People on the move: Colliers International; Mersey Gateway Project; Hillyer McKeown; Savills

COLLIERS International has made a senior appointment in its industrial and logistics team as John Sullivan joins the firm’s Manchester office as a director.

Formerly head of the Manchester Industrial Department at Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH), Sullivan has more than 15 years’ experience advising public and private clients on various acquisition and disposal instructions.

Clients include: The Homes & Communities Agency; Peel Holdings; BBC; Williams Group; and Hermes Parcelnet. Prior to LSH, John held positions at Knight Frank and Matthews & Goodman.

Sullivan’s appointment comes shortly after Colliers International welcomed Laura Wilbourn to the Manchester team as a senior surveyor.

Sullivan will work closely with Wilbourn and fellow director Chris Evans in Manchester, as well as Robert Whatmuff and Simon Hill from Colliers’ Leeds office to support the team’s wide ranging client base across the North of England.

Sullivan said: “Having spent nine years at LSH, I’m ready for a new challenge and relish the opportunity to join a truly global organisation such as Colliers International.”

Len Rosso, head of Colliers industrial and logistics team, said: “John is a well-known and respected member of the Manchester property community and his experience in advising high profile occupiers and developers in the industrial field is second to none. We look forward to welcoming John to the team.”

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GARETH Stuart has been appointed to lead the construction team building the Mersey Gateway Project as it moves towards the final twelve months of construction.

Stuart is Merseylink’s new project director, taking over the reins from Richard Walker, who has been leading the team for the past two years.

Stuart, who is originally from Glasgow, has worked for Kier, one of the three partners in the Merseylink construction consortium, for the past 25 years. He has recently led a large project team on Kier’s nearby Urenco project in Cheshire.

Prior to that he was operations director for Kier Infrastructure in the north of England and Scotland with responsibility for delivering a large number of significant projects such as West Burton CCGT Power Station, Urenco TMF facility and Greenburn infrastructure development.
 
The new bridge is on track to open within budget in autumn 2017. There are extensive works taking place right across Runcorn and Widnes and activity is building up on the main bridge itself. The first cable stays – the giant steel ropes that will connect the three huge pylons to the bridge deck are due to be installed this autumn, and deck construction is about to start.

Stuart said: “I am looking forward to my involvement in this exciting and challenging project as it enters this important phase of delivery, leading up to the completion and handover of the works.
My priority will be to work closely with our whole team and our colleagues at the Mersey Gateway Crossings Board to ensure we complete the project safely and build a stunning new bridge for the people of Halton and the north west.”   
      
Hugh O’Connor, Merseylink general manager, said: “It’s an exciting time for Gareth to be joining our team, and he will be working with bridge building and highways construction specialists from across the UK and around the world here in Halton.”

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A NORTH West law firm has promoted three of its most experienced solicitors.

Hillyer McKeown has announced that Anne Scheland becomes senior associate in its corporate team, Wendy Randall is the new senior associate in wills, trusts and estates and David Jones is has become associate in the commercial and employment department.

The promotions come at a time of continued growth for the firm, which has seen staff numbers increase from 65 to more than 90 in the last 18 months.

Revenues across its four offices in Chester, Liverpool, Wirral and North Wales also increased to £6.4m in the last financial year.

In addition to Hillyer McKeown’s range of business and personal legal services, the firm is also able to provide clients with an increasing number of diversified business offerings including financial services, business growth consultancy and marketing and PR.

Lindsey Kidd, partner at Hillyer McKeown, said: “These promotions are richly deserved and form a key part of our ongoing expansion plans.

“The overriding objective of our business plan is to provide unrivalled client service and, in the case of our commercial clients, to help them build successful and growing businesses.

“It is vital that we continue to promote and recruit the region’s leading talent if we are to provide our clients with the very best professional and wider commercial services.”

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THE Savills planning department in Manchester has expanded further with the arrival of Jay Patel, who joins as a director.

With more than 16 years’ experience in public and private sector roles within the planning industry, Patel joins Savills from Deloitte Real Estate in Manchester where he advised on a range of complex planning projects across the North West, with a particular focus on Manchester city centre regeneration.

Prior to this, Patel worked for seven years in the public sector including a role as a senior planner at Manchester City Council where he gained extensive experience of local authority development management.

During his time at Deloitte, Jay was seconded to the planning team at Manchester Airport where he took a lead role in preparing the evidence base to support the future growth of the Airport, including it’s removal from the green belt.
 
Patel has also advised on central Manchester sites including the Etihad Stadium, First Street, 2 St Peter’s Square, Whitworth Street/Princess Street and Kampus.   
Jeremy Hinds, planning director and head of the Savills planning team in the north, said: “We are delighted to welcome Jay to the team. His wide ranging knowledge of the statutory planning system as a result of his combined public and private sector experience make him an extremely welcome addition to the team.”