People: Black Country lawyer promoted to director; Growth continues for business lender; and more

Jane Rudge has been promoted to the position of director at Thursfields Solicitors

Rudge started her career in the legal department of investment bank Morgan Stanley in Canary Wharf.

After a law degree at Birmingham University, she trained with George Green Solicitors, qualifying in 1999, and then worked for Wall James Chappell and later Higgs & Sons before joining Thursfields’ Halesowen office as a senior associate solicitor in 2016.

Nick O’Hara, managing director of Thursfields, said: “On behalf of the shareholders and directors of Thursfields, I’d like to congratulate Jane on her promotion to director.

“Jane has played an important part in our Corporate & Commercial department at the Halesowen office, taking on a leadership role in our business development strategy for the Black Country.

“Her background in corporate matters means she has real confidence dealing with all types of commercial contracts, and she is well-respected in the marketplace for her expertise.”

He added: “Jane fully deserves this promotion, having introduced many new clients to Thursfields.”

Rudge said: “I’m very pleased and proud to become a director at Thursfields, a company where I’ve been given the opportunity to take the initiative and thrive.

“We have a great team in the Halesowen office and are going from strength to strength in the marketplace, with strong plans for our future development.”

She added: “I now look forward to helping lead the company as we continue to grow and provide our award-winning services to our clients across the Black Country.”

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BCRS Business Loans has boosted its business development team with two key appointments and an internal promotion.

The West Midlands-based business lender has announced that Lynn Wyke and Tracy Sherratt have joined the team as business development managers, taking the team up to 18 staff.

Meanwhile Louise Armstrong has been promoted to the position of senior business development manager, while Wesley Lovett takes the title of head of business development.

Lovett said: “We are delighted to welcome Lynn and Tracy to the team, who both bring with them a wealth of experience in business lending. More importantly, they are both friendly, professional people who are passionate about supporting businesses that are unable to access some or all of the finance they need from traditional lenders.

“Lynn and Tracy will be covering Dudley, Walsall, Wolverhampton and South Staffordshire but, for our customers and professional colleagues alike, they are more than happy to travel the length and breadth of the West Midlands and surrounding areas.

“Small businesses are at the heart of what we do and, importantly, we believe in what they do. Offering a relationship-based approach to lending, we look at applications differently. We don’t use impersonal credit scoring systems and instead use a raft of experience to understand each business and its needs.”

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SPACE – Retail Property Consultants, the retail and leisure practice, is growing its market presence and capabilities with the hiring of Ben Taylor.

Founded in 2012, SPACE is a team of experienced property professionals working throughout the UK for a landlord and occupier client base including UBS, Deutsche Wealth Asset Management, Shearer Property Group, Joules, Dr Martens, Loungers, Pret-a-Manger, Gourmet Burger Kitchen, The White Company, Monsoon, Whittard of Chelsea, Snow+Rock, Cycle Surgery and Trespass.

Taylor joins from Innes England’s Nottingham office where he was previously a director in the retail department covering the East Midland and regional markets.

He will focus on new client development as well as existing instructions including the roll out of table tennis bar operator SERVE who have recently opened their first 10,000 sq. ft.venue in Birmingham and leasing a 250,000 sq. ft. new-build designer outlet village at Scotch Corner.

Peter Leverett, managing director at SPACE, said: “We are a niche practice, experts in our markets and have been steadily growing the SPACE business. Following the appointment of Martin Howard in 2017 to run our London office, the addition of another key regional director from a leading firm of chartered surveyors reinforces our commitment to meet growing client needs with experienced, senior staff.

“Ben’s work, in both general retail and shopping centre agency as well as his understanding of development and the wider leisure market compliments the authoritative and innovative skills of the whole SPACE team. Ben is the second head of department we have recruited to a senior role in our business from leading firms in the Midlands region in the last four years and I am delighted to have his expertise, knowledge and enthusiasm driving our further business development in key markets.”