People on the Move: CMS; Visualsoft; Forbes Solicitors; Key Partnerships; KBL Solicitors
CMS continues its expansion in Manchester by further strengthening its real estate practice with the hire of three new lawyers.
Talha Javed, who studied at Kings College London, joins from Squire Patton Boggs.
Talha specialises in residential developments and portfolio management. Outside of work he plays American football, competing in the BAFA Northern Premiership.
Prisca Wharton joins from Blunts Solicitors. She specialises in commercial property transactions and has been involved in a range of developments around the North West.
Prisca holds a Master of Laws degree in International Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation from the University of Warwick.
John Figura read law at the University of Manchester and joins from Eversheds and specialises in real estate transactions. He is heavily involved in Manchester legal and business networks such as the Young Solicitors Group.
CMS Real Estate partner Nathan Jansen said: “Our three new joiners add to the recent expansion of our construction team, which has seen its size quadruple from two to eight in less than a year, and further cements CMS’s reputation as one of the leading advisors to the real estate and construction sector in the city.”
The firm is acting on a large number of the most high profile developments in and around Manchester, including the £850m regeneration of Mayfield, Renaker’s Owen Street/Deansgate Square skyscraper cluster, Far East Consortium’s £1bn Northern Gateway and on the £750m Circle Square redevelopment of the old BBC site – a project for which the firm was recently awarded Property Team of the Year at The Lawyer Awards.
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Visualsoft, the eCommerce and digital agency, has appointed former Reach Plc executive Vikki Hawkins to lead the company’s brand marketing activity as it celebrates 20 years in business.
The new role will see Vikki leading the brand marketing team, with the aim of strengthening and championing Visualsoft, not only in the North but throughout the UK.
Her aim is to build on the agency’s existing success, positioning it as the go-to eCommerce and digital marketing partner for retail clients, potential employees and industry experts.
Vikki Hawkins
Prior to taking up the position Vikki worked for the UK’s biggest publishing group, Reach Plc – formerley Trinity Mirror – for almost 10 years, where she was head of brand and partnerships for the group’s North East region.
Visualsoft, which has a Manchester office, counts a team of 269 digital experts who specialise in the design, build, support and marketing of online stores for retailers across the UK.
Its office in Stockton-on-Tees is currently undergoing a large-scale renovation project to house its rapidly-expanding headcount, with new premises in Newcastle also in the pipeline, too.
Vikki said: “Visualsoft has achieved an incredible amount over the past 20 years and I’ve admired from afar for a long time.
“I’ve got a great team around me and some big ideas to continue developing the company’s brand footprint – so can’t wait to join the journey.”
Dean Benson, Visualsoft chief executive, added: “We’re always incredibly busy helping our clients to grow their brands, but it’s just as important that we practice what we preach.
“Vikki has exactly the right experience and attitude to ensure that Visualsoft continues to grow – she’s stepping into the role at a crucial point in our journey and we can’t wait to see how she develops our marketing to drive that forward.”
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North West legal firm Forbes Solicitors has celebrated success in four categories of The Lex 100’s annual trainee survey by doubling its intake of new trainee solicitors.
The Lex 100 is the most comprehensive assessment of law firm training contracts in the UK and this year gathered more than 2,800 anonymous responses from trainees at 145 law firms across the country.
It has now announced that Forbes is a 2018/19 winner in categories covering job satisfaction, quality of work, client contact and approachability.
Forbes has marked the success with Alexandra Berry, Samantha Abdoollah, Ciaran Rafferty, Alex-Faye Grundy, Daniel Fletcher, Leann Whiteside, Lyndsay Baxter and Georgina Read beginning their solicitor training programme.
From left: Alexandra Berry, Samantha Abdoollah, Ciaran Rafferty, Alex-Faye Grundy, Daniel Fletcher, Leann Whiteside, Lyndsay Baxter and Georgina Read
Forbes employs 320 staff, including 45 partners, at eight offices in Blackburn (2), Accrington, Central Lancashire, Preston, Chorley, Leeds and Manchester.
Stuart Penswick, Forbes partner and training principal, based in Chorley, said: ““We are pleased and excited to have increased our trainee solicitor intake to the eight. This reflects our growth, expansion and ambition of the firm.
“We have been hugely impressed with the calibre of external candidate who have supplemented our talented internal applicants.
“We are very proud of our training programme and have high hopes for each of our new trainees.”
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Key Partnerships, the equity release referral service for equity release specialist Key, has strengthened its senior team with the appointment of Kay Westgarth as national account manager.
Most recently Kay worked as a national sales manager for Paymentshield and worked as a senior manager handling annuities for Prudential.
Her career spans more than 17 years within national sales and account management, including 10 years as a national broker manager for Lloyds Banking Group, where she made a significant impact in driving the business performance of brokers, developing affinity relationships and managing the networks for assets finance division.
Kay Westgarth
At Key Partnerships Kay will be responsible for managing a panel of networks, mortgage clubs and national mortgage brokers and will report directly to Jason Ruse, head of Key Partnerships.
Jason said: “I am pleased to welcome Kay to the team as we look to grow the business and expand our reach within the equity release market.
“Kay’s knowledge and expertise will undoubtedly prove to be beneficial as we continue to build relationships and form effective business partnerships. With the addition of Kay to our team, I know our partners will be in safe hands.”
Kay Westgarth said: “I am absolutely delighted to be joining Key Partnerships at such an exciting time. It’s a fantastic opportunity to help drive customer acquisition, to implement and develop new strategic business relationships whilst optimising opportunities from existing supporters.”
Key Partnerships is a B2B referral service providing a whole of market equity release solution for introducers and their clients, through parent company Key, leading specialist provider of financial solutions to the over-55s.
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Divorce and family law specialist, Ceri Thomas, is the latest recruit to join the growing team at KBL Solicitors.
Ceri joins from Stephensons where she was a senior associate solicitor.
She is an accredited specialist member of Resolution and has more than 13 years’ of experience specialising in divorce, complex financial and property matters and child arrangements.
Ceri said: “I was attracted to KBL by their reputation and their family firm ethos. I am thrilled to have joined the team and I’m really looking forward to being able to build on my previous experience.”
Ceri Thomas
Victoria Melling, partner and head of family law at KBL, said: “We are delighted to welcome Ceri to the firm, she is an excellent family lawyer who brings a range of skills which will complement and strengthen the team.
“Ceri’s appointment is another key part of building a strong family law team as the firm moves into its next phase of growth.
“Ceri will be based at our Bolton office and will be responsible for advising on all aspects of relationship breakdown, in particular, the division of matrimonial assets and arrangements for children following separation of their parents.”
The firm, which has offices in Bolton and Blackburn, focuses on offering specialist, effective advice to businesses and individuals with a commitment to quality and client care.
