Appointments: Ex-Shop Direct boss in at Mothercare & more

MARK Newton-Jones, the former chief executive of Liverpool-based Shop Direct Group, has joined listed children’s retailer Mothercare as its interim CEO.

Mr Newton-Jones, who has just joined the board of fashion e-tailer Boohoo, worked for Next in senior roles before his stint at Shop Direct.

Alan Parker, chairman of Mothercare said: “We are delighted to have secured the appointment of Mark as our interim CEO. His leadership skills and depth of experience in retailing through stores and online will further enhance our drive to deliver the recovery of the UK business to complement the strong and growing international operations. We look forward to welcoming Mark to Mothercare on 17th March.”

Mr Newton-Jones said: “I’m very much looking forward to working alongside Alan, the board and the executive team of Mothercare, and to help in the transformation of the UK business whilst we continue to grow the successful international division.”

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INVESTMENT bank Altium has strengthened its UK team following the promotion of three staff in Manchester.
 
Chris Hopwood has been promoted to director and Adam Sivner and Dominic Orsini have moved up to assistant director.
 
Phil Adams, group chief executive at Altium, said: “2013 has been an extremely busy year following the completion of 38 transactions worth £1.78bn. I’m delighted to announce the latest promotions and they’re testament to the hard work of the staff within the firm.
 
“This is a very exciting period for Altium. We have won a huge amount of new business in the last six months and look forward to 2014 with great confidence.”
 
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LANCASHIRE law firm Napthens has strengthened its wills & estate planning team with the appointment of solicitor Elizabeth Byrne.

She qualified as a solicitor in 2007, following a career as company director and production planner in the agricultural sector.

Elizabeth said: “I am looking forward to working with the team and growing both the business and my role within it. Wills and estate planning is a sensitive area of the law and I enjoy helping clients feel at their ease and showing that solicitors can be very approachable.”

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CHESHIRE’S Equilibrium Asset Management has hired two client managers to its teams in Knutsford and Chester.
 
Cleo Fisher has joined from JLT Wealth Management and Ross Davies from Broadstone Pensions & Investments.
 
Managing partner Colin Lawson said: “Our growing client management team is testament to the great results and effective planning we provide our clients. Our business is increasing thanks to referrals from happy clients who have seen their investment portfolios deliver consistently impressive returns.”

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LANCASHIRE commercial law firm Harrison Drury has boosted its litigation team with a double appointment from rival Napthens.

The newcomers are Sean Gibbs and Nick Booth and have extensive experience dealing with professional negligence cases, contractual disputes, and issues arising out of the infringement of intellectual property rights,

Mr Gibbs who joins Harrison Drury as a director to head up its corporate and commercial litigation offering, has almost 25 years of litigation experience. He was a partner at Napthens and a former partner at DWF working at its Preston and Manchester offices. Mr Booth  was part of the commercial litigation team at Keoghs before working at Napthens and he joins Harrison Drury as an associate.