People: New head of office for immigration law firm; Listed life sciences company appoints food industry heavyweight as chairman; and more

Fragomen, the immigration law firm, has appointed Jane Goddard to lead the firm’s practice in Sheffield.

Goddard previously worked as a director in Fragomen’s New Jersey, USA office with responsibility for the management of major clients’ worldwide immigration programmes.

She was also special counsel at Fragomen’s Sydney office in Australia.

Caron Pope, managing partner, Fragomen, said: “Jane’s experience handling immigration matters worldwide and her dedication to the firm’s clients made her an outstanding choice for this new role in our expanding Sheffield practice. Jane will be a tremendous addition to our UK offering and, on a personal level, is extremely enthusiastic about making Yorkshire her home.”

Goddard added: “I am thrilled to be joining Fragomen’s Sheffield practice. Professionals in our Sheffield office understand the distinct immigration needs and challenges facing businesses in the north of England, as well as across the country. As the UK prepares to exit the European Union, it’s a very interesting time to be moving to Britain, and I’m looking forward to helping Yorkshire-based businesses navigate the challenges ahead.”

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Listed life sciences business Optibiotix Health has announced that Neil Davidson will be appointed as non-executive chairman on january 1.

Adam Reynolds, the current non-executive chairman will step down on December 31.

Davidson brings to the board over 30 years of operational and board experience as chairman and chief executive of FTSE 100, AIM, and private companies in both an executive and non-executive capacity.

He has a wealth of commercial expertise in the food and retail sectors having started his career with Northern Foods, where he rose to become managing director of its milk division. He subsequently became chief executive of Express Dairies and then Arla Foods before taking on a number of board positions in FTSE listed and private companies.

His experience in the public markets includes non-executive positions with a number of FTSE 100 companies such as Persimmons (£3.1bn revenue: 2016) from 2004-2013 and Wm Morrison Supermarkets (16.3bn revenue: 2016), where he is currently a non-executive director.

Stephen O’Hara, CEO of OptiBiotix, commented: “I am delighted to welcome Neil to the Board. He brings a unique mix of sector specific commercial expertise and a track record of building shareholder value. His network of contacts and wealth of experience on the Board of some of the UK’s largest public companies will help guide OptiBiotix as it builds a microbiome business in what is forecast to be one of the world’s fastest growth areas. The Board anticipates a future where microbiome products will be at the forefront of preventing, managing and treating many of today’s chronic lifestyle disease and we hope under Neil’s guidance OptiBiotix will continue to be one of the world’s leaders in this exciting and emerging field.

“On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Adam Reynolds, our outgoing interim Chairman, for his substantive contribution in helping guide OptiBiotix through its early developmental years. Adam has been an integral part of OptiBiotix’s success and we wish him well in his future projects.”

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Leeds-based Hitachi Capital UK has made a major strategic addition at the head of its consumer division with the appointment of Vincent Reboul as managing director.

With over 18 years’ experience in retail banking and fintech, Reboul’s digital and consumer banking expertise will allow Hitachi Capital Consumer Finance to consolidate and accelerate the growth that the Consumer Finance division has seen over the last five years.

Reboul joins from ShopDirect, one of the UK’s largest pureplay digital retailers, where, as commercial director, financial services, he was responsible for the business strategy for all financial products.

In his new role, Reboul will be responsible for overseeing the consumer finance division of the business – worth over £2bn year – which includes personal loans, retail and motor finance.

Robert Gordon, CEO of Hitachi Capital UK, said: “Vincent joins us at an exciting time for the consumer finance division of Hitachi Capital UK.  We’ve experienced significant growth over the last few years and earned a reputation for offering reliable, transparent products which consumers can trust, making us one of the UK’s top finance providers.  Vincent’s extensive expertise in both the retail and personal finance space, will play a crucial role in driving our innovation in this market.”