People: New president for chamber of commerce; Promotions and new starter at law firm; Trio of associates appointed; and more

Bradford Chamber of Commerce has elected a new President.

Suzanne Watson succeeds Nick Garthwaite, who has held the post for the last two years.

Watson, Managing Director of Ilkley-based Approach PR, was elected at the annual meeting of Bradford Chamber’s Leadership Group.

She had been in the role of Vice-President until the election, and that role is now filled by Victoria Wainwright, Managing Director of accountancy firm Naylor Wintersgill.

Watson said: “This is a time of immense change and progression for our city and district and it feels the right time for a small business owner to be taking on the position of President of Bradford Chamber of Commerce.

“Our district has around 15,500 businesses and of those, 99% are micro to medium sized.

“Everyday, they, like me, live and breathe the challenges caused by productivity barriers such as transport, connectivity, the skills gap and funding.

“My own experience puts me in a strong place to be a voice and a representative of our business community.

“After working alongside Nick, who has done a wonderful job for the last two years, I feel confident that with the support of a great Chamber team and the business community behind me, we can do great things for Bradford’s profile, development and economic growth.”

The Chamber will reveal details of Suzanne’s specific plans for the next two years in the weeks and months to come.

Chief Executive of West & North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, Sandy Needham, added: “We are, of course, sad to lose Nick from the role as he’s had a great impact on supporting and representing Bradford’s business community, especially with the creation of Bradford Manufacturing Week – and we’re very grateful for that.

“But we’re also looking forward to working with and supporting Suzanne over the next two years.

“It’s a great time to be running a business in West and North Yorkshire and we have some wonderful ambassadors and campaigners within our family.”

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Doncaster-based Property management firm PM Legal Services has boosted its team after a series of staff developments.

Jonathan Cass is the newest addition to the business and solicitor Asia Munir has been promoted to associate.

Cass joins PM Legal as a senior litigator after a spell at a firm in Nottingham and brings with him over 13 years of experience in property litigation for commercial and residential properties.

He is a member of the Property Litigation Association, and has also worked at several regional and national firms in London throughout his career after qualifying as a solicitor in 2006.

He said: “I’m delighted to have joined PM Legal, as they are known industry leaders and I’m very excited to be able to further my knowledge in residential property as a part of this team.”

Munir has been promoted to associate in recognition of the development of her specialism in residential property at PM Legal.

She said: “I’m absolutely thrilled to have been promoted after just a year – it definitely feels like all my hard work has been worth it.”

Partner Cassandra Zanelli said: “I’m so pleased with the recent growth we’ve had at PM Legal, and I’m so happy to welcome Jonathan to the team, as his experience and knowledge will be extremely beneficial.

“We’re also extremely proud of Asia for her achievement, as she has been with PM Legal since April 2018 and she’s been promoted in recognition for all of her hard work and efforts in her first year with us.”

Additionally, team members Jennifer Knibbs and Ruby Zaman have recently passed their associate exam with the Institute of Residential Property Management (IRPM).

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Switalskis Solicitors, which has offices across West Yorkshire, is celebrating the appointment of three new associates.

Amy Clowrey from the child abuse compensation department, Catrin Lloyd from wills and probate and Shabana Aslam, who works within the residential conveyancing team, have all gained associate status following their completion of the Switalskis Associate Development Programme.

The programme launched in 2018 and was designed to give all staff – not just lawyers – the opportunity to develop their skills in areas including leadership, financial management, client relationship management and communication, and progress to a more senior role within the firm.

Switalskis Managing Director John Durkan said: “As a growing law firm with an eye firmly on the future delivery of legal services, we have put developing and nurturing talent high on our boardroom agenda.

“We are focused on providing the best possible service to our clients, which means we need the best lawyers and staff working in our team.

“We have welcomed a number of new people and teams to the business over the last 12 months, and have focused on making sure those people are integrated into the team while also ensuring everyone at the firm has access to development opportunities.”

“Amy, Catrin and Shabana’s talent and enthusiasm really shone through on the Associate Development Programme.

“I’m looking forward to seeing them continue to grow in their roles as associates. I’d like to congratulate them all and wish them a long and happy future with the firm.”

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Marissa Sanders

Law firm Irwin Mitchell has revealed its latest retention figures for trainees, resulting in 11 newly-qualified (NQ) solicitors being appointed in its Sheffield and Leeds offices.

In the Business Legal Services team in Sheffield, Chloe Eyre (Litigation) along with George Cohen, Erica Snellgrove and Anastasija Kozlova (Real Estate) will qualify into the firm in September after completing their training.

In Leeds, Jasmine Fearnley and Mollie Patterson have been retained by the Employment team.

In the firm’s Personal Legal Services division in Sheffield, Kerry Wagner (Court of Protection), Edward Allan (Family) and Stacey Hanson (Medical Negligence) will qualify this year.

They are joined in Leeds by Roopen Kalirai (Family) and Sanna Mazhar (Medical Negligence).

Nationally, 45 out of 47 of trainees will stay on at the firm as newly-qualified solicitors. This translates to a 96% retention rate which is higher than last year’s 83% figure.

Marissa Sanders, Head of Early Careers at Irwin Mitchell, said: “This year’s newly qualified retention rate of 96% is an outstanding achievement reflecting both the calibre of our trainees and the training and support they receive in the business.”

At the start of May, Irwin Mitchell promoted eight people to Partner level in its latest promotion round.

It also recently announced it had promoted 90 people to Associate and Senior Associate roles across its legal and group services teams.

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