People: Leeds partner appointed to national role; Law firm grows dispute resolution team; Sanderson Weatherall announces shareholding partner; and more

Andrew Playle, partner in the Leeds office of law firm Mills & Reeve, has been promoted to national head of private wealth to spearhead the growth of the UK practice.

Playle joined the Leeds office in 2016 from Bond Dickinson and has played an instrumental role in doubling the turnover of both the team and the office.

He specialises in advising high net worth entrepreneurial clients and will continue to be based in the Leeds office.

He said: “The Leeds team has enjoyed excellent growth over the last few years and is a leader in the Yorkshire market. It now seems like a natural progression to take on the national role. Our multi-awarding winning private wealth practise is an integral part of the firm’s offering and works closely with all teams including corporate and commercial, dispute resolution and real estate to offer clients a complete legal service. I am very much looking forward to help further develop the national practice.”

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Freeths’ Sheffield office continues to grow its business and commercial offering with the recruitment of a partner and associate to its dispute resolution team.

James Berry joined in April from Irwin Mitchell where he was a partner and worked for almost 12 years. He specialises in commercial dispute resolution and advises clients across a wide variety of commercial and business disputes with a particular specialism in the manufacturing, food and technology sectors and in dealing with high value and complex litigation.

Also joining with Berry from Irwin Mitchell is Ciaran Dearden who is an associate and was shortlisted in 2017 for the Junior Lawyer of the Year by the Law Society of England and Wales.

He also deals with a variety of commercial disputes and has particular experience in supporting both directors and shareholders and matters involving fraud.

John May, managing partner for Sheffield, said: “I am delighted to announce James and Ciaran’s appointment which coincides with our move into brand new office space at 3 St Pauls Place.  They are both well known across South Yorkshire and have worked together for a number of years. Their appointments will add further skill and experience to the firm and build upon the great offering we already have. Sheffield is a vibrant, growing market and I am sure James and Ciaran will thrive at Freeths.”

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Commercial property consultancy Sanderson Weatherall has appointed a new shareholding partner at its Leeds office.

Neil Bestwick has become a shareholder of the independently owned property firm, and is one of four new shareholder appointments that have been made across the firm.

Bestwick is a partner in the firm’s Asset Advisory and Recovery team, joined the firm in 1999 as a graduate surveyor and specialises in providing advice to insolvency practitioners on property related matters. His clients including the ‘big four’ accountancy firms, as well as smaller niche operators. Healso provides advice to a variety of secured lenders in taking security and is an RICS Registered Property Receiver.

David Rastrick, head of office at Sanderson Weatherall Leeds said: “I’m delighted to welcome Neil on board as shareholder. We have seen our turnover increase by 5% this year and are going through some exciting changes in the firm with the relocation of our Leeds office to the £100m Central Square development, as well as launching an updated brand and widening our service offering across the wider office network.

“I am looking forward to seeing Neil taking on an important role in our continued growth over the next period.”

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Bradford-based Ebor Financial Planning has welcomed Jelena Savonina as operations director for the business.

As a former HMRC corporation tax specialist, Savonina has a wealth of experience and knowledge in taxation and financial services, as well as investments. Her role as operations director will see her responsible for the day-to-day running of the company, as well as business development and leading employees through the expected changes as a result of the transformation programme.

Savonina also holds Chartered Financial Planner status and is currently studying towards an Executive MBA at the University of Bradford.

Partner Richard Butterfield, said: “Jelena brings invaluable specialist knowledge to Ebor and will be a key person in our team. Jelena’s appointment plays a key role in Ebor strategy to make financial advice available to younger generation and to ensure continuation of service to our existing clients – it’s our very own succession planning, and we believe she is an excellent asset for the firm moving forward.”

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A new legal recruitment consultancy has been launched in Leeds.

Haggerty Jaques has been launched by Katie Haggerty and Amy Jaques and will span the north, as well as national markets.

The firm provides bespoke legal recruitment consultancy services to clients recruiting and candidates looking to be recruited into private practice law firms and in-house legal teams. Haggerty Jaques works with candidates of all levels: junior lawyers to partners, legal assistants to company secretaries, General Counsel and Heads of Legal.

Its founders have over twenty-five years’ combined experience of legal recruitment and the legal industry in general; Haggerty’s legal recruitment career began back in 2001 in Manchester and for the last nine years she has worked for a multinational recruitment agency in Leeds.

Jaques’ career began as a regulatory lawyer for Walker Morris and Eversheds in Leeds before she joined Katie in working for a multinational recruitment agency in 2012, placing lawyers into private practice law firms across Yorkshire and the North East.

“The fact that I have experienced first-hand the recruitment process from the perspective of candidate, consultant, client and in-house recruiter means that I am in the unique position of being able to provide holistic advice with the benefit of hands-on industry knowledge and insight,” she said.

Haggerty added: “Our USP is very much the fact that we can provide a rounded service. We firmly believe that two heads are better than one; Amy and I will be advising our clients and candidates together, rather than replicating the traditional model of working in parallel. It means that we can bring different ideas, experience and qualities to the table and provide a 360-degree service.”