People on the move: Boohoo; HOW Planning; Carole Nash & more

BOOHOO, one of the UK’s largest online fashion retailers, has announced non-executive director Mark Newton-Jones is to step down from July 31.

Listed Manchester company Boohoo.com has begun searching for his successor.

Peter Williams, chairman of boohoo.com said: “On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Mark for his positive contribution to the board in the conversion from being a private to a public company and in particular for his retail insights.”

Mahmud Kamani, joint chief executive of Boohoo.com said: “Mark’s insight as a retailer has been hugely helpful to Carol and me over the last 3 years. We both thank him for his friendship and his valuable contribution as we’ve established Boohoo as a listed business, we wish him well for the future.”

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MANCHESER based HOW Planning is celebrating its 15th anniversary with a number of key appointments, internal promotions, and client wins, including work for the Co-op Bank, Worthington Properties and AC Marriott.

The specialist planning and environmental consultancy was established in 2001 and during the past 15 years has gone on to become one of the region’s leading independent consultancies working with a growing portfolio of clients including Aldi, Roadchef, easyHotel, Taylor Wimpey, Barwood Strategic Land, Muse Developments, Bruntwood, Bentley Motors and Royal London.

Having started with just three, HOW now employs a team of 30, under the leadership of managing partner Gary Halman and partners Richard Woodford, Jon Suckley and Richard Barton.  

Halman said: “It is fantastic to be marking our 15th anniversary with such a brilliant team.  We’ve grown in size and reputation due to excellent client service and are proud we achieve a more than 90% success rate in securing planning permission for our clients.  

“I’m looking forward to consolidating our position as a leading private practice, helping to deliver the Northern Powerhouse, and for our exceptionally talented staff to continue to add value to all our clients’ projects across the full range of property sectors.”

Recent appointments to the team include James Berggren, senior planner, previously at Bolton based Sedgwick Associates; Isla Longmuir, senior planner formerly at Countryside and Rachel Jones as planner who joins from Hourigan Connolly in Manchester. Promotions within the company include Jamie Lynch to environmental consultant, Rhian Harris to senior planner and Jon Power to principal planner.

Recent project successes for HOW include: The Asps, Barwood Strategic Land’s 900 home residential scheme in Warwick; New Bolton Woods, Urbo’s £150m urban village in Bradford; and Five Town Parks, Lateral Properties’ £135m mixed use scheme in Castleford, West Yorkshire.  It also led the team responsible for the successful planning approval for the redevelopment of Alderley Park, Astra Zenecca’s 160-hectare acampus in Cheshire, on behalf of Bruntwood.

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MOTORCYCLE insurance broker Carole Nash has announced the appointment of a new head of business support.
 
Owen Rawlinson joins from Swinton Insurance Group, where he previously held the role of senior IT infrastructure manager for 10 years.
His core responsibility there was to lead and manage the IT teams responsible for delivery of Datacentre Services, virtualisation, storage, operations and network services, in addition to implementing innovative IT solutions to support business initiatives and transformation programmes.
Rawlinson’s total career spans nearly 20 years, during which he has also worked for Topps Tiles, J M Computing and Associated Network Solutions.

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MANCHESTER-based digital marketing agency Online Ventures Group continues to expand with its latest staff additions.

Sara Bryan has returned to OVG as accounts director, Simon Taylor has taken on the position of creative director and Olwen Shaw has joined the agency as communications director.

Former colleague, Neil Walker has re-joined the business as technical director, having previously worked with the founders at their previous agency, Just Search.

With over 16 years’ experience in digital marketing and a current judge for the UK Search Awards, Neil has established himself as an influential figure on the SEO scene.

Since Walker’s departure in 2009 he has consulted with brands such as Minky, First Choice Holidays and Vita Student among many others. Further enhancing his skill set working with PR agencies and Inhouse Marketing teams.

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ANDREW Pow, a director at Manchester-based medical accountancy firm Hall Liddy, has been appointed to the executive committee of the trade body AISMA (Association of Independent Specialist Medical Accountants).

His role will include liaising with government and leading lobbying on behalf of AISMA, the national network of accountancy firms specialising in the healthcare sector.

Pow, who has over 20 years’ experience in medical accounting, specialises in appraising the performance of GP practices and advising on changing structures.

His role in campaigning to highlight the problems facing small rural isolated GP practices last year has led to a government review of the way funds are allocated.

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