People on the move: Brabners; Legat Owen; ACTUA; St Ann’s Hospice

Commercial law firm Brabners has appointed two specialist intellectual property professionals in its Liverpool office from Hill Dickinson.

Associate Hannah Fawcett is a dual-qualified intellectual property solicitor and chartered trade mark attorney with more than 10 years’ experience.

She led the intellectual property and trade mark team at Hill Dickinson in Liverpool and has significant experience supporting clients across the retail, leisure and sports sectors.

Fawcett advises on non-contentious matters including UK, European and international trade mark registration applications, intellectual property licensing and due diligence examinations.

She also acts on contentious matters such as intellectual property infringement disputes, domain name disputes and website content disputes.

Fawcett joins the firm alongside trade mark and patent administrator Amy Pilkington. With three years’ experience, Pilkington supports the preparation and prosecution of UK, European and international trade mark and design applications.

She also manages all renewals, records and maintenance actions related to trade mark registrations, design registrations and patents.

Fawcett said: “Intellectual property is often one of the most valuable assets a business will own and it’s crucial this is protected.

“While I work with clients across a range of sectors, the importance of providing advice that both protects a client’s rights and supports their commercial objectives is always constant.

“With its enviable reputation for the quality of its work and the breadth of its client base, Brabners provides a great fit for my team and I’m looking forward to working together as we expand our service offering.”

Nik White, head of commercial/IP at Brabners, added: “We’re focused on recruiting the best and brightest talent so we can continue to provide the highest quality service to clients and continue to build strong foundations for the future growth of our business.”

Colin Bell, who leads the IP team at Brabners, notes: “This latest addition sees our team cement its position as one of the, if not the, pre-eminent intellectual property practices in the North West.

“The appointments will boost our already growing national and international client base as well as enabling us to offer even greater resource to the businesses we work with.”
The addition is the latest in a string of hires for Brabners’ Commercial/IP team.

It follows the appointment of associate Victoria Trigwell and intellectual property and trade mark administrator Ioana Ghiurco in March 2017, solicitor Jack Roberts in September 2017, and the promotion of Hayley Morgan as the firm’s first chartered trade mark attorney in October 2016.

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Commercial property consultancy Legat Owen has appointed Mark Eastwood from Lambert Smith Hampton to head up its valuation team.

Eastwood, a senior chartered surveyor and RICS registered valuer, has built up an enviable reputation for his roles in in bank advisory, pension funds, investment property and portfolio valuations.

He has a wide range of commercial valuation experience across numerous property sectors including office, industrial, development land and mixed used sites.

In his new role, he will provide specialist consultancy and valuation services to Legat Owen’s existing client base and will offer advice on all aspects of commercial property valuation.

As well as working across a variety of property specialisms, Eastwood has operated across a number of geographical regions, with a particular emphasis upon Chester, Wirral, North Wales, Merseyside and Greater Manchester.

Eastwood said: “It’s an exciting time to be joining Legat Owen as it already has such a well-established client base and the scope of work it undertakes is vast and varied.

“I’m looking forward to working with the team to offer proactive advice to clients old and new for secure lending, accountancy purposes, pensions and to let/see and purchase commercial properties.”

Natalie Tansey, director at Legat Owen, added: “We’re excited to have Mark on board as he brings with him many years’ experience in the local and national market and his appointment will further enhance our strategic commercial offering across the North West.”

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Liverpool-based chartered building surveyor and commercial property consultancy ACTUA has strengthened its North West team with a new appointment.

Alex Gamil joined the company in November as an associate building surveyor, following two years at Atkins, where she gained valuable experience in the commercial, higher education and healthcare sectors.

Gamil brings more than 12 years’ experience to her position in the senior management team, where she will oversee all aspects of team management, as well as condition surveys, measured surveys, space planning, feasibility studies, design and specification.

She said: “I am very pleased to join the ACTUA team in Liverpool and really look forward to working with its established client base.

“ACTUA is well known for its work in education and healthcare in particular, so I am keen to immerse myself in these sectors further. Although the company is involved with some really high-profile commissions and has grown considerably in recent years, the team always manages to provide a high-quality service with a personal, bespoke approach, which is really appealing to clients.”

David Sharp, director at ACTUA, said: “We’ve had a really strong year winning a number of significant new projects which has resulted in continued growth.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Alex on-board as she’s a natural fit within the team and we’re sure her extensive experience of the industry will be an asset as we look ahead, to what we hope, will be another successful 12 months.”

Based in the North West but working across the whole of the UK, ACTUA has recently worked on projects with Liverpool John Moores University, The Christie Hospital, Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital and Camden Market in London.

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St Ann’s Hospice in Salford has announced that Professor Jackie Oldham has been appointed as chair of the hospice’s board of trustees.

Oldham, who is director of health innovation for Manchester’s Oxford Road Corridor, and a Global Ambassador for Manchester, joined the hospice as a Trustee in November 2016, and starts her new role as chair this month.

She said: “Since joining St Ann’s as a Trustee I have grown to love and develop a huge admiration for the organisation.

It’s my passionate belief that people with life-limiting illnesses should receive outstanding support that forms part of the whole continuum of life care. St Ann’s has a clear vision of how they see hospice care developing and growing in the next decade and it’s exciting to be able to play a part in helping a fantastic team transform the quality of life of people from across Greater Manchester.”

St Ann’s, which operates from three sites in Heald Green, Little Hulton and the Neil Cliffe Centre at Wythenshawe Hospital, offers care and support to thousands of local people with cancer and other life-limiting illnesses. It also provides social and health care support in the local community embracing patients, carers, families and friends.