People on the move: Manchester Law Society; Willows Veterinary Group; UD Group

 People on the move is sponsored by family law firm Hall Brown

Mike Devlin, head of family at national law firm Stephensons, has been elected as the vice-president of the Manchester Law Society.  

Devlin heads one of the country’s largest family teams at Stephensons. The practice represents parents, children, local authorities and other interested parties in divorce, care proceedings, adoption cases, residence and contact disputes and applications in wardship as well as the exercise of Inherent Jurisdiction of the High Court. He has been involved with and reported in several high profile cases.
 
He has been a member of the Law Society Children Panel (now Solicitors Regulation Authority Children Panel Accreditation Scheme) since its inception in 1984. He is also a legal advisor to After Adoption’s adoption panel and the Chairman of the Salford Diocesan Child Protection Commission.

Devlin has for many years featured in the Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners guide which lists him as an “Eminent Practitioner” for his industry leading expertise in children matters.

He said:” I look forward to serving the Manchester legal community. The profession has weathered many changes over the past years, including deep cuts to legal aid, rising court fees and changes to the small-claims limit. It is more important than ever for solicitors to remain focused on providing high quality advice and representation whilst adapting their working practices to be able to compete in an ever changing and increasingly competitive market.”

Fran Eccles-Bech, Chief Executive of Manchester Law Society, said: “I am delighted to be able to announce the appointment of Mike Devlin. He is a highly regarded and nationally renowned leader in the field of children law whose contribution to the Manchester legal community has been second to none. We look forward to working with Mike Devlin in the years to come.”

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A farm vet has landed a pioneering business development role which also aims to help farmers build a more sustainable future.

Sally Dixon, 36, has taken on the role of farm animal practice development manager for the independently-owned Willows Veterinary Group based at its main Hartford farm practice in Northwich, Cheshire.

The vet-run group, which has a network of 25 small animal practices, a referral veterinary hospital, two equine centres and seven farm veterinary sites, has expanded significantly and the size of the group’s farm veterinary team has more than doubled.

From a 10-vet farm practice with two sites in 2004, Willows Veterinary Group’s farm division now has a 24-strong veterinary team, with seven sites which stretch across Cheshire and into North Wales.
Farm partners at Willows have recruited Dixon to help ‘streamline’ the operation and ensure the group maintains its high level of service to its farming clients.

She said: “My main role with Willows is to help the group identify key goals for the farm side of the business and then to empower the whole team to turn these goals into a strategy and turn that strategy into action.

“Animal welfare and a client focussed approach is at the fore of everything which Willows does and my role will be to ensure that these core values remain in sharp focus as the group continues to grow and expand.”

“The practices which have recently joined the group will all have their own uniqueness and we don’t want to lose that, but equally there needs to be an element of consistency to ensure we are all doing the very best by our farming clients.”

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Continued business growth for UD Group has created a need for the intelligent software developer for the energy and utilities sector to expand its Manchester headquarters.

Already home to UD Group’s innovative software development teams; the additional space will accommodate the company’s growing staff count, including several senior level appointments. This follows the recent appointment of Andy Calvert as chief technical officer.

The expansion is another example of the exceptional growth the company has experienced over the past 12 months.

2016 saw the business rack up a number of major deals across the energy and water sectors, forging new partnerships with key business to business customers including members of the UK’s ‘Big Six’ energy companies.

UD Group says its solutions have now also begun to attract international attention as markets in the EU and US recognise the capabilities of its disruptive new technology.

Paul Hodnett, founder and sales Director at UD Group, said: “We’ve made some important additions to our team in recent months that will be instrumental as we take our software into new markets in the UK and internationally. Expanding our headquarters was the natural next step in our ambitious growth plans and was a decision taken due to the increasing demand we are seeing for our solutions.”