People on the move: Myerson Solicitors; Plumlife; Land Law; BLM; Matthews & Goodman

The Myerson team

Altrincham-based Myerson Solicitors has appointed specialist trusts and probate litigator Eleanor Clarke to join its contentious trusts and probate team.

Eleanor is a member of the Association of Contentious Trusts and Probate Solicitors (ACTAPS), and specialises in complex, high-value cases and international disputes.

She joins from Linder Myers and her arrival will boost the size of the dispute resolution and commercial litigation department to 16 lawyers, including six probate litigators.

Helen Thompson, partner and head of the contentious trusts and probate team, said: “I am delighted that Eleanor is bringing her experience to our fast-growing team. Eleanor is a highly experienced probate litigator following an intensive course in this niche area.

“We believe we are now the largest and most qualified team that is solely dedicated to this specialism in the North West.

“The department’s turnover has increased 64% this year and we have enjoyed a 20% increase in instructions, many of those coming from other solicitors, which is the ultimate endorsement of our capabilities.”

She added: “We now have a team of six lawyers solely undertaking this specialist work.

“All our solicitors have either achieved or are working towards the ACTAPS accreditation and are supported by a sizeable non-contentious wills and probate team, all of whom have gained the respected Society for Trusts and Estates Practitioners (STEP) accreditation.”

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Award-winning Plumlife Homes has named Peter Harrison as its new head of sales and marketing.

Peter brings more than 30 years of experience from working in the residential market from estate agency to delivering new build sales.

Plumlife Homes is part of Great Places Housing Group which has been offering homes for more than 20 years across the North West and Yorkshire.

Joining from Equity Housing Group, Peter will lead the 15-strong sales team at Plumlife to deliver and sell shared ownership homes.

Peter Harrison

He will also work closely with Cube Great Places, the private sector arm of Great Places Housing Group on schemes such as the recently launched £21m Arkwright Place scheme.

The 131 two, three and four bedroom detached and semi-detached homes at Arkwright Place, just off Melland Road in Gorton, Manchester, are being sold by Plumlife on behalf of Cube Great Places, and are for outright sale and shared ownership.

Peter said: “Great Places Housing Group is an exceptional organisation and the Plumlife sales team is second-to-none. I’m really looking forward to building on the excellent reputation the Plumlife brand has within the market and helping buyers to achieve their dream of owning a home.”

Peter Bojar, executive director of growth and assets, said: “We believe Peter’s past experience in the private sector will help to further develop and continue the success that Plumlife already has achieved.”

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Louise Belderbos has joined niche property law firm Land Law as an associate partner in the real estate transactions team.

Louise brings a wealth of experience and expertise in all aspects of development, investment and secured lending work and is a welcome addition to Land Law’s transactions team, having previously spent more than 10 years as part of the legal department at The Emerson Group where she specialised in residential development work, including land acquisition, site assembly, development funding and infrastructure matters.

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BLM, the commercial law and insurance risk specialist, has continued to grow its commercial advisory and private wealth team with three senior appointments.

James Beresford joins the commercial advisory and private wealth team as a partner, while partner Jonathan Askin, an expert in non-contentious commercial law, joins alongside partner Daniel Jones, a specialist in family law for high net worth private clients.

James Beresford

BLM’s commercial advisory and private wealth group has had a successful period of significant growth securing more than 25 new clients following its launch in January 2018.

The 40-strong team has advised a number of national household names including Radisson SAS Hotels, the Bank of England and Black & Decker.

James has an established background in dealing with the administration of complex estates and advising clients on estate planning matters including the drafting of wills and lasting powers of attorney.

He is a wealth preservation specialist and assists clients with inheritance tax planning and business owners on succession planning.

The addition of James to the commercial advisory team extends the firm’s ability to execute a multi-disciplinary approach and to continue to target nationwide growth.

Specialising in advising healthcare, TMT, public and third sector clients, Jonathan Askin brings significant experience in contract law, procurement and public sector commercial matters. Prior to joining BLM, Jonathan has worked with the UK Government, Public Health England and as a commercial partner at Weightmans.

Daniel Jones adds to the team’s recently established private wealth offering, following the appointment of James Beresford earlier in May 2018, and will head up its family law portfolio in England and Wales.

He has extensive experience in dealing with complex financial matters relating to divorce and civil partnerships, particularly in matters involving business and overseas assets, as well as a particular emphasis on the relocation of children within or outside of the UK and child abduction concerns.

Welcoming the new partners, senior partner Matthew Harrington said: “The early success of the commercial advisory and private wealth team on joining us reflects our successful multi-disciplinary approach.

“The new team is an important part of our firm-wide diversification and critical to our vision of providing innovative and comprehensive client services.”

BLM has 13 offices across the UK and Ireland, including Leeds, Liverpool, London and Manchester.

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Manchester and Liverpool-based commercial property specialist, Matthews & Goodman, has appointed an experienced valuer to the position of senior associate.

Operating from the company’s Manchester office, Richard Moreton brings with him 14 years’ experience working for the North West’s largest multi-disciplinary firm, GVA.

In his new role at Matthews & Goodman, Richard will provide a wide range of valuation advice across all asset classes for loan security, accounting and viability purposes.

Richard Moreton

“Having worked for a large firm, I felt the time was right to move to a specialist operation which offers me the opportunity to make a greater impact on the firm and use the knowledge and experience I have amassed over the last 14 years to help the business grow and achieve its aspirations” said Richard on his appointment.

“Matthews & Goodman is a smart operation where the owners play an active role in the business and the company is doing a lot under the radar in the North West’s active property market, so the opportunity really appealed to me.”

Commenting for Matthews & Goodman, Graham Cooke, partner said: “I know that Richard will make a profound difference to our team of Northern valuations specialists because of the depth of his professional knowledge and expertise, as well as his commercial understanding.

“Richard will work closely with the younger members of the team to help nurture them and build up a portfolio of work.”

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