People: Promotions at Gateley; Director appointment at private equity firm; and more

Law firm Gateley has announced the promotion of two lawyers in its Leeds office.

Pauline Munro, a regulatory specialist who joined in 2015 from Pinsent Masons, and Marc Warren in the real estate team who joined in 2016 have been promoted. Munro has risen to partner from legal director, whilst Warren becomes a senior associate.

William Ballmann, head of Gateley Plc’s Leeds office, commented: “After an incredibly busy year, with a number of new professional staff joining us, it is also great to announce that two senior lawyers have been promoted in our Leeds office. Each individual has contributed to the success of the firm and their promotion is very much deserved.”

Over the last five years, the Leeds team has grown rapidly, starting with just a team of five to 53 staff members today.

These promotions mark the end of a busy financial year for Gateley Plc, in which the firm has hired 10 new partners.

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Investment manager James Excell, who joined Leeds-based private equity house Key Capital Partners (KCP) in April 2016, has been promoted to investment director.

Excell has been working alongside investment partners Mike Fell and Philip Duquenoy to source and deliver investment opportunities as part of the deployment of its latest fund.

In May, the team announced that it had made an £8.65m investment to acquire a majority stake in rapidly growing online retailer of building materials, Plymouth-based Construction Materials Online (CMO), which operates retail websites supplying DIY builders and small building contractors. The CMO deal followed KCP’s substantial investment in expanding domiciliary care business Routes Healthcare, which provides NHS-funded intensive home care.  The investment, completed last July, marked the first investment made by KCP from its new fund.

KCP partner Philip Duquenoy said: “Over the last 12 months, James has been a vital member of the team, not only working with us to identify successful SMEs with the potential for further rapid growth, but also providing the strategic support these companies need in order to optimise our investment.

“This promotion is well-deserved recognition of James’s contribution.  What’s more, with many more deals in the pipeline as we deploy our current fund, we expect him to continue to play an important role in completing transactions and helping to grow our portfolio businesses.”

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Hisense, a leading consumer electronics brand, has appointed Matthew Doyle as national account manager.

Working from Hisense UK’s Leeds office, his remit will see him focus on white goods and working closely with the leading UK retailers.

Doyle joins Hisense UK from Euronics, where he worked for the last five years, specialising in brown and white goods. His eight years industry experience also includes buying roles at Best Buy and Carphone Warehouse, having worked his way through the ranks from the shop floor.

Hisense UK’s deputy managing director, Howard Grindrod, said: “It’s a pleasure to welcome Matthew to the team. He has a wealth of experience in retail and we’re delighted he has chosen to move to Hisense. Matthew’s expertise will mean he can make an immediate and noticeable contribution to our continued development here in the UK and his previous roles as a buyer will help strengthen the team further and build lasting relationship within the industry.”

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