People on the Move: Forbes Solicitors; Glaisyers Solicitors; Gateley; WEX Europe Services; Napthens

From left: Claire Smith, Joe McCreadie, Trisha Modessa, Yara Cherbetji and Abigail Mottram

Five members of staff at North West legal firm Forbes Solicitors are celebrating after qualifying as solicitors.

Claire Smith, Joe McCreadie, Trishna Modessa, Yara Cherbetji and Abigail Mottram are now beginning the next stage of their careers with the firm.

Claire, based in the Preston office, works in the housing & regeneration (property) department as part of the home ownership team acting for registered providers. She deals with property transactions such as Right to Buy, Right to Acquire, staircasing, re-sales and plot sales, including shared ownership.

Joe, also based in the Preston office, works in the housing & regeneration (property) department acting for registered providers of social housing. Joe will be working on development matters as well as home ownership matters

Trishna, who is based in the central Lancashire office, works in the employment department acting primarily for commercial clients. She is able to provide advice on a range of matters, including day-to-day HR support and advice, grievance and disciplinary investigations and enjoys, in particular, getting involved with tribunal work

Yara has qualified into the employment department and will be working between the Preston and Leeds offices. She will continue to act for education establishments, public and private sector clients, providing advice on a range of employment matters.

Abigail, based in the central Lancashire office, predominately acts for commercial clients in respect of a wide range of employment matters, but also has experience of working with both local authorities and housing associations. She has a particular interest in handling tribunal claims, dealing with disciplinary issues and advising clients in respect of discrimination.

Having undertaken her training contract with the commercial departments in the firm, Abigail is able to offer a comprehensive commercial approach to employment law issues.

Siobhan Hardy, senior partner at Forbes, said: “We are delighted that Claire, Joe, Trishna, Yara and Abigail are beginning the next stage of their careers with us and are continuing the growth of our employment and housing and regeneration offering to clients.

“I wish them every success in their legal careers with us at Forbes Solicitors.”

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Manchester-based law firm, Glaisyers Solicitors, headed up by joint managing partners Nicholas Johnson and Harvey Cohen, has appointed two new recruits.

Solicitors Warren Henderson and Sam Gill both join the residential conveyancing department, bringing with them a combined 23 years’ experience in the industry.

Focused on delivering clear and straightforward advice on residential property sales and purchases, the St James’s Square-based firm has appointed Warren and Sam to strengthen the department and enable it to meet growing demand for its conveyancing services.

Warren previously worked at Lopian Wagner for 12 years. Qualified since 2002, Warren has experience in both residential and commercial conveyancing.

Conveyancing team Warren Henderson, Matthew Brennan, Nick Johnson, Harvey Cohen, Noel Davies and Sam Gill

Joining from JMW, Sam will specialise in all – including complex – leaseholds, new-build and shared owner properties in his new role at Glaisyers.

Warren said: “With its strong reputation for friendly and transparent advice, I’m delighted to be joining the Glaisyers team to help continue the excellent service they provide.”

Sam added: “Glaisyers has established itself as a trusted advisor to many in the residential conveyancing process, so I’m glad to be a part of their ongoing investment in this area.”

Harvey Cohen said: “We are thrilled to welcome Warren and Sam to the team. We are continuing to invest heavily in our specialist teams at Glaisyers to ensure we provide the high level of legal conveyancing advice we’ve become renowned for.”

Established more than 40 years ago in Manchester, Glaisyers Solicitors now has 60 dedicated employees, including six partners and more than 24 lawyers. The company offers a broad range of high quality legal services to individuals, families and SMEs across the North West.

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Gateley Plc, the legal business of law-led professional services group Gateley, has continued to expand its residential development team in Manchester with the appointments of legal director Nick Beko and solicitor Keyan Hartley.

Nick has more than 20 years’ experience in property law and was previously a partner at gunnercooke LLP. Prior to this he was a partner and head of the residential development team at DAC Beachcroft, and has also worked in the residential development team at Eversheds.

He has a wealth of experience in development work for both the private and public sectors, advising major housebuilders on large and complex transactions, including strategic land acquisitions and development schemes.

Nick Beko, Louise Ilhan and Keyan Hartley

Keyan joins as a solicitor from Kennedys, where he completed his training contract.

Nick and Keyan’s appointments follow the launch of the residential development team in Manchester in February, with the hire of legal director Louise Ilhan.

Since May the national team has more than doubled in size, making it the largest residential development team within any UK law firm. New teams have also been established in Reading and the East Midlands.

The residential development team at Gateley Plc acts for all of the top 10 national housebuilders, and 18 of the top 20, in all regions of the UK.

With the acquisition of residential development specialists, GCL Solicitors, by the Gateley Group at the end of May, Gateley Plc’s plot sales team now advises on around £2.5bn-worth of plot sales annually.

Rod Waldie, head of Gateley Plc’s property group and head of the Manchester office, said: “Our residential development team operates across the widest range of offices of any UK firm, from Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Nottingham, London, Guildford and Reading.

“With the expansion of the Manchester team we are able to offer this service at greater strength and I welcome Nick and Keyan to our rapidly growing department.”

Nick added: “I’m very much looking forward to joining the growing team here in Manchester. Gateley Plc has an extensive and experienced national team with an excellent reputation for the breadth and depth of work that they do in this sector, and I am looking forward to helping continue with that success.”

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Crewe-based fleet management solutions provider WEX Europe Services has appointed Mike Pawezowski, FCIM chartered marketer, as its new head of marketing.

A trained engineer with more than 25 years’ experience in marketing, Pawezowski will be leading the WEX Europe Services marketing team to drive business value using both digital and traditional marketing techniques.

Founded in 2014, WEX Europe Services is a joint venture between WEX Inc and Radius Payment Solutions and, since the acquisition of Esso Card, is now one of Europe’s largest providers of fuel cards.

Mike Pawezowski

“Mike’s wealth of commercial business-to-business experience and exciting new ideas make him the perfect asset to WEX Europe Services,” said Peter Dore, commercial and marketing director.

“It is an exciting time for us at the moment, with ambitious goals for 2019, and we are confident that Mike is the best person to help drive the team forward.”

Before joining WEX Europe Services, Pawezowski worked for a range of big names including Fujitsu, Chubb and TalkTalk Business.

In his new role he will be leading a marketing team of nine to align customer insights with growth objectives to both increase new business and improve the customer journey.

Pawezowski said: “Seeing the ambition and dedication here at WEX Europe Services has made joining the business an easy choice.

“I’m really looking forward to determining how, together, we can accelerate progression while ensuring that our customers remain at the heart of our marketing focus.”

WEX Europe Services employs 150 staff at its European headquarters in Crewe.

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Regional law firm Napthens has continued to expand its Merseyside presence with the appointment of Lorna Rigby as a senior associate to its Liverpool office.

Lorna returns to her home city from a role with Manchester-based Kuits. The experienced employment solicitor previously trained in Liverpool with DWF where she worked for nearly a decade.

At Napthens she will advise businesses on employment issues, from recruitment through to restructures and redundancies, in particular through Napthens’ employment law retainer service, HR3.

Her experience includes working with clients across industry sectors including leisure, retail, manufacturing and education.

Lorna is the latest recruit to join the Liverpool office, which opened earlier this year, following the recent appointment of Daniel Rawcliffe, also an employment solicitor.

She is a member of the Employment Lawyers Association and is recommended by the legal industry ‘bible’ Legal 500.

Gareth McIntegart, head of Napthens’ Liverpool office, said: “Having previously worked together earlier in our careers I am delighted that Lorna has decided to join us.

“Lorna’s appointment is a tangible sign of Napthens’ commitment to the city’s business community, and as demand for our services increases, we will continue to grow our team and our service offering.

“Napthens has received a very warm welcome in Liverpool and I’m looking forward to working with existing and new clients and the wider business community as we build our reputation across the city region.”

Gareth McIntegart and Lorna Rigby

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