People: Dealmaker joins law firm’s corporate team; Hitachi Capital MD steps down; High profile board appointments at LEP; and more

Michael Hall and Paul Trudgill

hlw Keeble Hawson has further bolstered the expertise of its corporate department with the appointment of dealmaker Michael Hall as associate.

With a solid track record in advising major groups on all aspects of corporate transactions, Hall specialises in mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructuring, partnerships and LLPs.

The development comes hot on the heels of dealmaker Matt Ainsworth, who has represented a raft of well-known clients, joining the firm’s 16-strong corporate team as partner.

hlw Keeble Hawson managing partner, Paul Trudgill, said: “Michael’s appointment marks another step in our strategic development as we further expand the top talent of our corporate department in a formative year.”

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Gerald Grimes, managing director of Hitachi Capital Consumer Finance, has stood down after 10 years at the helm.

Hitachi are a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi Capital Corporation, one of Japan’s largest non-bank financial institutions. It was originally established to provide innovative financial solutions to manufacturers.

He said he would be pursuing other interests for a time before returning to work with a new project.

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The Humber Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) has recruited eight new private sector members to its board.

The LEP said the refresh of the board will bring further representation from local businesses and education and training providers.

Lord Haskins, chair of the Humber LEP, said: “I am always impressed by the number of highly qualified and experienced people who are prepared to give up their time to support what the LEP is doing.  Their commitment and enthusiasm is a great asset for this region.

“We received a high number of applications to join our board, and the selection process was very competitive. We feel confident that ourbBoard has selected the best members to assist in driving the growth and sustainability of the Humber economy.”

Joining the Humber LEP board are:

Simon Bird, regional director of ABP Ports which includes Immingham, Hull, Grimsby and Goole

Brendan Conlon, managing director of On Line Design & Engineering
Darren Cunningham, general manager of the Humber Refinery and UK director of Phillips 66

Jeanette Dawson, chief executive of Bishop Burton

Ian Plunkett, senior office partner at PwC  Hull Office and leader of East Yorkshire & Humber practice

Bill Showalter, chief executive of Young’s Seafood

Richard Tuplin, regional managing director at Jelf/Marsh

Anne Tyrrell, principal and chief executive of North Lindsay College

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PR and Communications agency Acceleris has strengthened its board with the appointment of Yorkshire entrepreneur and former CEO of Rixonway Kitchens Paul Rose as non-executive director.

Rose is recognised as one of Yorkshire’s leading entrepreneurs. Formerly the regional winner of EY’s Entrepreneur of the Year award, he led an MBO of Rixonway Kitchens’ in 2006 and under his tenure turnover more than doubled to £40m, driving the company to become the UK’s leading supplier of kitchens to the social housing sector, prior to its £34m sale to the Swedish kitchen manufacturer Nobia UK in late 2014.

He is currently chairman of the regional development committee for The Prince’s Trust in Yorkshire and has other business and property interests.

Louise Vaughan, managing director of Acceleris, said: “Paul has a wealth of experience in growing privately owned businesses and we are incredibly excited about both the expertise and contacts he brings to support us in our next phase of strategic growth.

“Attracting someone of his calibre as an investor underlines the fact our award-winning, client-facing work is reinforced by a sound business strategy at the operational side of the agency.”

Rose said: “Having been a client of Acceleris I’m confident in the high quality of service, insight and results the team delivers. Whilst at Rixonway I saw first hand how this not only helped cement us as an industry leader, but also directly supported our reputation with both the investor market and target customers.

“I now look forward to working with the business in a very different role to identify new opportunities to build the agency including Acceleris’ new range of digital insight services.”

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