Jones is a highly-regarded practitioner within the restructuring and insolvency sector, with more than 25 years’ experience in both transactional non-contentious work and insolvency litigation.

His practice focuses on acting for banks, asset-based and other secured lenders, as well as accountants specialising in corporate recovery and restructuring work.

He has particular expertise in distressed law firms and professional and financial services firms, including private equity and corporate finance.

In his previous role Jones was the lead partner in the high-profile compulsory liquidation of SSI Steelworks in Redcar between 2015 and 2017, acting for the Insolvency Service.

He is also qualified as a licensed insolvency practitioner, with two decades’ experience in this capacity.

Jones said: “I’m pleased to re-join Hill Dickinson at this exciting time for the firm as it further expands its business services offering. We anticipate a strong growth in opportunities in the restructuring sector as Brexit influences how businesses organise themselves. I look forward to bringing my experience to bear to meet this challenge on behalf of Hill Dickinson’s clients.”

David Chinn, partner and head of business services at Hill Dickinson, said: “Gavin is an extremely valuable addition to our business restructuring practice. He brings a wealth of experience and contacts which will be invaluable as we drive growth in this area. I look forward to working with him to meet growing client demand both here in Manchester and across the UK.”

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The Manchester office of Mills & Reeve has been appointed Vicky Protano to its corporate team.

Protano has joined the firm as a principal associate from JMW in Manchester. She advises a range of clients from owner-managed businesses and management teams to large corporates on a full spectrum of transactions including acquisitions and disposals, private equity transactions and restructuring as well as general corporate governance matters.

Chris Ross, a partner in the corporate team in Manchester, said: “It is a busy time for the Mills and Reeve Manchester team, with a number of exciting projects and transactions on the horizon, and I am delighted to welcome Vicky on board who will be a great addition to the team.”

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Absurd, the Manchester based digital studio, has kicked off 2018 with the appointment of a non-executive director Rob Noble.

Noble was founder and chief executive of Great Fridays prior to its acquisition by EPAM Systems in October 2014, where he held the role of vice president until June of 2017.

Since its launch last year by co-founders Oli Taylor, Sam Gooch and Oliver Bailey, Absurd has grown rapidly.

Having been colleagues at some of the UK’s leading agencies during the past eight years, the three made the decision to combine their respective skill sets – design, technology and client services – to create Absurd, focusing on delivering outstanding service and differentiating itself via the use of service design to create compelling customer experiences.

Noble joins Absurd as strategic adviser to the board. As a founder of Great Fridays, a core service design agency, his knowledge and experience will be invaluable to the business as it continues to grow.

Noble said: “The vision Oli, Sam and Oliver have for Absurd very much aligns with the experiences I had building my own companies. The loyalty, authenticity and courage they possess will serve them very well and I’m looking forward to using my 20 years’ experience to support Absurd as the business grows.”

Oli Taylor, co-founder of Absurd, said: “2017 was an incredible first year – we’ve brought on board a host of great clients with really forward-thinking briefs that have challenged the team and allowed us to deliver excellent solutions.”

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Hall Brown Family Law, based in Manchester has recruited Emma Godefroy as its 14th fee earner and 22nd member staff, arriving from Slater & Gordon.

Last month, founding partners Sam Hall and James Brown announced that they had established a London office in order to deal with a “significant” rise in cases involving couples based in the South East of England.

Brown, who is Hall Brown’s managing partner, added that the firm was in the process of taking another major step forward by applying for the right to offer training contracts.

He said: “This is a thoroughly exciting period for us with expansion in our staff numbers, the number of cases which we’re dealing with and the geographical territory which those cases span.

“In making any appointment – whether it is someone very senior or less so – our emphasis is on not just maintaining but raising the standards which we have set.

“Emma’s recruitment is a coup for our firm as she is highly thought of and someone who will undoubtedly add to the existing capabilities of our team.”

Godefroy, who hails from Ulverston in the Lake District but lives in Preston, obtained a frst class law degree from Liverpool University before being awarded a distinction on the Legal Practice Course at the University of Law in Manchester.

Although she only qualified as a solicitor last year, she has already built up experience handling complex domestic and international financial matters, cohabitation disputes and child arrangement matters.