People on the Move: GC Business Finance; BIG Partnership; St John’s Buildings chambers; Fircroft; WFEL

Manchester-based responsible finance provider GC Business Finance has appointed Chris Hutchison as head of lending to drive growth and awareness of its loan and investment products and services.

Chris joins GC Business Finance, which is part of The Growth Company, from RBS Group, bringing more than 30 years’ experience in commercial banking, asset finance and SME support to his new role.

He will be responsible for delivering growth in the lending and management of the £160m GC Business Finance loan portfolio, across a mix of products including Start-Up Loans, the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, GC Angels and business growth loans.

Providing loans and investments between £500 and £500,000, GC Business Finance has supported thousands of the North West’s fastest growing and most visible new businesses, including Zeal Creative, Seven Bro7hers brewery and Brighter World Energy.

Chris said: “GC Business Finance is one of the country’s most respected alternative finance providers, working with and funding thousands of businesses that would otherwise simply not exist.

“What we have to offer is a unique ladder of finance that helps businesses of all sizes to grow and transition at the many different stages in their life, whether they need angel investors to back a life-changing medical device, support to quickly capitalise on an export opportunity, or start-up funding to launch a new venture.

“My role within the team will be to grow our reputation even further, proactively building awareness of our services across an ever-evolving and expanding audience – from the banks and LEPS to start-up networks and influencers.”

Paul Breen, director of GC Business Finance, said: “Chris has spent the past three decades working at the heart of commercial finance and SME support and will be a huge asset to our team.

“He understands what makes SMEs and start-ups tick and just how vital flexible and responsive funds are in helping pre-start, start-up and existing businesses grow.”

Established in 2002 and part of the Growth Company, GC Business Finance provides alternative business finance options for growing businesses that have been unable to obtain funding through a mainstream lender. Outside the North West GC Business Finance is a national back office provider for the Start-Up Loans Scheme.

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Marketing agency BIG Partnership has appointed Steven Hill to the new role of creative director, bringing heavyweight experience with some of the country’s most high-profile brands.

Steven has developed strategies for leading brands including Kraft Heinz, Highland Spring, Tennent’s, the Famous Grouse and Royal Bank of Scotland. He has also led hard-hitting public sector creative campaigns for the NHS and Scottish Government.

He joins the agency at a time of significant growth after BIG reported a record increase in turnover of £1.4m to £8.8m, which resulted in a £250,000 bonus pot shared by its 107 staff.

Steven will work across the agency’s offices in Glasgow, Manchester, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dunfermline and Dundee to strengthen brand identities and devise marketing strategies that deliver measurable impacts. BIG supports more than 300 brands across the B2B and consumer sectors.

Steven Hill

Allan Barr, director and head of digital and marketing at BIG, said: “Steven’s appointment adds a powerhouse of creative weight to our branding strategies and creative campaigns.

“His ideas and experience are sought after in the UK and beyond. Working closely with our design and digital teams, clients will benefit from Steven’s well-considered creative strategies, brought to life in the most imaginative ways to trigger a desired response.”

BIG recently strengthened its creative offering with the appointment of Stephen Noble as content director who will work closely with Steven to produce evocative brand stories for clients.

As well as consultancy projects, Steven previously spent eight years as creative director at London and Edinburgh agency Multiply and was also design director at The Gate.

Steven Hill said: “It’s one thing to create great things, but without a cohesive strategy a client’s products or services can easily be lost.

“BIG is ambitious, works with interesting and diverse clients and there’s a real buzz here about finding new ways to deliver results. I’m looking forward to getting stuck into creating campaigns that deliver a punch for this exciting mix of brands.”

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St John’s Buildings chambers has seen two leading barristers appointed as District Judges, with Abigail Hickinbottom appointed to the North Eastern Circuit, and Magdalen Case to join the Northern Circuit.

In recent years Abigail has specialised in family law, and she also has experience in civil litigation, including personal injury claims.

Abigail Hickinbottom

She was called to the Bar in 2004 and appointed a Deputy District Judge in 2015. Abigail will be based at Sheffield Combined Court Centre, and will also sit at Doncaster and Great Grimsby County Courts.

As District Judge for the Northern Circuit, Magdalen will be based at Blackburn County and Family Court.

A leading barrister in family law, with a particular specialism in children’s cases, Magdalen also has substantial Court of Protection experience. Magdalen was called to the Bar in 1992 and appointed as Deputy District Judge in 2015.

This is the latest in a series of judicial appointments for Manchester barristers’ chambers St John’s Buildings, which is one of the UK’s largest super-sets.

Magdalen Case

In March, Robert McGinty was appointed District Judge to the Midlands Circuit, with Rachael Harrison appointed as a Circuit Judge at Sheffield Crown Court in January. David Pojur was appointed assistant coroner for North Wales in February.

District Judge Abigail Hickinbottom said: “I am sure that my years of experience in practice as a barrister will be invaluable in dealing with the challenges that my new role will bring.

District Judge Magdalen Case said: “It’s a true accolade to be appointed as District Judge for the Northern Circuit. St John’s Buildings has a stellar reputation for producing highly skilled members of the judiciary, and I am very proud to be a small part of that tradition.”

Chris Ronan, chief executive at St John’s Buildings, said: “We are extremely pleased to see two excellent barristers appointed as District Judges.

“Both Abigail and Magdalen have outstanding reputations in their fields of expertise, due to their superb service and extensive knowledge. They are truly deserving of their respective appointments, and we wish them all the very best for the future.”

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Fircroft, the Birchwood-based technical engineering recruiter, has strengthened its board of directors with the appointment of Leonie Williams as board director for human resources.

This newly-created role supports the company vision in providing best in class workforce solutions to the global technical engineering industries.

A commercially-focused and strategic leader, Leonie has multi-disciplinary global experience across the automotive, manufacturing, consumer, aviation and supply chain sectors.

Leonie joins Fircroft on the November 5, from the global airline giant, Thomas Cook, where she was human resources director and responsible for leading a strategic business transformation programme involving more than 6,000 employees.

Prior to Thomas Cook, Leonie was responsible for talent development at the Volkswagen Group, having spent more than 16 years with the luxury automotive retailer, Bentley Motors.

Recognised as one of the most prominent and forward-thinking HR leaders, Leonie has in-depth experience of leading and managing geographically diverse and multicultural businesses and her focus is to deliver a common goal and company vision through a robust HR function.

Johnathan Johnson, Fircroft’s chief executive, said: “Leonie’s depth of international, commercial and functional experience will strengthen our position as a world-class provider of global recruitment solutions.

“This new role is fundamental to our business’ development and growth and I am delighted Leonie is joining our board and our team.”

Leonie said: “This is a fantastic time to join Fircroft, a business with a rich heritage and an incredibly exciting future.

“With HR fully integrated into the board team there is a great opportunity to strengthen and develop the business through high quality and effective HR solutions. I am thrilled to be joining and look forward to guiding the business to even greater success.”

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The board of Stockport-based WFEL, a world leader in the supply of rapidly-deployable military bridging systems, has announced the appointment of Dan Thompson to the new position of quality director.

Dan Thompson

This new director role has been formed to position the quality function appropriately within the company structure, for both current and future business strategies.

Dan has held the position of WFEL’s quality manager since 2016. In this new position Dan will continue to oversee all activities and tasks needed to maintain WFEL’s quality management system, and will now include the forward-looking expansion of scope of approvals to reflect WFEL’s potential new product portfolio, while also continuing to act as WFEL’s responsible welding coordinator.

Mr Thompson has previously held senior quality and engineering roles with Watson Steel, Mott McDonald and AMEC.

He has a Master’s degree in welding engineering from Cranfield University, holds a professional membership with The Welding Institute, and is a Chartered Engineer registered with the Engineering Council.