People on the move: Cenkos; Exchange Chambers; Hill Dickinson; Moneypenny; Ixis; Bluestones Investment Group; Rickitt Mitchell

CENKOS, the independent specialist institutional securities group focused on small and mid-cap companies and investment funds, announces it has appointed Heath Snyder in corporate finance.
 
Snyder’s role will be to build relationships with businesses and the private equity community in the region to develop Cenkos’s capital markets and advisory business in the North West.

He joins from Deloitte Corporate Finance Southeast Asia where he has worked for the past seven years as Head of Private Equity covering seven countries.

Snyder has more than 25 years’ experience in corporate finance and private equity. He has a strong background in evaluating and executing complex strategic M&A and Corporate Strategy programs specifically with, and for, PE investors, international large corporates and local family owned businesses as well as experience in numerous debt and equity fund raising exercises.

Launched in 2014, Cenkos’s North West office has grown steadily since its formation.
 
Simon French of Cenkos, said: “We are pleased to welcome Heath to Cenkos and we are very excited about how his appointment gives us the potential to expand our offering in the North West. Since launching just over two years ago, we have seen strong demand from entrepreneurial businesses looking for growth capital along with capital market advisory services.”

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LOUIS Browne from Exchange Chambers in Manchester has been appointed as Queen’s Counsel by Her Majesty the Queen on the advice of the Lord Chancellor, Elizabeth Truss, following consideration by the independent Queen’s Counsel Selection Panel.
 
Browne is one of 113 new Queen’s Counsel appointed this year.

Called to the Bar in 1988, he specialises in civil law. He has an extensive high value personal injury practice, working particularly for defendants.

 In addition, he practises in the fields of public law, inquests,  professional negligence and  contract/commercial. He also has wide experience of claims against the police.

Tom Handley, director of chambers at Exchange Chambers said: “We are thrilled for Louis.  He is an outstanding barrister who is well liked and respected throughout Chambers, with clients and in the profession as a whole.  His appointment as a silk is very well deserved.”
    
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INTERNATIONAL law firm Hill Dickinson continues to expand its national health practice with the appointment of legal director Amanda Hurst.

With more than 10 years’ experience undertaking all aspects of commercial property work, Hurst joins the firm’s Liverpool office from Weightmans.

She will work alongside partner and head of healthcare property Lawford Martin, working exclusively for NHS Property Services and NHS clients.
 
Joining Mace & Jones in 2003 (which merged with Weightmans in 2011) Hurst has worked for a varied portfolio of clients and landlords and tenants from charities to public organisations and corporate clients.
 
More recently, she has worked directly with various funders, dealing with technical title issues with particular expertise in adverse possession applications. She also has extensive experience in advising GP practices across the North West with all property related matters and queries.

Hill Dickinson head of health, Andrew Craggs, said: “Amanda’s appointment to our national health team rounds off a number of exciting hires over the past 12 months. Bringing over a decade’s experience to the team, Amanda will coordinate and lead on many of our major projects.”

Hill Dickinson’s health practice is ranked tier one in The Legal 500 UK 2016 legal directory and recognised as a ‘growing force in the healthcare market’ in Chambers and Partners UK 2017.

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MONEYPENNY, the telephone answering specialist based in Wrexham, has appointed a new head of business development, Claire Smith.

Smith, from Manchester, joins with a wealth of commercial experience. She qualified as a Solicitor before moving into the exciting world of Business Development specialising in the legal sector.

She headed up Connect2Law the UKs largest referral and support network for law firms before moving to join the national legal brand QualitySolicitors.

Joanna Swash, managing director, said: “We feel sure Claire will be a great asset to our business and has a fantastic range of experience having worked in companies in the past such as Pannone and the QualitySolicitors.”

Smith said: “I have joined the Moneypenny family having previously been a Moneypenny client so, have had first-hand experience of the amazing work Moneypenny does.
 
“My role is to work with the field sales team and to explore and maximise every opportunity we have to grow the business. I am really looking forward to getting to know the business better and am excited about my future with Moneypenny.”

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MANCHESTER-based digital agency Ixis has announced a key appointment within its project team.

Ben Newton has taken the role of Project Account Manager, responsible for working closely with key clients on their hosting, support and digital development requirements.

As a key member of the project team, Newton will be focused on advising clients on the best ways to harness the potential of the Drupal open source content management system.

Newton is an experienced digital professional who before joining Ixis worked in sales for a number of IT companies, including Arrow, Nimans and MWR Infosecurity.

Chris Haslam, managing director of Ixis, said: “These are exciting times for Ixis and as we grow our business we are looking for the best talent to fill important roles in the company.

“Ben is an experienced IT professional and our clients respect that fact that our account managers understand the market as well as the technology involved. We look forward to further strengthening our team in the new year as we gear up for an exciting 2017.”

Ben Newton said: “This is a great time to be joining the Ixis team, who are working with great clients on some really innovative projects. I’m looking forward to helping our clients tap into the huge benefits that open source development offers when it comes to producing the very best in cutting edge websites.”

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ELLESMERE Port-based Bluestones Investment Group’s recent growth has led to another significant appointment as Matt Cody joins the company as the new group marketing director.

Cody is a senior marketing and communications professional and a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM).  

He holds a Global MBA with merit from Manchester Business School, a Postgraduate Diploma from the CIM and a BA(Hons) degree in retail marketing and has worked for FTSE 250 and AIM listed organisations. He also has 10 years’ experience with global recruitment specialists NES Global Talent.
 
In the role, he will oversee all the marketing functions of BIG which consists of the 30 plus companies within the group’s portfolio.

Group chief executive Stuart McBride said: “This is a significant appointment for the group. We’ve experienced tremendous growth over the last 12 months and as a result, we are investing heavily in the support functions of the business. Matt’s experience is impressive and we’re looking forward to the positive impacts he will have on the business as we continue to grow.”

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MANCHESTER-based corporate finance advisory firm Rickitt Mitchell has promoted two of its team following one of the most successful periods in its 40-year history.
Alex Wilson has been promoted to associate director.

Since joining Rickitt Mitchell in 2011 he has worked on many diverse transactions, such as APS Group acquisition of Wight Salads and the NCC Group €133m acquisition of Fox-IT BV.

In 2016 Wilson was recognised by a number of industry publications as one of the region’s up and coming corporate finance advisors.

He said: “I have greatly enjoyed the last five years being part of a successful team. The breadth of clients we have and the experience of the Partners has been fundamental to my professional development.”

Meanwhile Kaine Smith has been promoted to Corporate Finance Manager.  He joined the team in 2013 and has continually demonstrated his ability to understand clients and play a key role in delivering complex transactions such as the recent £80m IPO of Van Elle Holdings.

He said: “We have a great team here at Rickitt Mitchell.  I look forward to delivering further transformational deals in 2017 from our strong transaction pipeline.”

Stuart Moss, managing partner at Rickitt Mitchell, said: “We are delighted to recognise through promotion the significant contribution from Alex and Kaine in making our 40th anniversary year one of our best.  The continued development of our highly experienced and established team is of great importance and these two corporate finance professionals form part of our plan for the continued success of our firm, which only comes from the continuing success of our clients.”

 

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