People on the move: New Care; Chesnara; Seddon; UTB; Liquid

CARE home operator New Care has appointed Dominic Kay as its chairman.  
Kay returns to the North West from Barchester, where he was group commercial director.

In his role at the company’s headquarters in Alrtincham, Greater Manchester, Kay’s key objectives will include a mixture of sourcing suitable sites for new care facilities, selling sites, corporate governance, ops audit, legal input and relationship management with key customers.

He will also assist with certain projects for the McGoff Group, of which New Care is a part.

Kay was previously the main board director of Cheshire-based Four Seasons Health Care for 10 years and one of the founder members of the Restructuring Committee of Southern Cross.  He also held a director position at Yates Group, so has plenty of experience in the leisure sector too.

Kay said: “I am really excited to be Chairman of New Care. The company has big plans in place for the remainder of this year and beyond, so it is good to be an integral part of these.  I am also glad to be based back in the North West.”

He has been a non-executive director for New Care for two years, so is already very familiar with the company.  
 
Chris McGoff, CEO at New Care added: “Having worked closely with Dominic during the last two years, I am confident that he is absolutely the right man for the chairman role at New Care.
 
“His knowledge and past experience will be of a huge benefit to the company and I am looking forward to further developing our working relationship in the coming years, driving New Care forward and ensuring it becomes the leading care home operator in the UK.”

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LISTED financial services company Chesnara based in Preston says its business services director Frank Hughes will step down from the board on December 31.

He will remain in his current role until Aprill 30 2017, when he will leave the organisation.

Meanwhile, Ken Hogg has been appointed chief executive of Countrywide Assured, Chesnara’s UK life assurance subsidiary.

Hogg, who joined the business in August, has more than 28 years’ experience in the life assurance industry, and has held various senior executive roles with RGA, the FSA, AIG and Aegon.

Chesnara chief executive John Deane said: “On my appointment I took on the two roles of chief executive of Chesnara and Countrywide Assured. With the appointment of Ken this completes the reorganisation that we envisaged at the time of my appointment with a CEO for each of our divisions in the UK, Sweden and the Netherlands.

“I and all my colleagues would like to thank Frank for all he has achieved over the past 12 years. His contribution to the development and execution of the company’s strategy has been a key element of the Chesnara story to date and we wish him every success for the future.”

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JON Schofield has been appointed as non-executive director to the board of Bolton-based builder and developer, Seddon, which includes Seddon Construction and Seddon Homes.

A founding partner of Dow Schofield Watts, an award-winning advisory business, Schofield has more than two decades’ experience providing specialist corporate finance and strategic advice to growing businesses across a range of sectors.
 
He is also a partner and co-owner of PHD Equity Partners, which works with ambitious management teams and companies within the £5m to £100m turnover bracket.
 
As an active member of the board, Schofield will assist Seddon in a wide-ranging role including governance and finance.

He joins the board ahead of the departure of Rod Sellers, Seddon’s chairman, who is retiring in 2017 after 16 years of service.

Schofield said: “With a long-standing history and excellent reputation in the industry and beyond, it’s a privilege to join the Seddon board. I look forward to assisting the family, and the team in achieving its ambitious plans and moving towards a stronger future.”
 
Seddon CEO Jonathan Seddon said: “I’ve known Jon for more than four years and his admirable experience, diverse network and proven track record in high-level advisory roles made him ideal for the role.

“We’re sure he’ll be a fantastic addition to the Seddon team as we aim to realise our aspirations.”
 
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UNITED Trust Bank (UTB) has appointed Steve Grant as a new property finance Business Development Manager responsible for building its presence in the North of England.

UTB has already recently provided development and bridging finance to fund a number of property development projects in the Midlands and East Anglia and the bank sees considerable potential for further growth in the North of England.

The development finance and bridging divisions are actively looking to support developers and brokers in that region and recently took part in the Specialist Lending Roadshow at venues in South Yorkshire and the Midlands.

Grant’s key objectives will be to develop new business opportunities by building relationships with brokers and developers in the area and introducing them to UTB’s award winning development and bridging finance services.

He has joined from Barclays Bank where he was a senior real estate manager responsible for multi-million pound property funding deals in the North West and North Wales.

Noel Meredith, executive director of United Trust Bank, said: “United Trust Bank has supported property investors and developers with projects all over the country but the majority of our activity and growth has so far been generated from London and the South.

“As the push to build hundreds of thousands of new homes countrywide continues, we are very well placed to encourage that activity by introducing our services to successful SME developers and property entrepreneurs based in the North of England.”

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LIVERPOOL based creative agency, Liquid has made a number of new appointments to its account management and design departments.

Stephen May joins after working as a freelance designer for the agency. Previously he was part of the team at Loaf Creative, working for a range of clients including Merseyrail, Liverpool ONE, The Crabbie’s Grand National, The Jockey Club and Westinghouse Solar. Stephen also teaches graphic design at Shillington College in Manchester.

Cat Lewis moves across from Event Marketing Solutions in Cheshire. She will assist on a range of projects and key accounts for Liquid including Warburtons, Ariston and CSM Bakery Solutions. Her previous experience includes working with the Department for Education, Parker Hannifin and EMC.

Steve McGauley, executive creative director at Liquid, said: “Liquid has experienced real growth throughout 2016, with a number of new clients joining us for a multitude of services. It is fantastic that we have been able to attract candidates of such a high calibre.
 
“We want to see this our current growth continue, so we’re delighted to be bringing Ste and Cat on board. We’re confident they will both be huge assets to our team and bring with them varied experiences and new ideas which will add value to our offering as an independent creative agency.”

Liquid was recently appointed the design and marketing partner for the 2017 Southport Flower Show.