People on the Move: Onward Homes; N R Barton; The Marketing Centre

Catherine Farrington has been appointed director of corporate services at Onward Homes.

Catherine, a qualified solicitor, has joined Onward, which claims to be the largest registered provider of social housing based solely in the North West of England, from the Homes & Communities Agency (HCA), where she was head of legal for the social housing regulator.

She has a property and corporate governance background, with more than 12 years’ experience in both the private and public sector.

Prior to joining Onward she worked for English Partnerships and the Homes and Communities Agency, before moving to the social housing regulator in 2013.

As director of corporate services Catherine will be responsible for leading and delivering the organisation’s business support functions which include legal, governance and health and safety.

Bronwen Rapley, chief executive of Onward Homes, said: “We’re delighted to have Catherine join our team. She will be a great asset in her new role here at Onward.”

Commenting on her new role, Catherine said: “It’s an exciting time to be joining Onward. I’m looking forward to working with colleagues across the business and delivering corporate services that contribute to Onward’s future success.”

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NR Barton is pleased to welcome Paul Farrington as its newest partner in the Wigan-based accountancy practice.

Paul has more than 12 years of experience advising clients on all aspects of their personal and business taxation and he can call on a wide network of professional contacts to provide specific advice to meet clients’ needs.

He has a passion for delivering clients a first class service and bringing meaning to their numbers.

Paul becomes the sixth partner at the Bridgeman Terrace-based firm, which is celebrating its 70th year.

He joins David Shirley, John Schofield, Adrian Farrimond, Cathy Rogers and Neil Whittingham who lead the practice’s team. Graham Potter, who recently retired from the partnership, continues in his role as consultant to the firm.

Paul Farrington

Crucially, Paul brings along his cloud accounting expertise to complement the firm’s Platinum Partner status with Xero, the world’s leading cloud based accountancy software.

NR Barton is Wigan’s first and only Xero Platinum Partner and one of only 10 in the North West. The firm has also partnered with Receipt Bank allowing business owners to spend less time bookkeeping and more time growing their business.

Paul said: “With the challenge of HM Revenue & Customs’ Making Tax Digital strategy becoming a reality for all VAT-registered businesses in April 2019, it is encouraging to be joining such a forward thinking and dynamic practice.

“I am looking forward to assisting local business owners with the logistical challenges associated with ensuring they are MTD compliant for VAT by April 2019.”

Senior partner of the firm, David Shirley, added: “HMRC’s Making Tax Digital strategy signals the end of paper-based accounting for millions across Britain.

“From April 2019, legislation will require businesses above the VAT threshold to set up a digital tax account and file quarterly returns online.

“At such a time of considerable change for our clients we are delighted to add Paul to our existing five-partner team, assisted by our 30 strong team of staff.”

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A company that provides experienced marketing directors on a part-time basis to successful firms has added to own regional team with the appointment of a former global consumer healthcare marketing director and successful independent marketing consultant.

The Marketing Centre – a seven-year old business that has pioneered the concept of part-time marketing directors – has a team of 80+ part-time marketing directors covering nine regions in England and Wales.

Year-on-year growth has dictated the need for expansion and popularity for the service in the North West prompted The Marketing Centre to add to the team with the appointment of Chris Bunniss.

Bunniss has more than 35 years of strategic marketing and management experience.

Chris Bunniss

The former global marketing director held senior and director level marketing roles at Boots Healthcare International and SSL International – owner of the Durex & Scholl brands – as well as running a successful business consultancy for seven years.

Chris said: “I am delighted to be offered a position and look forward to helping key North West businesses really get to grips with marketing.”

Julie Brook, who leads The Marketing Centre’s North West Team, added: “Chris’ senior-level experience in working with businesses in the healthcare and pharma sector gives him a unique perspective and skill-set which I know will be a valuable asset to the strong North West biomedical sector who may be looking for marketing support to help them scale.

“His appointment highlights the continued growth of The Marketing Centre’s team in the North West. We are seeing an increase in demand for our services, in particular from ambitious businesses in the £5m to £50m turnover range which may have limited in-house resources but are seeking high-level marketing expertise to help them take their business to the next level.”