Appointments: Board additions at £30m manufacturer; New faces at business groups; and more

British Thornton, the Keighley-based educational furniture supplier, has strengthened its board with the appointment of two manufacturing specialists as non-executive directors.

Paul Rose, former chief executive of Yorkshire-based kitchen manufacturer Rixonway Kitchens, and Michael Bridge, former EMEA sales and marketing director at international packaging business Sonoco, have joined the business.

Mr Rose arrives with 30 years of manufacturing experience and built Yorkshire business Rixonway into the UK’s leading supplier of assembled kitchens to the social housing sector. During his tenure at Rixonway the business experienced a tenfold rise in turnover in 22 years, from £4m to £40m. He also oversaw the development of a new 175,000 sq ft factory and the eventual £34m sale of the business to Swedish kitchen manufacturer Nobia UK in 2014.

Meanwhile, Mr Bridge spent 15 years as national account manager at Lyons Maid, after which he was appointed by Sara Lee Bakery to build a retail business alongside its food service division. From virtually nothing, this grew to make a profit of £45m a year He then spent 20 years as EMEA sales and marketing director at $5 billion US corporation Sonoco, where he held P&L responsibility and led a European acquisition.

He currently acts as Entrepreneur in Residence with Connect Yorkshire, where he devotes time to helping Yorkshire businesses grow. At British Thornton, Mr Bridge will take responsibility for sales and purchasing, along with developing a value leadership culture within the business.

British Thornton’s growth has included the acquisition of fellow Yorkshire company Claughtons and Scotland-based EME Furniture to create a £30m group.

The business has also promoted three employees to the board of directors. Jonathan Clark has been made product design director, Mike Little has been promoted to group manufacturing and production director, and Emma Dolman has been appointed as space planning director.
 
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York & North Yorkshire’s main business support organisation has welcomed new members to its main policy-making group.

The area’s Chamber of Commerce elected two new business representatives onto its Leadership Group earlier this month.  Best Western’s Graham Usher, general manager at the Monkbar Hotel, and Andrew Digwood, partner with law firm Rollits, both joined the group at the Chamber’s annual meeting in July.

The group, which meets quarterly, is chaired by the York & North Yorkshire Chamber president Ed Everard.

He said: “The York & North Yorkshire Leadership Group plays an important role in developing policy positions within the Chamber. We’re grateful to the members who give up their time in this way – it helps to ensure the Chamber is the voice of business for the area.  I’m pleased, therefore, to welcome on board Graham and Andrew and look forward to their contributions in upcoming meetings.”

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Meanwhile, new blood has also been added to the policy-making group of Bradford Chamber of Commerce.

The Chamber’s annual meeting saw three new business representatives elected onto the Leadership Group for a three-year term.  James Mason of Bradford City, Exa Network’s Mark Cowgill and Mark Viner of Guyson International all join the body.

 Other sitting members were re-elected following successful three-year stints on the group – Approach PR’s Suzanne Watson, the Media Museum’s Dean Loughran, Mike Martin of TL Dallas and Yorkshire Building Society’s Andy Caton were all endorsed to continue in their roles.

The current president and vice-president, Andy Caton and Nick Garthwaite, were re-elected for another year, and non-executive directors Vicky Wainwright (Naylor Wintersgill) and Stephen Wright (Thorite) were also re-appointed onto the board of West & North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce.

The meeting also included other organisations being co-opted onto the Leadership Group:
Philip Cockayne      JCI Bradford Chamber
Jane Pither               Leeds City College
Richard Hinchliffe    City Training Services
Trevor Higgins         Bradford Breakthrough
Kevin Reed              Bradford Council
Rod Scholes            Yorkshire Society
Liam Sutton              Bradford University

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Charles Metcalfe Carter JonasPROPERTY consultant Carter Jonas continues to grow its Leeds-based commercial team with the appointment of Charles Metcalfe as graduate surveyor.

Mr Metcalfe graduated from Northumbria University with a first class degree in estate management. During his degree, he worked as a surveying assistant with Cell:CM Chartered Surveyors and as a student valuation surveyor in the commercial asset management team within Leeds City Council.

John Webster, partner at Carter Jonas, said: “We are very pleased to have Charles join our team. He is on track to become a successful surveyor, and we are looking forward to developing his skills and experience at Carter Jonas.”

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