Appointments: Board appointments; Promotions at property firm; Solicitor celebrates qualification

THE Media Centre in Huddersfield has recently welcomed four members to its non-executive board of directors.

Imran Ali, Sue Cooke, Bill Lawrence and Alex Newman have been chosen for their varied but complementary skills-set and experience.

Ms Cooke is an experienced non-executive has direct expertise in higher education, business support and economic development. She is currently head of skills and enterprise at the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership.

Mr Lawrence joins the board with a background in the arts, having worked as head of film at the National Media Museum and creative director at the Sheffield Media and Exhibition Centre. He has also been a board member at other organisations including Creative England, Screen Yorkshire, Reel Solutions and the York Arts Centre.

Mr Ali joins the board with a background in emerging technologies and founding companies such as Carbon Imagineering, a boutique R&D practice that explores the implications of new technologies, and LSx, a Leeds-based curator and producer of tech events.

Meanwhile, Mr Newman is an intellectual property lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, helping businesses to identify and manage the risks and opportunities associated with IP rights.

The new members were chosen following a three month recruitment process that focused on the specific skills and experience that will help to cement The Media Centre’s future as a base for innovative companies in the digital sector.

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YORKSHIRE law firm McCormicks of Harrogate has a new solicitor.

Carol Hancock joined the practice as a legal assistant, going on to be given a training contract in 2014, and has now qualified as a solicitor.

She is part of the family law team at McCormicks and has expertise in all areas but with a special interest in issues involving children or domestic abuse. She is also on the firm’s police station duty rota, assisting the criminal team.

She graduated from the University of Hull with a degree in Applied Biology before going into teaching science at secondary school. She returned to Hull University some years later to do a degree in law, which she completed while still teaching, gaining prizes along the way for the highest undergraduate achievements in criminal law and common law.

Ms Hancock then completed a legal practice course at the College of Law in York, gaining a commendation, before joining McCormicks in 2012.
McCormicks solicitor Carol Hancock.

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BILFINGER GVA, the commercial property adviser, has  senior promotions at its Yorkshire office..

Both Chris Jones and Mark Blenkinsop have been moved up to director level.

Mr Jones, who sits in the PDR team has worked at Bilfinger GVA in Leeds since 2013, and initially joined as an associate.

Mr Blenkinsop is part of the building team and manages a variety of building requirements for projects including due diligence, analysis and maintenance.

Ben Hall, regional senior director at Bilfinger GVA in Yorkshire, said: “These promotions not only reflect the rise in our trading performance and market standing in the North of England, but they also demonstrate the high quality of our team and their commitment to this successful business.”