People on the Move: BGF; PHD; CTS; M247; Beech Developments
BGF, an investor in UK and Ireland growing companies, has appointed Spencer Woods as an investor in its Manchester office.
Spencer joins most recently from Wheatsheaf Group – part of the Grosvenor Estate – where he held the role of senior investment and portfolio manager, taking a lead on M&A activity, guiding strategy and monitoring the performance of the portfolio.
In his time at Wheatsheaf Group he undertook an operational role within a portfolio company and was seconded to the US for six months to support the establishment of Wheatsheaf’s first US office.
Prior to this Spencer trained at PwC in Manchester, becoming an assistant director in the corporate finance team.
His role at BGF will see him working across all areas of the investment process, from initial meetings with entrepreneurs and management teams, through to deal completion and continuing to actively work alongside portfolio businesses in the region after completion.
Spencer said: “BGF has built an excellent reputation in the market for supporting high quality, growth businesses and the success stories in the portfolio reflect this.
“It’s fantastic to be joining a talented team after a period of record growth and I look forward to working in partnership with management teams in the region to help them achieve their growth ambitions.”
BGF’s team in the North West has now invested more than £230m across 24 businesses since it launched in 2011.
Most recently, the team announced a £3.5m investment into Manchester FinTech business Planixs, which recently ranked 22nd overall in the Sunday Times Tech Track 100.
This comes after BGF experienced a record year in the North West in 2018 with new investments including Mission Mars, Evoke Creative and Miss Group.
Neil Inskip, head of BGF’s Manchester office, said: “It’s great to be welcoming Spencer to the team in Manchester to strengthen our presence in the North West. He brings an excellent investment track record and the proven ability to add value to portfolio companies.”
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Omnicom Media Group’s PHD has appointed Hannah Savage as strategy director for the agency’s Manchester office following a period of significant growth.
Savage, who has 10 years’ experience in online and offline media strategy and emerging technology development, joins the agency from Havas Canada in Toronto, where she was formerly VP of communications and digital marketing strategy.
She has worked with a wide range of brands throughout her career, including the BBC, MoneySupermarket, Expedia, Nando’s and American Express.
“Hannah’s solid background in media planning and hands-on experience delivering integrated strategies for challenger brands and blue-chip clients make her a perfect fit for our rapidly expanding team,” said Jon Kershaw, managing director of PHD Manchester.
Hannah Savage
“With our agency doubling in size over the past 12 months, her focused leadership will allow us to continue providing the brilliant media thinking that PHD has become known for.”
In her new role Savage will be responsible for leading online and offline strategy across PHD Manchester’s entire client portfolio, including several recent new business wins, as well as championing PHD’s proprietary Rhythms approach, which leverages data to helps brands reveal key opportunities to connect with their core audiences.
“PHD’s culture and investment in intelligent, planning-based strategy was a huge draw for me,” said Savage.
“Most brands are missing out on key opportunities to engage with audiences because of a disconnect between strategy and the data available. By following the data, we’re able to create authentic connections between brands and their consumers.”
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Manchester-based Cloud Technology Solutions (CTS) has appointed a new chief sales officer as the company continues to experience strong growth.
Paul Glover has joined the cloud technology and machine learning specialist, bringing with him a vast wealth of experience following senior sales roles at Google and Microsoft.
He enjoys a stellar reputation for implementing transformative digital technology to leading brands, including ASOS, Heathrow, The Met Police, Vanquis Bank, NBrown, Morrison’s, Bede, The Hut Group and JD Sports.
Paul said: “My new role at CTS has come at a really exciting time, with more and more businesses looking to unlock the potential of cloud technology, machine learning and AI. There is a growing recognition that this technology can help businesses turn around their fortunes.
Paul Glover
“I can’t wait to get started, working as part of a hugely talented team to help both our existing and prospective clients realise the benefits of digital transformation.”
James Doggart, chief executive of CTS, said: “We are dedicated to be recruiting the best talent to the CTS team and Paul’s vast experience makes him a valuable addition.
“His previous experience will prove invaluable as we look to extend our offering across the industry sectors where cloud technology, and especially machine learning, can have a truly transformative impact.
“We are looking forward to an exciting future as we continue to innovate and grow. The addition of Paul, combined with our recent merger with machine learning and data science specialist Qlouder, are key components of our growth strategy.”
Paul’s appointment follows the employment of 12 top graduates in January as part of CTS’ investment in cloud infrastructure, data science and machine learning.
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M247, a global provider of super-fast internet connectivity and network infrastructures, has welcomed hosting and cloud solutions architect Greg Hudson to its fast growing team.
Bringing 22 years’ cloud computing and technology experience to his new role, Greg will be helping the business deliver enterprise-grade infrastructure as a service solution (IaaS) to new and existing customers.
Greg joins M247 from Synapse360, providers of virtual IT infrastructure solutions, where he was a technical architect, working with large enterprise class customers and big brands such as VMWare, Dell EMC and Cisco.
Hudson joins M247 as it experiences an exciting period of growth.
With growing demand for its cloud service offerings, the company has recently doubled its footprint at Manchester Science Park and also opened a new, bigger office in London.
Greg Hudson
Rebranding as M247 last year, the company now employs more than 250 people in Manchester, London and Bucharest.
Hudson said: “It’s an exciting time to be joining M247. Having heavily invested in our infrastructure, our customers are already benefiting from unrivalled connectivity speeds and the strength of our global network.”
Chief executive Jenny Davies said: “Greg is a very welcome addition to our Manchester team as we continue to strive to deliver customer excellence. He brings a wealth of experience to this role and will help us take our cloud services offering to the next level.
“He’s already got off to a flying start with his plans to standardise some of our vendor relationships and has introduced us to a number of cost saving initiatives.”
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Conwy-based construction firm Beech Developments has announced the return of Jason Mcgee as its new operations manager.
Jason, who has worked in the industry for more than 25 years, returns to Beech following the passing of four successful planning applications which will see more than 290 homes built in Llandudno Junction, Sychnant Pass, Caernarfon and Deganwy.
Jason, a Welsh-speaker from Caernarfon, will be responsible for safety, quality, programme and the development of the contracting arm of all Beech sites which will employ many local contractors, including apprentices
Beech Developments managing director Matthew Gilmartin said: “It’s great to have Jason back on the team at such a pivotal and important time for Beech Developments.
“His leadership, skills and knowledge are important for overseeing projects and bringing developments to fruition and it’s a pleasure to have someone of his calibre on our team.”
After starting out as a bricklayer Jason quickly rose to become a lead member of senior teams as a site manager for some of the best homebuilders in the North West and North Wales.
He said: “I’m looking forward to being able to support the construction team to achieve their goals, whilst achieving my own headline targets at the same time.”
Jason Mcgee
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