People: New regional partner and directors for Deloitte; Arup appoints office head; Senior hire for construction firm; and more

Business advisory firm Deloitte has announced a number of promotions across the Yorkshire and North East region, including a new partner and 12 directors.

Mergers & acquisitions (M&A) specialist Dan Renton has been promoted to partner in the financial advisory practice.  Renton, who has been with Deloitte for 13 years, has spent the bulk of his career in corporate finance across the region, with a focus on private company M&A.

There are promotions to director for three of Renton’s colleagues in the financial advisory team. They are Chris Hirst and Andrew Ward in Leeds and Andrew Croft in Newcastle.
Toby Jacklin and Gavin Richens become directors in the tax practice in Leeds, while Michael Cobb is promoted to director in Newcastle.  They are joined by two new directors in the consulting team – Ashley Lewis and Nathan McDonald.

There are four new directors in the audit and risk advisory team: Peter Balmforth, Anna Dawson and Guy Hewitt, who are all based in Leeds, and Natalie Healey, who is based in Newcastle.
Stuart Cottee, practice senior partner for Yorkshire and the North East, said: “I am really pleased for everybody that has been promoted.  This is testament to their hard work and dedication to the business over a number of years. Individually and collectively they will help ensure Deloitte continues to make a significant impact in the region.

“The number of senior promotions is aligned with our ambitious growth plans for the Yorkshire and North East practice over the next five years.  In essence, success comes from serving our clients really well.  We have fabulous people at Deloitte. Attracting, retaining and promoting the right people at the right time is a key component to delivering that growth.

“We have a high performance culture at Deloitte and are in the enviable position of having a really strong talent pool. I am looking forward to escalating the number of promotions in the coming years as we deliver on our strategy.”

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Consultancy Arup has appointed Tom Bridges as the firm’s new Leeds office leader.

Bridges is a chartered town planner with over 22 years’ experience in economic development, town planning, urban and regional policy, transport, regeneration and city operations.

Bridges will undertake this role alongside his current responsibilities to develop and lead the firm’s UK cities advisory services.

Bridges said: “The Leeds City Region has a strong future with plans for rapid jobs and housing growth, and pioneering transport schemes such as HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail. We’re also seeing significant investment in sectors including culture, energy, education, healthcare, rail, residential, roads, public realm and green spaces, water infrastructure and digital infrastructure, while strengthening resilience to the effects of climate change.”

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Priestley Construction, the Leeds-based contractor which specialises in refurbishments and conversions, has appointed Nigel Tonge to its senior team as business development manager.

With more than 25 years’ industry experience, Tongel is tasked to build on Priestley Construction’s relationships with developers and secure both conversion and new build projects for clients.

Priestley Construction works across residential and commercial sectors, delivering homes and workspaces in key locations in the North West, Yorkshire and throughout the UK.

He has previously worked for firms including Mowlem, Caddick Construction Ltd and VINCI Construction UK.

He said: “Priestley Construction is a dynamic company that is well-known for the craftsmanship and attention to detail it brings to conversions and refurbishments. I’m delighted to come on board and be an instrumental part in driving forward this ambitious business.”

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AIM-listed biotech firm Benchmark Holdings has welcomed Alex Raeber as chief scientific officer.

He will join the board as executive director and start the role in October.

Raeber has a strong track record in the animal health sector with more than 18 years’ experience in global public companies as well as start-ups.

He most recently was the director of global R&D, agriBusiness at Thermo Fisher Scientific, the American multinational biotechnology product development company, listed on the NYSE.

In this role he drove the agribusiness innovation and growth strategy, and was focused on the execution of the agribusiness product commercialisation pipeline across a range of R&D and manufacturing sites globally.

Prior to this, he led R&D divisions at biotechnology firms including Prionics AG and Cytos Proteome Therapeutics.

Malcolm Pye, Benchmark CEO, said: “I am delighted that Alex will be joining our board. His extensive scientific animal health background, coupled with his demonstrable commercial execution will bring considerable strength and new skills to the leadership of our Board. “His appointment adds to the growing momentum across our organisation as we continue to invest in our pipeline of new products and infrastructure.”