People on the Move: Absurd; Roger Hannah; Petrico; Christie & Co; BCO

Mark Carrington

Absurd, the Manchester-based design agency, has further strengthened its management team with the appointment of Mark Carrington as programme director.

He will lead the agency’s operations across its global client base.

The appointment follows a string of client wins and several new hires since its launch in May last year.

The agency has seen rapid growth, recently moving to Princess Street to allow space for the further expansion of its team.

It counts Brother, Miami Cocktail and Walo International among its clients.

Mark, who joins Absurd from Epam Systems where he was director of project management, brings with him extensive experience gained in previous roles with Ebay, TMW, iris Worldwide and Great Fridays.

Oli Taylor, co-founder of Absurd, said: “With our global client base continuing to grow, Mark brings valuable experience and expertise that will further strengthen our management team as we expand – Mark’s appointment represents our continued focus on finding the very best talent available in the industry, a core commitment to our clients.”

Mark said: “Absurd has seen impressive growth to date and I look forward to working with Oli, Sam and Oliver to continue that trajectory.

“The agency has made a number of top flight new hires since launching and I look forward to joining what is an incredibly talented team at such an exciting time for the business.”

With an advisory board spanning the UK and US, and which includes former Great Fridays CEO, Rob Noble, the team is working to ambitious growth projections over the coming 12-18 months.

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Roger Hannah & Co has expanded the lease advisory team with the appointment of Claire Matthews as a graduate surveyor.

Claire Matthews

Claire joins the company having graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Philosophy and successful completion of a Master’s Degree in Real Estate from The University of Sheffield.

This follows on from the recent promotion of Demetri Papaioannou.

The new appointments showcase the growth the team has experienced over the last few years which is reflected in the strong performance in this sector, acting on behalf of both landlords and tenants of commercial properties.

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Sandbach-based Petrico, the global supplier of fuel and lubricant additives, is restructuring its board and increasing the size of its sales team in response to a period of significant growth and expansion across Europe.

The changes, which take effect October 1, include Christer Johansson assuming the role of chairman, with Phil Walter rotating out of that position and taking over as company secretary.

Several new sales positions have also been created to manage and develop key European markets.

“We are in a period of rapid growth, particularly in the UK, France, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands,” said managing director Andrew Lamb.

“The structural changes were necessary to ensure that Petrico continues to provide the highest levels of customer service.

“They also preserve our vision to become the leading independent pan-European supplier of speciality products, additives and packages into the lubricants and fuels markets.”

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Specialist business property adviser, Christie & Co, has appointed Alistair Greenhalgh to the role of director.

Based in the Manchester office, Alistair will specialise in the hotels market, drawing upon expertise gained from working with market-leading companies within the sector.

An experienced broker, prior to joining Christie & Co, Alistair held the position of director at Lambert Smith Hampton, specialising in the sale and acquisition of trading hotels and investments, operator searches and forward funding commitments for hotel developments.

Alastair said: “Having successfully built a career in the hotels sector, most recently at Lambert Smith Hampton, and prior to that at JLL, I’m excited to bring both extensive experience and excellent industry contacts to Christie & Co.

Alistair Greenhalgh

“The company already enjoys a strong reputation throughout the region, and I’m looking forward to developing this further.”

Nick Brown, North West regional director, said: “We are delighted to welcome Alistair to the Christie & Co team.

“With his extensive insight into the hotels market across the North West, as well as his record of transacting numerous high-profile deals across both single asset and portfolio agreements, we are confident that he will be instrumental in driving forward business throughout the region.”

Christie & Co reported a combined value of hotel transactions totalling £4.5bn in 2017, with an increase in offers on hotels of 38% over the same period.

Market predictions suggest that with a 4.7% year-on-year change in RevPAR (revenue per available room), growth should be maintainable through the remainder of 2018.

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The British Council of Offices (BCO) has added half a dozen new members to its Northern Committee – taking the total under recently-appointed chairman Phil Doyle to 18.

The new additions come from some of the property industry’s most well-established outfits, including Bruntwood and sustainable architects Cartwright Pickard.

Following his appointment in February, Phil pledged to boost committee membership and drive forward diversity on the committee to ensure the voice of women in property was heard.

The addition of Michelle Parr from PwC is set to be an important step in achieving this, as Phil says: “It’s great to welcome a slew of new members as BCO’s Northern Committee continues to expand.

“Our new members will ensure that our committee is even more inclusive going forward, and will hopefully inspire the next generation of property professionals to take up membership with the BCO.

Phil Doyle

“We’re delighted to add such a variety of experts to our committee, and look forward to seeing how their input will help take our committee from strength to strength – especially with the help of Michelle, alongside whom we’re excited to amplify women’s voices and encourage more female property specialists to get on board.”

The new recruits also increase the geographic spread of members with representation from Newcastle to Belfast, with Manchester, Sheffield and Leeds in between.

The Northern Committee represents the interests of all those who occupy, design, build, own or manage offices in towns and cities in the North of England, including Liverpool, Salford, Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle. Members include architects, lawyers, surveyors, financial institutions and public agencies.

The full list of new committee members is: David Porter – Knight Frank (real estate consultancy); Michelle Parr – PwC (professional services firm); Adam Tillis – Bruntwood (retail and commercial property company); Peter Cartwright – Cartwright Pickard (research-led architecture practice); Darren Newlove-Hill – Ardmac (construction and fit-out specialists); Erland Rendall – Atorus (project management consultancy).

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