People on the Move: Ward Haddaway; User Conversion; C&C Catering Engineers; Irwin Mitchell; Four Recruitment
Law firm Ward Hadaway has welcomed the next generation of talent through its doors as 14 new trainees join the firm this month.
The trainees will take seats in the firm’s commercial, litigation, real estate, corporate, employment and housing teams across its three offices in Manchester, Newcastle and Leeds this month.
They are Nicole Axon, Fatima Baig, Florence Banister, Benjamin Blatch-Hanlon, Jonathon Booth, Isabelle Cernis, Rebecca Coates, Alex Howarth, Anna Jackson-Smith, Kerry McFarlane, Lucy Melville, Patrick Sowter, Claire Turner and Vanessa Saleh.
Anna Jackson-Smith will join Manchester’s real estate team.
Anna attended the University of Warwick and knew she wanted to become a solicitor after a work placement when she was just 16.
She said: “I’m looking forward to working in a job that is challenging and different every day.
“I’d say to anyone thinking of a career in law to attend as many open days as possible and never say no to a networking opportunity.”
Martin Hulls, managing partner of Ward Hadaway and senior partner, Jamie Martin, welcomed the new trainees to the firm on their first day at a social get together.
Martin said: “Jamie and I are delighted to be welcoming so many talented people through our doors.
“We had nearly 400 applications for places this year, so it’s great to see so many young, enthusiastic people keen to start their legal careers with us.”
::
User experience expert Llara Geddes has joined Manchester-based specialist optimisation agency User Conversion as Head of UX.
Llara joins the agency at a pivotal period in its growth and will lead User Conversion’s research and design teams forward as they continue to build on the most successful year to date.
A heavyweight in the industry, Geddes joins from an in-house role leading the UX team at cosmetics company Beauty Bay.
She has over seven years experience in UX and has previously held agency-side UX roles at Amaze and Tayburn, working for clients including Walmart, Hiscox, Princes Foods and Oddfellows.
Before specialising in UX, Llara started out in a physical retail environment at schuh.
Llara Geddes
She progressed from a sales role to customer service, before taking responsibility for digital and social media marketing at the footwear retailer, giving her an holistic view of online and offline user experience.
This skill set will allow Llara to help User Conversion clients understand their customers at a much deeper level.
Founder and head of optimisation strategy, David Mannheim, said: “Having seen Llara work first hand I knew she was perfect for a role to push our UX capabilities from good, to sensational.
“She’s hugely talented and having come into UX from a physical retail background she has a unique ability to think outside the box when it comes to customers’ online behaviour.”
Llara is the latest in a string of senior hires for User Conversion following the appointment of Mark Leach as managing director in July and Adam Lee as head of analytics in April.
She will head up a team of eight UX specialists, servicing some of the UK’s biggest online brands.
Llara said: “I’m delighted to be joining the talented and passionate User Conversion team. Having worked both in-house and agency-side on big website design and build projects, I was attracted to User Conversion because of the opportunity to join a company focused on improvement and iteration.”
Founded in 2015, User Conversion is a specialist user experience and conversion rate optimisation agency working with e-commerce and lead generation businesses to grow their conversion rates and reduce their cost of customer acquisition.
The company uses a robust conversion rate optimisation process, based on their in-depth understanding of user behaviour to deliver significant conversion increases for clients including Papa John’s, Mamas and Papas and Travis Perkins.
::
Queensferry-based C&C Catering Engineers has welcomed husband and wife team Peter and Jo Baulch to the company as it continues to strengthen its team during a period of exciting growth.
With a wealth of industry experience, Peter joins the business as service director, and his wife, Jo, joins as service administration assistant.
Peter Kitchin, Jo Baulch and Peter Baulch
Both Peter and Jo bring years of knowledge to the business, with Peter previously working for some of the best companies in the industry, namely Carford and Gratte.
Growth at the company is supported by the appointments of Peter and Jo Baulch in the service division, as well as the recent additions of David Freeman as group support manager, and Anna Gostiller in the sales department.
Peter Baulch said: “I am thrilled, excited, and proud to have been given the opportunity to join C&C Catering Engineers as their service director, a company with a long-established history of professionalism and excellence within the catering industry, and to work with Peter Kitchin, Ian Berrow, Keith Hartharn and all the staff to develop and grow the service division.”
C&C Catering Engineers managing director, Ian Berrow, said: “We’re delighted to continue strengthening as a business, and I couldn’t think of any better people to be welcoming on board than Peter and Jo.
“We look forward to achieving bigger and better things together, and are excited to further establish our service offering.”
Peter Kitchin, managing director of The C&C Group, added: “Peter is one of the most well respected technical guys in our industry, and it’s a real coup for us that he has come on board, and also as a team with his wife, Jo. We are thrilled that they have joined us.”
::
Irwin Mitchell has announced the appointment of Jaime Padron as a solicitor in the firm’s number one ranked personal injury team in Manchester, with Jaime sitting in the international serious injury team.
The specialist international personal injury team in Manchester was established in March last year and has grown from just one member to five, with future growth anticipated. Jaime joins as the team’s third qualified solicitor.
After graduating in Law from De Montfort University in 2007, Jaime held numerous travel litigation roles before embarking on his training at BLM. Upon completion of his training, Jaime moved to Slater & Gordon before joining Irwin Mitchell.
The most recent independent Legal 500 UK Guide and Chambers UK Guides to the best lawyers in the country ranked Irwin Mitchell’s Manchester’s personal injury team as number one in the region.
Speaking about his appointment, Jaime said: “I’m excited to join Irwin Mitchell. The firm is the clear market-leader in personal injury and the international serious injury department has a reputation as a dynamic and leading team which puts the care of its clients first.
“The people we help are those who have decided to travel abroad for whatever reason, and have suffered serious, life-changing injuries and losses as a result of negligent, often foreign, third parties.
“These victims are in need of access to essential rehabilitation and deserve justice. I am delighted to join a team with so much focus on its clients, and getting them results. It enjoys an exemplary reputation and I hope to contribute towards it.”
The international serious injury team at Irwin Mitchell has more than 20 years of experience helping victims of serious injury or illness abroad to gain justice.
Jaime Padron
It has won more than £350m in damages for injured victims and for the families of those killed abroad, including record awards for some individual clients.
Involved in a number of high-profile cases, the hugely experienced national team has represented victims and the families of those killed in incidents including The Herald of Free Enterprise, Al Dana Dhow and Costa Concordia disasters, and a catalogue of other notable cases.
The team currently represents the families of 22 victims killed in the terrorist attack in Sousse Tunisia in June 2015, as well as nearly 50 injured survivors.
Cheryl Palmer-Hughes, a senior associate solicitor who leads the team in Manchester, said: “I am delighted to welcome Jaime to the team. He has a vast knowledge of the region mixed with good experience of international cases which will help further improve our service in the area.”
Irwin Mitchell’s Manchester office recently moved to new premises in St Peter’s Square and covers all areas of law from private client, personal injury and business legal services.
::
Specialist recruitment company, Four Recruitment, has announced the appointment of Phill Carlin, a finance director with a wealth of experience.
Phill will work closely with owners Phil & Claire Sofield to help guide and support the company and its growth aspirations over the coming years.
The company, based in Bolton, recruits finance and HR professionals across the North West region.
Phill is a seasoned financial director, operating at board level within a number of businesses, sectors and countries.
As part of the FD Financial Resource business, he is now working with several SME businesses across the UK, supporting and guiding them to ultimately achieve their goals and aspirations.
Phill said: “I am delighted to be working with Four, I’ve known Phil and Claire for a number of years, and have always been impressed with their approach to recruitment.
Phill Carlin, left, and Phil Sofield
“I have looked on with admiration on what they have achieved over the past 10 years.
“I am very much looking forward to using my experience, and in particular my knowledge, within this sector to help Phil & Claire fulfill their ambitions for Four Recruitment.”
Four was founded in 2008 and employs 20 staff.
Operations director and founder, Phil Sofield, said: “There have certainly been some challenges over the last 10 years, but these are exciting times for Four. We have ambitious growth plans and Phill will help us to achieve these over the next few years.
“I’m delighted to welcome him to the fold, we’ve watched his career with interest over the past 10 years, as a candidate we’ve assisted him in a number of FD roles with our clients.
“We’re really looking forward to working with him as we look to realise our ambitions as a business over the coming years.”
