People: Chafes Solicitors; Virtual Resolution; Clook Inernet & more

CHESHIRE legal practice Chafes Solicitors has expanded its team with the arrival of commercial real estate specialist Katy Craik-White.

Craik-White joins the Wilmslow office to advise and assist clients on buying, selling or renegotiating leases on commercial property.

She is returning to work after a four-year break, having previously worked at Herbert Smith Freehills in London.

Craik-White said: “I’m delighted to join Chafes Solicitors and look forward to supporting growth plans in the firm.”
 
Jon Roberts, manging partner of Chafes Solicitors, added: “We’re thrilled to welcome Katy to Chafes, her expertise in commercial property will add to our already experienced team. She will play an important role in our future plans and ensure our service to clients remains excellent.”

Chafes Solicitors provides personal and business legal services form three offices, Wilmslow, Alderley Edge & New Mills.

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ANIMATION and 3D visualisation firm Virtual Resolution is expanding its creative team after launching a second office in Manchester.

Studio lead Anthony Fraine will head up a new team of 3D creatives in the city to complement Virtual Resolution’s 3,000 sq ft production studio and ten strong team in Elland, West Yorkshire.
 
Tim Power, co-founder of Virtual Resolution who set up in 2009, said expansion would establish the firm as one of the largest specialist architectural visualisation firms in the UK.
 
He said: “Our priority now is to attract the country’s best creative talent to the North so that we can expand our in-house team and continue to deliver 3D modelling and visualisation for projects here and overseas.”

Both offices are equipped with in house rendering facilities and sophisticated computer design technology capable of delivering anything from simple modelling and enhanced computer generated stills through to complex video animation.

Projects have included architectural animations for Wellington Place in Leeds, computer generated views of Birmingham’s 55 Colmore row development and detailed planning animation for Debenham’s flagship Oxford Street store in London.

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PRESTON-headquartered hosting provider Clook Internet has expanded its technical support team with two new recruits.

The award-winning web hosting company, which hosts over 60,000 UK based site, welcomes Arran Short, 28, from Blackpool, and Preston’s John Rushe, 52, both as technical support officers.

Short, formerly of Motorsport Developments, will focus primarily on customer support relating to email and website technical issues. Rushe, who joins from AXA, will also provide support around web, email and Clook’s monitoring services.

Clook managing director  Chris James, said: “We pride ourselves on delivering first class our customer service and we’ve got a five star review to reflect our strengths in this area.

“In order to consistently provide this high level of service, we rely on our highly skilled, motivated and customer focused support team. We’re delighted to welcome Arran and John to the team and we’re looking forward to our customers getting to know them too.”

Established in 2002, Clook employs ten and delivers a range of internet services for clients including News UK, Iris Group and Jamie Peacock.

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UTILIGROUP – a provider of innovative SAAS solutions to the utilities and energy industry – has appointed of Mark Coyle as its new strategy and marketing director with immediate effect.
 
Coyle will be responsible for contributing to Chorley-based  Utiligroup’s overall vision, forming and executing strategy and increasing offerings to both existing and new clients. He will also oversee marketing, strategic business partnerships and industry engagement.
 
Coyle has been advising Utiligroup since December 2015 and before that was at Cyan Technology and Silver Springs Network, where he has had various roles since 2013. His last role as Vice President for Cyan Technology saw him responsible for driving business growth in all non-Asian global markets across smart metering, intelligent lighting and Internet of Things.

Coinciding with Coyle’s appointment, Martin Evans’s will assume the role of ‘Director and Founder’ allowing Martin to focus on pre-sales, mentoring his colleagues and the smart metering programme.