People on the move: Napthens; GVA; Hibberts Solicitors; Assetz Capital

Regional law firm Napthens continues its growth in Cumbria with the appointment of a commercial property solicitor in its Kendal office.

Daniel Coll joins the team, bringing wide ranging expertise in property issues, with a particular focus on the purchase of commercial premises, the purchase of land for small developments, and drafting and reviewing commercial leases.

Coll qualified as a solicitor in 2014, and studied at Lancaster University and BPP Law School in Manchester.

He joins Napthens at a time of growth and plans for further development in Cumbria. The firm is particularly known for its strength in property legal services including commercial, construction, residential and rural.

Recently Jamie Allison, the firm’s head of Real Estate, was named head of Cumbria to lead the firm’s growth strategy in the area.

He said: “Daniel is a welcome addition to the Commercial Property team at an exciting time for us here in Cumbria.

“There is no doubt Napthens is now firmly established in the Cumbria business community and we are keen to build on this reputation and continue our growth in the region.

“We expect Daniel to be the first of a number of new additions to the team this year, as we continue to recruit across our services in the coming months.”

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GVA has boosted its Liverpool team with the addition of two new graduates, making it the commercial property agency with the largest number of graduates in the city.

New starter, Remi Smith, who is enrolled on a real estate masters course at Liverpool John Moores University, is working with the agency teams and currently assisting the office and industrial team. John Gration has joined as part of the valuation consultancy team, with clients including large high street banks, as well as public and private sector investors.

Smith and Gration join fellow graduates Jennifer Mallon, Jack Nield and Ben Woodcock, bringing the total number of graduates based in the No. 4 St Paul’s Square office up to five.

The addition of Smith and Gration follow the recent promotion of James Ratcliffe, who joined the Liverpool office in a graduate role in 2013 and is now an associate, working from the agency’s Leeds base.

Stephen Cowperthwaite, regional senior director in GVA’s Liverpool office, said: “We’re committed to investing in the future of the business and for us that means nurturing junior members of the team, so that they can progress. We continue to have a diverse range of skills and developing talent within the office which is extremely important.

“Our graduate retention rates across the business are high and James is a fantastic example of a highly talented individual who has gone from strength to strength in GVA and is forging a successful career for himself as part of our Northern offering.

“Remi and John are fantastic additions to the team, bringing with them fresh perspectives and an eagerness to learn more about the market, which is always encouraging to see.”

As well as Liverpool, GVA has offices in London, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle.

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Hibberts Solicitors has consolidated its team with the appointment of two new solicitors.

Chris Porter and Oliver Lewis have joined this month bringing with them an abundance of legal expertise.

Porter, a commercial solicitor, and Fellow of the ALA (Agricultural Law Association) was head of commercial property at his previous firm. Lewis trained with the NFU (National Farmers’ Union) before moving to Hibberts’ Nantwich, Cheshire branch.

Joining the Whitchurch branch, Porter is bringing his knowledge in the commercial sector which includes dealing with high net-worth individuals, acting for FTSE 100/250 companies and handling a number of high profile commercial property transactions.

This included a number of leases at the Trafford Centre and a nationally important infrastructure project based in Cheshire.

Lewis has joined as a solicitor in the Agricultural department after completing his training contract with the NFU. Brought up on an arable farm in Shropshire, Oliver has a keen interest in the farming industry and agricultural policy, and joined Hibberts because of its renowned reputation in providing a quality service to people and businesses involved within the agricultural and rural community.

Stewart Bailey, managing partner at Hibberts commented: “We are thrilled to welcome two excellent solicitors to our team. Together they have a wealth of knowledge which will strengthen their respective departments.”

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Rapidly growing peer-to-peer lender Assetz Capital has appointed three new starters to increase deal flow in the North West and South Yorkshire regions.

Karl Kent joins from Lloyds Bank where he spent two years working as a relationship director as part of the wider East Midlands and South Yorkshire real estate team.

This followed a 20-year spell at RBS in a similar role, supporting existing and new clients in the property sector. Working as a remote relationship director, he will take ownership of the South Yorkshire region.

Jason Roper also joins Assetz Capital as a relationship director for the North West region. Prior to this, he worked at Royal Bank of Scotland for 19 years as a relationship director in the Manchester-based real estate finance team.

Roper provided commercial, residential and development finance to new and existing customers in the property finance space.

In their new roles, the relationship directors will be responsible for dealing with finance requests from SMEs and constructing facilities that meet the needs of potential clients.

In addition, David Hardman has taken on the role of credit manager, and will be responsible for credit sanctioning. He previously spent 35 years at Natwest/RBS, where he took on various roles including credit manager in Manchester and Leeds, as well as a relationship director on the real estate finance team.

Assetz Capital chief executive Stuart Law said: “These appointments follow another hugely successful year in 2017 as we continue to grow strongly.

“We continue to attract highly experienced team members to handle the high level of enquiries that our competitive offering is generating.

“With companies across the country increasingly looking at peer-to-peer as a viable funding solution, we continue to strengthen our team with the appointments of relationship directors in the wider regions as well as continue to grow our credit team.”