People: Housebuilder appoints sales director: New CFO at Drax Group; Accountancy firm announces board promotion; and more

Housebuilder Miller Homes has announced the appointment of a new sales director.

Based in Wakefield, Miller Homes has welcomed Debbie Whittingham from Ripon to head up its sales team.

She is joined by a new raft of Development Sales Managers (DSMs) who will help in delivering the planned new developments to customers and prospective buyers.

Whittingham has worked across a variety of roles in the housebuilding sector, most latterly for Taylor Wimpey as sales director. In addition, to Whittingham’s appointment Charlotte Sutcliffe, Lucy Milnes and Charly Farris join the team as DSM’s.

Whittingham said: “Miller Homes is a forward-thinking housebuilder whose strategy is to build new homes that communities really need and that is a business ethos that I can really identify with.

“Coupled with a firm emphasis on quality and a strong senior sales management team, I am excited about what the future holds and what we will be able to achieve together.

“It was essential that we strengthened our team so that we had a strong presence at all our current and forthcoming developments. This is a new chapter for Miller Homes in Yorkshire and I shall look forward to providing many more customers with our new houses and making Yorkshire a better place to call home.”

Miller Homes, which is on track to bring in excess of 600 new homes to the county by 2020, currently has ten developments located across the region.

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The Board of Drax Group has announced that Andy Skelton has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). His appointment will take effect on 2 January 2019. He will succeed Den Jones, Interim CFO, following on from Will Gardiner’s appointment as Chief Executive Officer on 1 January 2018.

Skelton has been CFO at Fidessa Group, a UK listed global software and services business, since October 2015.  He was previously Deputy CFO at CSR, before its acquisition in 2015 by Qualcomm Incorporated. Prior to joining CSR Andy held senior finance positions at Ericsson and Marconi, including two years as CFO of Ericsson Nikola Tesla. He has a BA in Accounting and Finance from Heriot Watt University and qualified as a chartered accountant in 1994.

Jones will remain with the company until June 2019 to support the acquisition and integration of Scottish Power’s portfolio of pumped storage, hydro and gas-fired generation from Iberdrola. The acquisition is conditional upon the approval by Drax’s shareholders and clearance by UK Competition and Markets Authority.

Commenting on the appointment Phil Cox, Chairman of Drax, said: “The Directors are delighted to welcome Andy to the Board of Drax.  He brings a wealth of experience and skills, and will be a strong addition to the Drax team.  I also extend the directors’ thanks to Den Jones who has done an excellent job as Interim CFO.”

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BHP, Yorkshire’s largest independent firm of Chartered Accountants, has strengthened its team of directors following an accreditation for a key member of staff from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).

Terri Pierpoint, who joined BHP as a trainee in 2005, has been promoted to a director responsible for signing off audits after gaining Responsible Individual (RI) status by the ICAEW.

Pierpoint, who is one of the youngest members of the firm to achieve this qualification, said: “I’m really proud to have achieved this. It’s something we started talking about around 18 months ago and it really feels like a milestone in my career.

“Reaching director status is a really exciting opportunity and I’m looking forward to working more closely with my clients. I’m also thankful to the team at BHP who have supported me to grow from my initial days as a trainee through to this level.”

Pierpoint manages a client portfolio from owner-managed to mid-size corporates and stretching across a variety of sectors, including regional manufacturers, solicitor practices and educational providers.

Lisa Leighton, Audit Partner at the firm, said: “It has been wonderful to see Terri progress and develop into this role. It is a testament to her hard work and commitment, and also the strength of our team here at BHP.

“We have a solid training programme and prioritise investment in our staff in order to enable them to be the future of the firm. It’s important that we encourage and develop our staff, because we know that it’s our people who make us what we are.”

BHP has offices in Sheffield, Cleckheaton, Leeds, Chesterfield, and York. With more than 350 staff, including 31 partners, BHP has increased turnover from £8m to more than £20m in the last 10 years.

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Fleurets, the leisure property specialist, has announced the appointment of Peter Scholes to its professional team.

Operating from the Leeds and Manchester offices, Scholes will be working with Director David Sutcliffe in undertaking professional work across the North of England and Wales.

David Sutcliffe, Director of Valuation, commented: “We are absolutely delighted to welcome Peter to the Fleurets team.

“He will be supporting myself, as well as the wider professional services team, predominantly providing valuation and lease consultancy services across our North and North West regions.”

Having qualified as a chartered surveyor in 2016, Peter joins Fleurets from Savills, where he also worked within the licensed and leisure property sector.

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Onstate, the Leeds-based ecommerce agency, has appointed a new digital project manager.

The appointment of Christina Edwards follows four new appointments made during the summer, after a series of new project wins from new and existing clients.

Edwards’ appointment takes the team to 21 full-time employees all based at Graingers Way in Leeds.

edwards previously worked in digital advertising in London and has worked with an array of clients ranging from designer fashion retailer Net-a-Porter and Google to Direct Line and various automotive clients including Volvo and Mini Cooper.

She also worked on campaigns delivering live data based ads for blockbuster movies such as Dunkirk on behalf of studio 20th Century Fox.

In her new role at Onstate, edwards will work with the agency’s account teams on project delivery for all clients. Responsibilities will include client liaison, overseeing project briefs,  timings and deadlines, managing and delivering internal processes and optimising team efficiency for client benefit.

Edwards said: “Onstate is a great forward thinking agency with a very exciting client list and a first-rate approach to building and maintaining client relationships. The approach is much more collaborative than anything I experienced during my time in London and this excites me greatly.

“The Onstate team is very talented and it’s easy to see why clients are so invested. Positive working relationships are essential in the digital sector and this was a big factor in luring me back to Leeds.”

Richard Day, Onstate creative director, added: “2018 is proving to be a great year for us with some significant hires including Christina. Not only are we amassing a very talented and focussed team but also delivering a standard of work for our clients that is really putting us on the map.

“We’re delighted to be bucking the trend and attracting creative talent from London back to Yorkshire and this is not the first time this has happened this year.

“Our growing team and rapidly expanding international client portfolio will not only help ensure we remain one step ahead of the competition but also continue to attract the best and most talented people in this dynamic sector.”