Appointments: E&Y’s Smith joins Psycuity; Vodafone exec joins Genesis; and more…

STEVE Smith has been appointed non-executive chairman for business psychology consultancy Psycuity.

The former Ernst & Young partner said he decided to join Psycuity, based in Newton-le-Willows, following first-hand experience of their management team profiling service after leaving his role in the E&Y Transaction Services team.

He will drive the company’s growth path. Led by entrepreneur Ian Hudson, Psycuity has bold plans to develop into a leading management and executive development consultancy in the north. 

Mr Smith said: “After seeing the results first hand, I recognised the possibilities of having this level of insight into the people you are doing business with and being able to trust in its reliability. However, it was the potential of a holistic team picture that really sold it for me.

“As part of our discussions about joining the company, Ian overlaid my profile onto the wider Psycuity team, and the potential to accurately pinpoint the capabilities and dynamics of an entire team became clear. I could see immediate applications for turnaround and management team due diligence.

” We are living in unprecedented times, everyone wants to know whether a management team can perform under pressure and drive success in an uncertain future.

“The other exciting growth opportunity I see is a Career Guidance Service that delivers genuine, intrinsic value to the end user. Having been through the profiling process myself I am confident we can provide a five star service to HR departments dealing with redundancy situations.”

The firm has also appointed business adviser Tenon to help the business put administrative andf operational systems and processes in place as it continue to grow.
 
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FORMER Vodafone senior executive David Jones has been appointed as non-executive chairman of the Bury-based Genesis Communications Group.

Mr Jones was managing director of Vodafone Connect and then managing director of sales and distribution for Vodafone UK, spending 21 years at the company.

He will work with the Genesis board to deliver its unified communications strategy. providing SMEs with flexible and cost-effective communications and hosted IT, converging mobile voice and data services, hosted IT and hosted PBX solutions.

He will also work alongside the Genesis senior management team to further develop strategic partnerships across the UK mobile and hosted IT sectors.

Piers Linney, director at Genesis said: “David’s appointment is a great coup for the business, as his strategic knowledge of the mobile sector is second to none. His board-level expertise and experience in partnership development will be essential as we continue our aggressive growth plans that will transform the way SME mobile and IT solutions are delivered.”

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CREATIVE agency McCann Erickson Communications House has appointed Andy Moffitt as managing partner.

Mr Moffitt, 43, joins McCann with more than 20 years agency experience having previously held a number of senior roles at global agencies including Wunderman and Ogilvy.

Prior to joining McCann he was a partner at Cello, the publicly quoted marketing services combine that owns agency brands including Farm, Leith and The Value Engineers. Within Cello he was the managing director with responsibility for Target Direct, the group’s direct marketing operation and he oversaw the running of accounts such as Salvation Army, The Royal British Legion and Focus DIY.

Sue Little, McCann chief executive, said: “Andy joins us with an impeccable track record of running multi-national clients for global agencies. Importantly he brings with him a wealth of experience in CRM, digital and direct marketing and this will help further strengthen our integrated digital communications proposition.”

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MANCHESTER law firm Lewis Hymanson Small has taken on Mark Grimes to head up its insolvency team.

Mr Grimes qualified at Pannone and previously held positions at George Davies and Eversheds.

Experienced in advising on company administrations, liquidations, receiverships and voluntary arrangements, he has restructured companies, well known retailers and SME’s across the UK. He also advises on bankruptcy and personal insolvency.

Past experience includes advising the administrators of Oldham Athletic Football Club and Huddersfield Town Football Club and assisting the administrators of MG Rover. 

Mr Grimes said: “Over the last six months, insolvency work has rocketed after being fairly quiet over the past five years.  We’re in un-chartered territory and although the recession may only last two years, the fallout could be for up to ten years so I expect our department to be extremely busy. For every big retailer and business that goes under and hits the headlines, there are hundreds and even thousands more that you never hear about.”