People: Trio of hires for Blue Marble; Bank strengthens senior team; and more

Birmingham-based Blue Marble has expanded its team to support its growing business.

A chartered surveyor with nearly 20 years’ experience working in commercial property in the Midlands, Jeremy Valerio joins Blue Marble as asset management director.

The co-founder of Jones Lang Lasalle’s national asset management department, at Blue Marble Valerio will focus on the management and performance of existing investments and on business plans and their delivery for new acquisitions.

Steph Brown joins Blue Marble as PA, office manager and assistant property manager from Node Urban Design.  She will use her previous experience as a lettings administrator to help manage properties in Blue Marble’s growing client portfolio.

Lindsey Skerrett is the new finance manager, moving from the manufacturing sector, with 36 years’ experience working in business finance and accounts.

The new appointments follow hard on the heels of the launch of Blue Marble’s commercial property investment fund for high net worth individuals and professional investors, and its move into a larger office suite at 63 Church Street in Birmingham’s Colmore Business District to accommodate its growing team.

“We are growing our business by acquiring more investment properties for our existing clients’ portfolios, and creating and taking over the management of portfolios for new clients to meet their investment objectives, so we welcome Jeremy, Steph and Lindsey at a very busy time for us,” said Tim Matthews, chief executive of Blue Marble Asset Management.

“Clients like our approach of preparing a detailed business plan for each property prior to acquisition and then managing the asset so that it delivers planned or better returns.”

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Dene Jones, Amanda Dorel, Andrew Connors (Photographer: Dan Graves).

Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking has strengthened its senior team in the Midlands with the appointment of Amanda Dorel to SME regional director.

Based at Lloyds Bank’s flagship office on Colmore Row in Birmingham, Dorel brings more than three decades of banking and commercial finance expertise to the role. She began her career at the bank in 1987 and previously held the positions of head of real estate nationally and senior regional manager in Bristol.

She now joins Lloyds Bank’s senior team in the Midlands and will work alongside Dene Jones and Andrew Connors, who head up the mid corporates and large corporates divisions respectively.

Dorel will work directly with businesses with annual turnover up to £25m.

She said: “The Midlands is a key area of focus for Lloyds Bank and I’ll be using my experience to help companies across the region achieve their growth and development objectives.

“Whether these businesses are looking to access finance for their investment plans or improve their cash and risk management strategies to strengthen their balance sheets, Dene, Andrew and I are committed to helping them, and the Midlands, prosper.”

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Thursfields Solicitors has recruited a commercial property lawyer to its Solihull office.

Robin Creek joins the company as a director after spending six years at EMW Law in Milton Keynes, where he previously worked for Harvey Ingram Borneos – now part of Shakespeare Martineau.

Tony Gibb, a director in Thursfields’ commercial property team, said: “We’re delighted to welcome a lawyer of Robin’s quality to our Solihull office, and we’re sure he’ll add to our strength in the region.

“It’s pleasing to see how Thursfields’ growing reputation is making the company increasingly attractive to top lawyers from across the country.”