Appointments: Placefirst; EY; HOW Planning; 422

MANCHESTER developer Placefirst has appointed Peter Martin, the former chief executive of outsourcing group Tribal, as its chairman.

Mr Martin helped to take the business from initial private equity funding to support a buy and build acquisition strategy, and a stock market flotation.

Prior to leading Tribal Group between 2007 and 2011, he held the same role at Mercury Health – established by Tribal in 2003 as an independent provider of surgical services to the NHS.

He said: “I’m delighted to have the opportunity to join PlaceFirst and support its future development. Placefirst has already established a prominent position in the build to rent housing sector by developing a branded product aimed at working individuals and families seeking affordable homes for rent that combine quality, thoughtful design, professional management and energy efficiency.”

PlaceFirst managing director David Smith-Milne said: “Peter’s outstanding experience and track record will help Placefirst to drive its growth in the coming years. Placefirst has established a robust platform in the development of our private rented sector housing model, transforming empty houses into homes for working families that find themselves trapped between social housing and home ownership.”

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ACCOUNTANCY group EY has made some senior promotions in its Manchester office.

Baldeep Singh has become an equity partner and Tehseen Ali, Graham Wright and Iain Craven have all become executive directors.

Singh, who has been with EY for 14 years, heads the firm’s Pensions Assurance Group nationally. His services are exclusively focused on services to pension scheme trustees. Ali works closely with multi-national listed businesses as a member of EY’s Assurance team in the North West. He has 15 years’ experience in audit and of advising in matters around corporate governance, IFRS, financial controls and IPOs.

Craven leads EY’s Infrastructure, Transport and Government team in Manchester. He specialises in advising central and local Government, and other public sector clients on complex procurement and financing issues. Wright supplies tax advice as part of the firm’s Real Estate and Infrastructure Group.

Simon Allport, North West senior partner, said: “Just as we did during the downturn, we’re continuing to invest across our service lines and specialist teams in the North West as economic conditions improve. These promotions take in a range of technical expertise and reflect just some of the opportunities we’re seeing in the regional marketplace at the moment, including an increasing number of audits coming up for tender and growing appetite for specialist advisory services to support public sector investment.”

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HOW Planning has added a further four new staff, bringing the total to 22.

Principal planner Phil Grant joins the Manchester team from Wilmslow-based Axis PED. where he specialised in infrastructure and energy projects.

Another recruit to the environmental team is Emma Perrin who joins from RSK as an environmental planner, helping newly promoted Chris Peacock, principal environmental planner, to develop this side of the business.

Two new graduates have also joined the team – Emma Williams from Peel where she worked as a planning assistant and Lee Shaw from Sheffield University.

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GEMMA Ackerley has joined Manchester-based production company 422 as a client services director.

Her move from Carbon Digital comes as 422 has beefed up its activities with the acquisition of a production services business called Just Shoots.

The firm’s owner Eileen Gartside will stay on and head a new division called 422 Shoots.

422 said both developments underpin its mission to drive revenues by an additional £1m in the coming financial year.

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