People on the move: Stark Brooks; Brabners; Housing Units

RECRUITMENT firm Stark Brooks has added three staff to its Manchester office to meet growing demand.

They are senior manager Steph Hamilton, principal consultant Andy Chamberlain and consultant Luke Spilsbury.

Andy is focusing on recruiting for roles in the house-building and construction sector. He has more than 17 years’ recruitment experience and has joined Stark Brooks from St Helens firm GPW Recruitment.

Steph and Luke are recruiting for accounting and finance roles in commerce and industry.

Steph was previously at Badenoch & Clark UK, while Luke has re-joined the recruitment sector after seven years at The Co-operative Group, where he was an assistant management accountant.

Gron Ffoulkes-Davies, chief executive of Stark Brooks, said: “Andy’s arrival provides a dedicated resource for our house-building and construction clients, while Steph and Luke give us additional experience and technical expertise to serve our extensive client base for accounting and finance roles.

“We continue to see robust demand for our services despite a slackening of UK economic growth over recent months.

“It is imperative that we continue to invest in our business and people to meet this demand. We are looking at other areas of recruitment, and plan to make further appointments over the next few months.

“While our initial assessment of Brexit’s economic impact is slightly negative in the short-term, we intend using the vote as a business opportunity to strengthen our team, as larger recruiters may be hit harder by the economic fall-out and release skilled and experienced consultants.”

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COMMERCIAL law firm Brabners has expanded its healthcare practice with the appointment of senior associate, Nicola Lomas, to capitalise on the high levels of commercial activity in the dental market.

Lomas, who has more than 10 years’ experience advising a national client base, from sole practitioners to large multi-site corporates, has been recruited from Goodman Grant, where she was a director.
 
The firm says its latest appointment comes from demand for tailored legal services from both NHS and private practice dentists, which has increased due to continued strong signs of growth within the dental industry, particularly in areas such as cosmetic dentistry.

Lomas said: “Deal activity remains high across the dental sector and in recent months we have seen demand increase.
 
“Not only is this being driven by younger practitioners with a desire to own their own company, with hundreds registering an interest in each practice that comes to market, but we’re continuing to see larger dental groups, often those backed by private equity, seeking to increase their portfolios. As a result, demand is outstripping supply and the goodwill value of practices is rising.”
 
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HOME furnishing centre Housing Units has appointed two new senior members of staff to join its expanding team at its Failsworth, Oldham base.

Stewart Smith has joined as retail director, with Alison Hartley taking up the newly created role of multi-channel director.
 
Housing Units has experienced impressive growth in the last six months, with staff numbers approaching 300 as the company prepares to celebrate its 70th year in business.
 
International e-commerce guru Hartley joins Housing Units with 16 years of both UK and international multichannel experience. Previous roles include E-commerce Development Manager for The Co-operative Travel, Multichannel – Global Strategic Development Manager for the UK’s leading nursery retailer, Mamas & Papas, and more recently Product Owner & business advisor at Walmart for George.com.

Smith brings 18 years of retail experience to the company, having previously worked with Marks & Spencer as a store manager, where he assisted with the opening of three new stores.