People: Iceland Foods; Metis; Liquid & more
RETAILER Iceland has created a new product development team for its own brand with Neil Nugent appointed to as head of product development and David Lennox as development chef.
Nugent began his career as a restaurant chef, working in many award-winning and Michelin-starred establishments before joining Asda as innovations chef in 1997. He spent three years at Waitrose as executive chef, before joining Morrisons in 2011 also as executive chef. Most recently he has been working to deliver a new concept development for Pizza Express. Throughout his career Neil has remained a hands-on chef and was for seven years co-owner of the critically acclaimed J. Baker’s Bistro in York.
David Lennox also began his career as a restaurant chef before moving into product development with Bakkavor and then joining Waitrose, where he worked closely with Neil Nugent on the Heston range. He then spent almost four years working as the lead development chef at Morrisons from 2011.
Iceland founder and chief executive Malcolm Walker said: “These two senior appointments underline my personal commitment to making Iceland known for great quality food and cutting-edge innovation, as well as outstanding value. In Neil and David we have recruited two of the brightest and most experienced stars in their field in the UK, and we are all hugely excited at what the future holds for the Iceland brand.”
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METIS Real Estate Advisors, has recruited Tom Powell as a director in its Manchester office.
Powell joins Metis from JLL, where he was a director, and has over 10 years’ experience in the retail and leisure sectors. In his new role, he will focus on the leisure sector, providing advice to developer, landlord and occupier clients.
He said: “The ambition, expertise and professionalism of the team at Metis is complemented by the quality of its clients. Combined, these features created the perfect opportunity for me and I am very excited to be joining such an energetic and fast-growing business.”
“Metis has been appointed on a number of leading retail and leisure destinations, including Grosvenor’s Liverpool ONE, Manchester Arndale for clients M&G Real Estate and intu Properties, and the Corn Exchange in Manchester on behalf of Queensberry and Aviva Investors.”
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LIVERPOOL creative agency Liquid has appointed Jenni Fleet as an account manager.
Joining from internet marketing agency PH Creative, where she worked for four years, Fleet has been brought in to support Liquid’s growth following a number of new client wins and projects.
She will report to Steve McGauley, executive creative director at Liquid, who said: “We believe her diverse experience and passionate attitude is a perfect fit for our ambitions for the future.”
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BURY Football Club has made a key hire with the appointment of Alan Townley as commercial and events director.
Townley, joins from TheBusinessDesk.com, where he spent just less than two years as a business development manager in Manchester.
In his new role the 43-year-old will head the commercial team and will be responsible for the generation and maintenance of business partnerships and corporate sponsorships throughout the club.
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People:
North West commercial law firm Harrison Drury has bolstered its employment law offering with the appointment of its first human resource adviser.
Helen Darbyshire joins the firm, which has offices in locations including Preston, Lancaster, Kendal, with over 15 years’ experience in HR.
The 42-year-old, who is originally from Magheramorne in Northern Ireland, has worked for a number of notable firms including Aegon and QEK Global Solutions (UK), and most recently Babcock where she worked as a HR officer for three years.
Helen specialises in all aspects of generalist human resource management. In the newly created role, Helen will advise North West firms on human resource management including employee training, development, retention and performance management, as well as implementing staff policies and procedures.
Roger Spence, director at Harrison Drury, said: “We know from our experience of dealing with local businesses that there is a real desire to have practical, pro-active HR support. With many employment disputes ending up in the courts we’ve identified that early intervention and advice on process management can have a really beneficial impact.”
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OLDHAM-based James Briggs, one of Europe’s largest manufacturers of aerosol and consumer chemicals, has appointed Paul Blackaby as its new chief financial officer.
In a career spanning more than 25 years, Blackaby has held similar roles with a number of leading European chemical manufacturing businesses, including Ecolab, Laporte Hygiene and Calvatis. The appointment adds significant international experience to the James Briggs senior team as it grows its reach in Europe and the Middle East.
James Briggs chief executive Tim Pugh said: “Paul’s international experience and operational understanding of chemicals manufacturing, along with his specific knowledge of the Hygiene sector and M&A expertise, will bring a wealth of new experience to the business.”
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UD Group, the transformational software developer for the energy sector, has appointed Simon Firth as sales manager, adding significant experience and industry knowledge to its team.
Manchester-headquartered UD delivers a range of software solutions for the utilities sector, and has moved to strengthen its sales team after undergoing rapid contractual expansion over the last 18 months.
Firth joins from UK-based energy provider, Vaya, having worked in the international energy sector for over 25 years. As well as a six-year stint with Norwegian broker, Bergen Energi, he spent almost 20 years with RWE npower, developing its offering for public consortiums and large retailers.
As sales manager of UD Group, Firth will be responsible for supporting UD Group’s ambitious growth plans, meeting the increased needs for its products and services from utility suppliers and brokers.
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MERSEYSIDE-based civil litigation firm Your Legal Friend has appointed Dominic Timmons as its new Head of Compliance to support its continued growth.
Timmons has over more than decades’ legal experience and has been responsible for successfully developing in-house functions at large organisations in both the public and private sectors.
He joins from leading debt management provider One Advice Group (formally Harrington Brooks), where he was Head of Legal Services, responsible for meeting the £47.5m turnover business’ legal requirements.
Subsequently he was responsible for setting up and running Castle Keep Law (now Open Door), an alternative business structure which provided legal solutions for the One Advice Group client base.
His role at Your Legal Friend will see him further refine the regulatory, operational and commercial processes key to maintaining the firm’s growth and high client satisfaction levels.
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LIVERPOOL-based social enterprise PSS has appointed a new head of quality and compliance to further enhance the innovative services it provides.
John McLean will work with staff from a wide range of services across the UK. These include health and wellbeing initiatives as well as projects with women suffering from post-natal depression, families with a relative in prison, support for people with dementia and Shared Lives.
He joins PSS from Bury Council where he led on insight and performance, spearheading a project to encourage more girls and women to take up sport.
Prior to that his roles focused on social care policy and performance.
McLean said: “I feel my background is a perfect fit for PSS. I share its values and hope to embed them in the work that we do in the team.
“I will be working with all of our services, which are incredibly wide and diverse and making sure our policies, procedures and, ultimately, the services that we deliver, are of the highest standards.”
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JIM Lang has been appointed UK commercial goods operations director for tissue makers SCA including responsibility as site manager of its Manchester mill, where he started his career as an apprentice in 1990.
Lang was based at the Trafford Park mill until 2012 and since 2014 has been the company’s European performance director.
The Manchester mill is the home of SCA’s premium household brands Cushelle toilet tissue and Plenty kitchen towel, as well as manufacturing ‘own brand’ products for leading supermarket chains.
“As a local lad, I’m delighted to be back in Manchester,” he said. “The mill has a fantastic workforce, excellent products and a safety record that’s second to none within the industry – and we’re determined to maintain that alongside a commitment to increase performance and provide the highest quality service to our customers.”
As well as his role as site manager at Manchester, Lang is also taking overall lead for SCA paper mills in North Wales and Northumberland.
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Gekko is continuing its growth plans with the recruitment of Tom Stevenson as Business Development Manager for the Manchester-based IT consultancy.
Stevenson will assist Gekko’s Head of Business Chris Fargher and the team to raise the profile of Gekko’s service offering across the Greater Manchester and North West SME sector.
