People on the Move: Knight Frank; MHA Moore & Smalley; Slater Heelis; Galliford Try Partnerships; RSM
One of Manchester’s most highly regarded investment agents has joined Knight Frank as a partner.
Matthew Stretton joins the firm’s capital markets team with a remit to work with other teams on opportunities for investment and development across the North West.
He joins from Cushman & Wakefield where he led on key deals including the recent acquisition of Amazon’s 330,000 sq ft logistics centre at Logistics North, Bolton by Aviva Investors and Artmax’s acquisition of The Observatory, Manchester for £20.5m
He was responsible for the disposal of the Equitable Building, Manchester, sold on behalf of Bank of Ireland for £13.6m and TH Real Estate’s disposal of JMW’s offices at Spinningfields.
Knight Frank’s head of office, David Porter, said: “It is a real coup to welcome Matt back to Knight Frank – the office where he began his career as a graduate.
“He has a wealth of experience and a portfolio of clients who trust and respect his knowledge and advice. This will be supported by the skills of other Knight Frank teams not just in Manchester but regionally and nationally as we continue to provide considered, informed advice and opportunities to our clients.”
Matt, who also advises on development finance and sales and leaseback said: “I am very happy to be back with the firm where I started my career in property.
“I have a trusted relationship with a number of business associates and clients and look forward to further developing these connections as well as forging new relationships with a wider client base in my new position at Knight Frank. “
His arrival follows a flurry of hires as the Marsden Street office continues to grow.
Business rates specialist David Comer has joined the ratings and leasing team under John Scully, while Nick Coffey has been appointed as a senior surveyor, and second year graduate Bradley Norton joins the industrial team led by partner Rob Taylor.
David Porter said: “We are seeing no decline in activity in any areas of business, with the North West as a whole and Manchester in particular continuing to develop and grow.
“We need the right people to help deliver that growth in the most professional and inventive ways and I am really pleased to have been able to bring these key people into the Knight Frank teams.”
::
North West accountancy and business advisory firm MHA Moore and Smalley has appointed VAT specialist Steven Cosgrove to its team.
Steven joins the firm as a VAT manager from HMRC where he worked for 14 years as a technical specialist.
He will be based at MHA Moore and Smalley’s Preston office as part of the firm’s growing indirect tax presence across the North West.
Steven Cosgrove, left, and Jonathan Main
Steven’s role will involve helping clients with general VAT matters and technical issues, as well as providing advice to businesses on their dealings with HMRC.
Jonathan Main, partner and head of the indirect tax team, said: “VAT is a complex area that many businesses find difficult to comply with. Steven provides us with deep technical expertise, together with an added insight into HMRC, which will undoubtedly help our clients to better manage their affairs and their interactions with HMRC.”
Steven said: “My advice to business owners is to always try to have a strong working relationship with HMRC, and so it was great to see this is also the approach that MHA Moore and Smalley advocates. Our role is to help businesses get it right.”
Jonathan added: “Our specialist tax department is the largest and most experienced in its chosen market with considerable expertise across all aspects of tax. Steven’s appointment is critical to the firm’s strategy to grow a more substantial offering across all indirect taxes.”
::
Manchester law firm Slater Heelis has boosted its corporate team with the hire of specialist commercial solicitor Will Brownlee.
Having graduated in law from the University of Dundee six years ago, Will gained experience as a paralegal in the property and property litigation departments at Addleshaw Goddard before joining Turner Parkinson’s corporate team.
Will began his training contract in 2017, undertaking seats in litigation, commercial property and insolvency and completed an LL.M master’s degree on the GDPR before qualifying as a solicitor in March this year.
Will Brownlee
Simon Wallwork, head of corporate and commercial at Slater Heelis, said: “Slater Heelis has a reputation for helping develop the brightest young legal talent and our partner-led approach is the perfect environment for newly-qualified solicitors to further develop their skills working alongside vastly experienced partners.
“Will stood out as a fantastic solicitor who has already worked at some of Manchester’s largest firms, as well as picking up in-house experience on secondment at Barclaycard.
“This rounded commercial knowledge, combined with excellent legal skills, will see Will deliver exceptional value and benefit to our commercial clients.”
Will is based in Slater Heelis’ Manchester city centre office.
::
Galliford Try Partnerships has appointed Julian Kirk as its first commercial director in the North West.
With more than 30 years’ experience in the housebuilding industry Julian joins from Countryside Properties and will be overseeing the commercial department in the newly-created role.
Julian said: “Galliford Try Partnerships is well established in the North West and I’m delighted to have joined the team. The commercial department will be fundamental to its planned growth.”
Julian has worked for a number of development names across the region including Lovell Partnerships and Crest Nicholson. An experienced quantity surveyor, he also ran his own business for seven years.
Julian Kirk
Prior to joining Galliford Try Partnerships, Julian was divisional commercial director at Countryside Properties, a role which saw him oversee six regions for the business.
At Galliford Try Partnerships he will manage a team of 12, using his experience to help the commercial team drive forward Galliford Try Partnerships’ growth ambitions.
His plans include enabling the North West division to become more competitive, establishing a robust procurement process and long-term supply chain.
Galliford Try Partnerships has a number of construction projects ongoing across the North West with partners including registered providers, local authorities and Homes England.
Julian said: “It’s an exciting time to join Galliford Try Partnerships, taking on a new role in an expanding region. A lot attracted me to the business, particularly that it prides itself on being a supportive employer which empowers its workforce.”
::
Audit, tax and consulting firm RSM has strengthened its Manchester team with 10 new appointments – enhancing the private client, risk assurance, audit, financial reporting advisory, indirect tax and financial due diligence teams.
At director level Adam West and Howard Munson have joined RSM’s private client and risk assurance teams, respectively.
Adam joins from PwC to head up RSM’s private client advisory team in Manchester and across the North West. He brings a wide range of private client experience, advising high net worth individuals, non-doms, entrepreneurs and family businesses.
Howard has been appointed to lead the corporate internal audit and risk assurance services for the North West.
He joins the firm from Deloitte and specialises in internal audit, risk assurance and corporate governance, including advising boards on managing potential risks such as the potential impacts of Brexit.
Amelia Hindle, Louise Cowell and Tony Jaras have joined the firm as associate directors in RSM’s financial reporting advisory and indirect tax teams, respectively.
Amelia brings almost nine years of audit and financial reporting experience from previous roles at Marks and Spencer and BDO.
Louise joins from Deloitte where she gained more than eight years’ experience advising on all aspects of VAT with key specialisms in property, education and insolvency, and Tony brings in excess of 30 years’ experience, specialising in public sector and not-for-profit, from previous roles within the Big Four and HM Customs & Excise.
The appointments of Kim Keady and Hamzah Mogradia have further strengthened RSM’s internal audit practice.
The appointment of Fayzan Waseem enhances the audit team, and the firm has expanded the financial due diligence team, welcoming Richard Tinsley and Laura Bollen.
Eric Solomons, RSM’s office managing partner in Manchester, said: “Each appointment further strengthens our offering in key areas of growth for the business, and it’s great to have them on board.
“Like our clients in the region, we are ambitious, and having specialist expertise and breadth of services allows us to support the commercial aims of clients at every step – whether it’s scaling up, mitigating risk, or planning for a sale.”
Six of the new starters, from left: Hamzah Mogradia, Amelia Hindle, Howard Munson, Laura Bollen, Fayzan Waseem and Adam West
More articles in
Sectors
