People: Family law team bolstered; Trustees appointed at Royal Armouries; and more

Law firm Rollits has appointed two leading family law specialists. Solicitors Emma Hopkins Jones and Adrian Coggon bring 27 years’ experience between them to Rollits’ existing team of family law and mediation experts.

Both will use their expertise to advise clients on divorce and separation, civil partnerships, children and parenting arrangements, and injunction proceedings. Being part of a team accredited by the Law Society and Resolution, they’ll also deliver mediation services, as well as collaborative family law.

Their services also include Inheritance Act claims, Trusts of Land and Appointment of Trustees Act 1996 (ToLATA) Applications and a variety of agreements, including pre-nuptial and post-nuptial, co-habitation and separation.

As a result of its latest appointments, Rollits – which has offices in Hull and York – now has a team of four specialist family solicitors, as Adrian and Emma join Partner Sheridan Ball and Associate Karen Myles. Between them, they have 78 years’ experience of handling family and matrimonial matters.

Sheridan Ball, Head of Rollits’ family team, said: “I am delighted to welcome Emma and Adrian to the family team. Our expansion, as a result of these two senior appointments, underlines Rollits’ commitment to ensuring that our clients have access to the best and most appropriate legal advice when dealing with all aspects of relationship breakdown.”

With 11 years’ experience as a family law specialist, Hopkins Jones joins Rollits from national firm Simpson Millar. Based at Rollits’ York office, she assists clients with resolution of financial matters relating to separation and cohabitation agreements – expertise for which she was recognised in last year’s Legal 500. She is also a member of the Resolution National Cohabitation Committee.

Hopkins Jones said: “I am really excited to have joined Rollits, which has such an enviable reputation in Yorkshire and beyond. I was attracted by the family team’s ethos of trying to alleviate the worst consequences of relationship breakdown by encouraging out of court dispute resolution and proactive measures like pre-nuptial and cohabitation agreements.”

Coggon joins Rollits’ Hull office from Hetts Solicitors, in Scunthorpe, where he spent 18 years in the family team. He is a Family Mediation Council All Issues accredited mediator and a Collaborative Family Law Practitioner member of the Hull and East Yorkshire Collaborative Pod. Coggon has also obtained Resolution Specialist accreditation status.

Coggon said: “I’m looking forward to helping maintain and grow the excellent reputation of Rollits’ family department.  I am very much committed to alternative dispute resolution and delivering the best possible service to clients, in what can often be very challenging circumstances.”

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The Secretary of State has appointed Neil Grant, Paul Kirkman and Jonathan Sands as Trustees of the Royal Armouries in Leeds, each for a term of four years. Kirkman and Sandswill started their terms on 28 September 2018, whilst Grant began his term on 1 October 2018.

Grant originally trained as an archaeologist at Reading University before moving into a career in finance. He has worked for Historic England for the last nine years, where he is currently Head of Corporate Finance & Performance.

Kirkman has 25 years top level experience in public policy and cultural sector leadership. He was Director of the National Railway Museum in York from 2012 to 2017, where he returned the world famous Flying Scotsman to operation and established a partnership with the City Council for a £700m brownfield development of land around the museum. From 2005-2012 Paul had a range of senior roles at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, including leading on the Coalition Government’s Spending Review in 2010 and having responsibility for policy and funding for the National Museums and Arts Council England. He was Head of Policy of Planning at the Natural History Museum between 1999 and 2001, at the launch of its Darwin Centre development. He had three spells at HM Treasury and was Private Secretary to the Director General of the Confederation of British Industry, working for Howard Davies and Adair Turner in the period in the run up to the 1997 election. Paul originally studied Philosophy at Edinburgh University, has an MA in Art History from Goldsmith’s College and was a fellow of the Clore Leadership Programme.

Sands is Group Chief Executive and Vexillifer of Elmwood, an international brand consultancy with studios in Leeds, London, New York, Melbourne and Singapore. He has been with Elmwood 36 years, undertaking a Management buyout in 1989 at the age of 29. He is a regular speaker at design conferences and an industry commentator. He is a past member of the Design Council and RSA and a former Chairman of the DBA. He is a Visiting Professor of Innovation at Huddersfield University where in 2002 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate for my services to the Design Industry. He was also awarded an OBE in the Queens New Years Honours in 2011 for his services to the Creative Industries.

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Transport and planning specialist Ben Gilligan has been appointed to the position of Area Director for Go North East-owned East Yorkshire Motor Services (EYMS), including Scarborough and District Motor Services.

Leaving his role as Director of Public Transport for the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive in Sheffield, from December Gilligan will head up operations for EYMS from its Hull-headquarters.

With  over 16 years of experience in the transport sector, 13 of which were with First Bus, including as the former Managing Director of First York, his planning expertise comes from roles within the public and private sector and previous consultancy work.

His appointment follows the acquisition of EYMS in June by award-winning bus operator Go North East, part of Go-Ahead Plc.

Colin Barnes, Go North East’s Head of Engineering, has been caretaking the company as interim General Manager since the summer and will handover the reins to Ben when he officially starts on December 10th.

Martijn Gilbert, managing director of Go North East and EYMS, said: “Ben is a well-respected and seasoned public transport professional who has an enviable career history forged with companies including First Yorkshire.

“He will help strengthen our team and drive the local focus for our services and depots in East Yorkshire and Scarborough. We look forward to welcoming him to the company in December.”

Gilligan added: “I am really excited about joining the team at EYMS – I’ve been a user of some of their services for a number of years and have found the staff I have dealt with to be great ambassadors for the business which fills me with confidence about the future.

“The recent acquisition provides huge opportunities to improve things further and I am looking forward to contributing to the continued success of EYMS.”

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