People on the Move: Foundations; Baines Wilson; pro-manchester; Clarke Willmott; Altitude Group

Foundations, Liverpool City Council’s housing company, has appointed two leading housing and regeneration experts to help oversee the delivery of thousands of new homes across the city over the next decade.

Launched in 2018, Foundations intends to build and renovate some 10,000 homes in the city over the next 10 years in a sweeping £1bn investment programme.

The company has appointed Charles Jarvis as its new deputy chief executive, who brings more than 15 years’ experience within the housing and regeneration sector.

Charles was the assistant director of market intelligence for the English regulator of social housing, Homes and Communities Agency, formerly the Tenants Service Authority.

Prior to that, he was the deputy director of the Manchester Salford Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder and worked for Manchester City Council in various strategic, analytical and regeneration delivery in East Manchester.

Charles is a board member at Arawak Walton Housing Association and has successfully overseen the organisation’s growth from 1,000 to more than 1,200 homes during the past six years.

Foundations has also recruited Sandra McCaughley as business development director.

Sandra has 20 years’ experience in regeneration and has worked on many key regeneration projects across the city, including Liverpool One. She also led the programmes team investing more than £60m in the transformation of Liverpool city centre.

Sandra, who has an MA in civic design, joins Foundations from the voluntary sector and is also a director of United Utilities Trust Fund.

Foundations is the flagship housing policy for the Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, who wants to use the company to rebalance the city’s social housing stock, revolutionise the rent-to-buy sector, and drive up council tax receipts for the council.

Mark Kitts, chief executive of Foundations, said: “We are delighted to welcome Charles and Sandra to the Foundations team, who bring with them valuable expertise and experience that will help to guide our progress over the coming years.”

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Baines Wilson has made two further appointments to its commercial property team.

Kathryn Dean joins as an associate and Lucie Barnes, an experienced specialist in property litigation, joins as associate, taking the total number of commercial property specialists to 11.

Baines Wilson says it now boasts the most experienced commercial property team in the county.

Having worked with developers, landowners and housing associates, Kathryn Dean has wide-ranging experience in all types of commercial property transactions.

Lucie Barnes specialises in landlord and tenant litigation as well as disputes about land and real estate. Her extensive experience in litigation has enabled the firm to add to its offering for both new and existing clients.

Lucie Barnes, left, and Kathryn Dean

Sean Logue, head of commercial property, Baines Wilson, said: “Our commercial property department continues to go from strength to strength, so we’re very pleased to add someone as experienced as Kathryn Dean to the team.

“In terms of property litigation, unfortunately such disputes are all too common and so to have a specialist like Lucie Barnes join us is not just fantastic news for the firm, but for Cumbria as a whole.

“Expert advice is essential if a dispute is to be resolved quickly, effectively, and with minimum disruption to business.”

Baines Wilson has made four new appointments to the commercial property team in the past six months to meet an increased workload from both new and existing clients.

It has also advised on a number of high profile transactions, including the sale of Penrith’s historic George Hotel, and the sale of much loved campsites Scotgate Park and Braithwaite Bridges to the Camping and Caravanning Club.

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Nicola McCormick has been promoted to chief operating officer for pro-manchester.

The promotion is the first Sam Booth has made since she became chief executive in September last year.

Formerley events and operations director, Nicola has been with pro-manchester for nine years, and has worked in the events industry for more than 15 years.

Prior to working for pro-manchester, Nicola was head of events for Travel Counsellors. Before this she worked her way up from events assistant to head of events at Manchester agency, Gilds Events, with regular clients including JD Williams, Bupa and Siemens to name just a few.

Nicola McCormick, left, with Sam Booth

Sam Booth said: “I am delighted to recognise Nicola’s hard work and ongoing commitment to pro-manchester with this new appointment.

“Nicola is a hugely important member of the team and I believe she will support the strategy I have created to take the organisation to new heights in the coming years.

“This promotion is the first step in pro-manchester’s plans to expand even further and create a strong and vibrant business community.”

Nicola said: “I am really looking forward to working alongside Sam to develop pro-manchester and the team furthermore.

“It is a pleasure for me to take on this new role and to have the trust from Sam to do so. We already have some exciting plans and look forward to sharing them with our members and board in the coming months.”

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National law firm Clarke Willmott has bolstered its team by welcoming experienced commercial litigation solicitor Geraldine Stephens to its expanding Manchester team.

Geraldine joins Clarke Willmott’s Legal 500-recommended commercial litigation team which specialises in complex commercial contractual claims and director, shareholder and partnership disputes.

Partner John Flint, who heads the team, said: “I am delighted to welcome Geraldine who brings a wealth of commercial litigation experience to our team.

“Our reputation in Manchester continues to grow and I look forward to working with her to further strengthen our position in the market.”

Roy Crozier, head of the Manchester office, said 2019 was shaping up to be an exciting year for Clarke Willmott in Manchester.

“We have a burgeoning profile in Manchester and it is great to have a new talented member of the commercial litigation team to further extend the service we provide to clients.”

Geraldine Stephens

Geraldine has seven years’ experience as a solicitor, including contractual and shareholder disputes, professional negligence, contentious probate and inheritance act claims, landlord and tenant disputes and claims involving discrimination.

She is the current President of Trafford Law Society, a role she has maintained since 2017, and is a representative for the SBA, The Solicitors’ Charity. She was also a legal volunteer for the national charity, the LGBT Foundation for many years.

Geraldine said: “I have only heard great things about Clarke Willmott. It is a leading commercial outfit with a great reputation. I am very much looking forward to working with such a talented and ambitious team in a very progressive firm.”

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Altitude Group, the operator of a leading marketplace for personalised products, has announced that AIM Smarter LLC, its 100%-owned subsidiary, has appointed two experienced promotional product industry operators.

The group, based in Middleton, has welcomed Stacey McConnell and Cathy Cummings to support and accelerate the continued growth of the AIM business acquired by Altitude in January.

Ms McConnell, with more than 20 years’ experience at top 40 distributor companies – including 4imprint and AIA Corporation – was most recently director of marketing & events at Promo Marketing Media Group, responsible for producing events for high revenue producing distributor. She will join the company as vice president of member services.

Ms Cummings has more than 18 years’ experience with 4imprint and AIA Corporation as director of supplier relations & merchandising and most recently spent three years as director of strategic accounts with top 40 supplier company The Magnet Group. She will join the company as head of vendor relations.

Cathy Cummings

Jamie Coggeshall, president of AIM, said: “We are very excited to have both Stacey and Cathy joining the AIM family.

“Their wealth of knowledge and ambition to provide impeccable service to both the distributors and our preferred vendors will further accelerate establishing AIM as a best in class distributor organisation.”

Nichole Stella, chief executive of AIM and Altitude, added: “I have had the pleasure of working with both Stacey and Cathy over the years and they are both incredibly talented and respected.

“It is exciting to be building such a talented team of industry professionals who will immediately enhance our core capabilities.

“I am certain the addition of these two professionals will thrill and delight our members and suppliers, while driving revenue growth.”