People: Two new partners at Schofield Sweeney; Gateley bolsters Leeds office with four new hires; Gordons welcomes next generation to the firm; and more

Partners Matthew Fidler and Gary Ashton have joined the Dispute Resolution team at Schofield Sweeney

Matthew Fidler, who has joined from Stewarts Law, will specialise in complex litigation and has experience of a wide range of disputes including contract, negligence, public procurement and competition law damages actions.

Gary Ashton will join the growing construction and engineering offering at the firm. Ashton specialises in construction adjudication, acting for claimants and defendants, and joins from Hawkswell Kilvington.

The Schofield Sweeney Dispute Resolution team has grown consistently over the past five years. Alistair Kennedy, Partner, said: “Matt and Gary are fantastic recruits. They are both high quality lawyers who are forward looking and very well respected. They give us further specialist litigation experience and will play key roles in the continued development of the team in the future.”

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The Leeds office of Gateley has appointed of four new solicitors.

Gemma Irving joins the Construction team as a solicitor and professional support lawyer from Sweco UK, where she was head of legal and company secretary.

The construction team also welcomes solicitor Dominic Clark, who will be working alongside the commercial dispute resolution unit.

In addition, solicitor Verity Mulkeen joins the corporate team from Pinsent Masons, where she completed her training contract, while Natasha Jones is the newest addition to the regulatory team, joining after qualifying as a solicitor from DLA Piper’s Liverpool office.

William Ballmann, head of the Leeds office, said: “Over the last five years, the Leeds team has grown rapidly, starting with just a team of five to now a team with over 70 members of staff. These appointments further expand our practice offering in Yorkshire and our services now include Banking & Finance, Corporate, Restructuring, Residential Development, Dispute Resolution, Regulatory, Construction and Real Estate.”

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Yorkshire law firm Gordons has welcomed the next generation to the firm, with the appointment of two new apprentices and four trainees.

Graduates Adrian Webb, Ben McGilvray, Oliver Allanach and Nick Wilcock have started training contracts, initially joining the employment, defendant personal injury, private client and property litigation teams, respectively. The trainees will now undertake four six-month seats in various Gordons departments.

Eleanor Tordoff and Lauren Wurzal have joined the firm as part of Gordons’ multiple-award winning apprenticeship scheme, which was the first of its kind when it was launched in 2011 and celebrated its first graduate in February 2017.

Tordoff and Wurzal will train as chartered legal executives, through the combination of on-the-job experience and academic study. Gordons will pay their salaries and course fees, meaning they will not accumulate any student debt.

Gordons partner John Holden said: “As always, competition for apprenticeships and training contracts has been fierce and we are pleased to welcome the next generation of legal talent to the firm.

“We look forward to helping these talented, young people build their careers in the Law and we are excited to see what the future holds for them.”

Gordons has offices in Leeds and Bradford and employs 196 people.

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Activate Group Limited (AGL), the insurer solutions, fleet and risk management provider has announced that Paul Pancham, currently Claims Director at Tesco Underwriting, is joining the company as a Non-Executive Director.

Paul will provide AGL with specialist knowledge, skills and assistance, while supporting the business on new projects, fundraising and mentoring senior management.

“We are delighted to welcome Paul Pancham to AGL,” said Mark Wilcox, Chairman of AGL.

“He is a highly effective business leader with a proven track record of developing industry leading solutions across the insurance and customer service sectors. We believe his joining our board is an endorsement of our business model and we look forward to working with and learning from him.”

Since 1990, Pancham has played leading roles with some of the country’s best known brands including Jaguar Landrover, BMW and Norwich Union/Aviva PLC, where he consistently delivered market-leading profit contributions and instigated transformational change programmes.

He has also invested in and owned a number of businesses including one of the UK’s largest privately owned accident repair companies, DWS, at which he was CEO until April 2017.

Pancham said: “I’m very happy to have joined AGL, and look forward to working with the business as it grows and matures.”