Appointments: Irwin Mitchell; Parseq; Carter Jonas

LAW firm Irwin Mitchell has announced that Sheffield-based insolvency partner Julie Atkinson is to retire at the end of the current financial year.

Atkinson, who joined the firm as a commercial litigation solicitor over 25 years ago, is a specialist in all areas of recovery work and was responsible for launching and establishing Irwin Mitchell’s five partner strong insolvency department.

The department is now headed up by Andrew Walker in Leeds and has undergone significant investment in the last 12 months with the recent lateral partner hires of Edward Judge from SGH Martineau and John Vickery from DLA Piper.

Atkinson said: “Irwin Mitchell has grown considerably during my time into one of the UK’s largest law firms. I’m proud to have played my role in helping to develop its business team and indeed building Irwin Mitchell’s reputation for insolvency and corporate restructuring work.”

Niall Baker, partner and chief executive of the firm’s business legal services division, added: “Julie has played an important role in establishing Irwin Mitchell as a leading provider of insolvency legal services. We wish her all the best in her retirement and thank her for her significant contribution.”

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PARSEQ, the business process outsourcer, has appointed two new business development directors.

Alan Doran and David Woolley will be responsible for expanding the firm’s client portfolio which currently boasts the top 10 international banks, a third of the UK’s utility sector and a sizable chunk of the charity and insurance sector.

Formerly the business development director of Xerox UK and Europe, Doran has more than 27 years of experience working in the financial and retail sectors.

Woolley has held senior positions with outsources Wincanton, Byran S Ryan and Iron Mountain.

Vincent Smallhorne, sales and marketing director of Parseq, said: “Last month we announced our intention to create a business with £100m turnover in three years and I see these appointments as key to allowing us to achieve this goal.

“Both Alan and David have exceptionally strong industry credentials and even in the short time they’ve been with us their experience has proved to be second to none.”

With headquarters in South Yorkshire, the outsourcer employs around 2,700 people working from five key sites in Sunderland, Glasgow, Rotherham, London and Brighton.

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PROPERTY consultancy Carter Jonas has appointed partner David Boulton to head up its Northern planning team.

He replaces John Goodwin who has been head of planning in the North since 1996 and who retains a partnership role.

Boulton joined Carter Jonas in 1999 and has been a partner in the planning and development division since 2007. He was previously a planner in local government in Gloucestershire and County Durham.

Based in Harrogate, the Northern planning team operates across offices in Harrogate, Leeds, York and Kendal, in conjunction with agency and development surveying colleagues.

The team comprises eight chartered town planners with experience in both local government and private practice and a wide local knowledge and understanding of the planning system in the region.

Carter Jonas specialises in site assessment, project development, preparation and negotiation of planning applications for prominent landowners throughout Yorkshire, as well as private individual and corporate clients.