People on the Move: GCA Altium; CMS; Hugh Jones Solicitors; Jones Melling; WHN Solicitors

From left: Gabrielle Worrall, Phil Chadwick, Alex Ford and Mark Smith

Global investment bank GCA Altium has strengthened its Manchester team with two promotions and two new hires.

Mark Smith has been promoted to director, after five years at GCA Altium.

Mark has advised on more than £700m of transactions in the past year, including the investment in UKFast by Inflexion in a £406m deal, and the sale of Sofology to DFS Furniture.

Alongside this, Phil Chadwick has been promoted to vice president, having worked at GCA Altium for two years, and has recently been involved in advising on deals including UKFast and the backing of Cloud Technology Solutions by North Edge Capital.

Previously, Phil worked on more than 25 transactions as a member of PWC’s transaction services team.

In addition, joining the team as associates are Alex Ford and Gabrielle Worrall. Alex joined from PWC where she worked in M&A for three years. Gabrielle joined from Deloitte where she gained experience in equity capital markets and audit and assurance.

The strengthened team will support the firm’s growing number of transactions. The investment bank closed 145 global deals in 2018, more than a third of which were cross-border. The new hires increase the Manchester M&A team headcount to 18.

Simon Lord, managing director at GCA Altium, said: “We are very pleased to welcome our new hires into the fold at a very exciting time for the firm. It is also pleasing to see Phil and Mark progress through the business as our expanding business provides career development for all members of the team.

“The market in the North West offers a great career opportunity, especially in M&A, as the market is so well advised and is attracting high profile deals.

“For example, more than a quarter of the UK’s fastest-growing tech companies are based in the region and tech represents a significant proportion of GCA Altium’s deal flow. This represents a great opportunity for our newly-bolstered Manchester team to tap into this growing marketplace.”

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International law firm CMS is pleased to announce the appointment of partner Matthew Davies who will be joining the firm’s corporate practice in Manchester.

Matthew joins the firm from Addleshaw Goddard in Leeds and will be working with clients out of both the Manchester and Sheffield offices.

He has extensive experience advising on UK and multi-jurisdictional mergers and acquisitions, corporate re-organisations and restructurings and corporate law and governance issues.

Matthew Davis, left, and Howard Gill

Matthew also has particular experience in investment transactions, including joint ventures, partnerships and shareholders’ agreements.

He has a particular focus on the financial services sector, with significant experience advising across a number of transactions in the banking, payments and FX, fiduciary/corporate/fund services and asset management sectors.

CMS’ head of corporate in Manchester, Howard Gill, said: “We are delighted to welcome Matthew to the firm. His knowledge and strong track record will be a real asset to the team, adding considerably to our capabilities.

“Matthew’s arrival underscores our commitment to the corporate practice and will enable us to better serve our clients at a time when we are seeing increasing levels of investment and M&A activity across the North of England.”

Matthew Davies said: “I am pleased to be joining CMS, and look forward to working with the team to support its growth ambitions across the region.”

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Manchester-based specialist law firm, Hugh Jones Solicitors, has appointed a consultant solicitor to provide additional expert services to the firm’s Court of Protection team.

The multi-award winning firm boasts the largest team of Court of Protection lawyers in the UK and the latest hire paves the way for an ongoing recruitment drive throughout 2019.

Georgina Rowley brings with her a wealth of experience in Court of Protection welfare cases, including end of life treatment cases, withholding and withdrawing life sustaining treatment, disputes on decisions to grant and withhold continuing healthcare funding and inquests.

Rachel Dobson, managing director of Hugh Jones said: “As one of the largest private client firms in England and Wales, we are always looking to bolster our workforce with the sector’s most knowledgeable experts.

From left: Hugh Jones, Rachel Dobson, Georgina Rowley

“Georgina will play a vital role in ensuring that the Court of Protection services we offer continue to lead the industry, extending our expertise into treatment and welfare disputes.

“She’s a valuable addition to our biggest team and perfectly placed to provide clients with the support required to help them navigate what can often be a testing time or ongoing process.”

Georgina is an accredited mediator and passionate about promoting the benefits of mediation in Court of Protection and treatment cases.

Her experience as a solicitor in this area enables her to understand the complexities and sensitives involved in these cases. She lectures widely on the benefits of mediation in these cases and has trained the health and social care sector on conflict management and communication in partnership with the Medical Mediation Foundation.

She said: “Hugh Jones has built an impressive reputation for its Court of Protection and mental capacity work. I look forward to working alongside a team of individuals who share my passion for providing quality advice in these areas and have no doubt that the team will continue to go from strength to strength.”

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North West property and construction advisory firm, Jones Melling, has expanded its architectural technology team with the appointment of Robert Barker.

Robert joins as an architectural technician and will assist the team in the drawing of building plans, building surveys and 3D visualisation.

His previous experience includes architectural technology roles with Lancashire-based Peter Hitchen Architects, Chubb Systems, and Leeds-based Bowman Riley Architects.

Robert Barker

Gary Melling, director of Jones Melling, said: “Our architectural technologists provide our surveying teams with a vital service, compiling floor and site plans and other building drawings for planning, building control and construction purposes. They’re also integral in allowing us to provide clients with 3D imagery and measured surveys.

“Robert brings lots of experience and deep technical know-how to us. This gives us extra capacity within our growing multi-disciplinary team.”

Robert added: “It’s great to have joined a growing firm that’s working with an such an impressive client base. I’m looking forward to working on a broad range of projects in different sectors.”

Jones Melling now has a team of five architectural technologists and 21 staff in total, having recently made four other appointments to its team.

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Commercial property lawyer Oliver Bagnall has been promoted to a director at award-winning law firm WHN Solicitors – just seven years after joining as a trainee.

Oliver, who is 33-years-old and lives in Ramsbottom, began his career at the firm in 2012, quickly working his way up the ranks from trainee to become a qualified solicitor in 2014, an associate last year, and now a director.

His rapid promotion reflects WHN’s ambitious growth strategy as well as the firm’s commitment to promote its own people to the most senior levels of management, it said.

Based at WHN’s Blackburn office, Oliver has seen fee income of its commercial property team more than double since his arrival, while the team’s staff numbers have also doubled in the same period.

Oliver’s main area of expertise is commercial property law, with a primary focus on property development work for housing developers.

His new remit will see him continue growing the department and WHN’s presence in the area, while supporting local SMEs and working with housing developers.

Oliver, who is originally from Leeds, said: “It’s been richly rewarding to play a part in doubling the commercial property department’s size since I joined, with significant growth and year-on-year expansion.

Oliver Bagnall

“Working alongside my fellow director, Nicola Phelps, I am confident we will generate ongoing and sustainable success, while continuing to provide an excellent service for our clients.”

Michael Shroot, head of WHN’s commercial team, added: “Internal promotion is a great way of addressing succession issues, because the next generation of leaders are already in senior roles.

“Oliver is a great example of this and it’s difficult to overstate the scale of his achievement in moving up from trainee to director in seven years.

“I have every confidence that our Blackburn commercial property team will carry on expanding under Oliver’s direction. Just as importantly, we are keen to develop other trainees into skilled professional solicitors who are also able to help build our brand.”

Oliver joined WHN from the General Medical Council where he had worked as a paralegal.

Previously, he had taken a BA degree in ancient history at Newcastle University, before completing an MA in politics at Manchester University. Oliver then went on to take the GDL law conversion course and Legal Practice Course (LPC) at the University of Law in Manchester.

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