People on the Move: Pinsent Masons; Appleyard Lees; Active Profile; Dow Schofield Watts; Addleshaw Goddard

Law firm Pinsent Masons has announced the promotion of 15 new partners, taking effect from May 1.

Two of them are based in its Manchester office – Sian Hughes and Robert Tellwright.

Sian joined as a trainee and qualified into the construction team in the Manchester office in 1995.

She has been a legal director for a number of years and advises and represents employers, main contractors and sub-contractors in the infrastructure sector in relation to the prevention and resolution of disputes.

Rob joined the pensions team at Pinsent Masons as a senior associate in March 2014. He advises employers, trustees and insurers on a wide range of pensions issues.

Rob specialises in pensions risk transfer and is well-known for advising on pension scheme buy-ins, buy-outs and longevity hedging deals of all shapes and sizes.

Helen Ridge, head of the Manchester office, said: “The promotion of Sian and Robert to partner demonstrates our continued commitment to investment in the North West and to developing our home-grown talent.

“It reinforces our strength and depth of our offering to clients in specialist areas locally, nationally and internationally.”

Richard Foley, senior partner at Pinsent Masons, said: “We have a diverse range of skilled lawyers, innovators and progressive thinkers at Pinsent Masons and all of them play an important role in delivering legal services to our clients.

“As a business we have long-focused on creating an inclusive environment that enables everyone to work towards their aspirations.

“For us, that is key to building a strong partnership, representative of the firm’s talent. Congratulations to all on their well-deserved achievement.”

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Intellectual property firm Appleyard Lees has announced the internal promotions of Chris Mason, James Myatt, Howard Read, Sarah Dobson, Freya Hine and Rachel Mercer.

Chris Mason

Chris, James and Howard become senior associates, while Sarah, Freya, and Rachel assume the role of associates.

Managing director Joanne King said: “We recruit and retain professionals who have a passion for their areas of specialism, as demonstrated by Chris, James, Howard, Sarah, Freya and Rachel.

“The promotions highlight the firm’s commitment to provide highly-experienced IP support to our clients, while supporting the growth of our attorneys.

“With exceptional legal expertise and commitment to the firm, we are delighted with their promotions to associate and senior associate roles.”

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Marketing and communications agency, Active Profile, is continuing its ambitious growth plan with a new hire, two promotions and a further two positions available across its Liverpool and Manchester offices.

The agency now employs 12 team members across both of its North West offices and is on the lookout to recruit two new team members by the end of April, having recently hired senior account executive Gaynor Orvis in its innovation team.

The Active Profile team

Active Profile has also promoted two long-standing members of the team, Amy Hardman and Amy Cantrill, to senior account manager positions.

Anna Heyes, managing director at Active Profile, said: “It’s a fantastic time to be an Active Profiler, we’re all excited to continue to grow and develop the team and we look forward to welcoming more new colleagues in the coming months.”

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Dow Schofield Watts Angels, the Northern angel investor network, has appointed Oliver Rogers as analyst as it continues its expansion.

Oliver, who has a degree in maths and physics from the University of Bristol, was previously a data analyst with e-commerce specialist The Hut Group, and also worked as a physics tutor. He is a former winner of the Ogden Trust Young Physicist of the Year.

In his new role he will be based in the Daresbury office and will be assisting in the assessment of new applications from UK highly-scalable early-stage companies seeking funding and supporting Dow Schofield Watts Angels’ existing investments.

Oliver said: “I’ve always been fascinated by technology. This is an exciting opportunity to work within early-stage venture capital to identify the stars of the future.”

Oliver, centre, with team members David Smith, left, and Keith Benson

Established in Summer 2017, Dow Schofield Watts Angels now has more than 90 investors and has received applications from in excess of 500 businesses.

It has made three investments so far, in Warrington-based software company Avanite, Manchester-based e-commerce platform Shopblocks, and online events marketplace PopTopUK, which is based in Newcastle.

David Smith, who heads the network, said: “We are really pleased to welcome such a high-calibre recruit to the team.

“Oliver already has good experience and insight into the digital sector and has demonstrable drive and ambition.

“He is ideally placed to help us establish Dow Schofield Watts Angels as the North’s leading angel network.”

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Addleshaw Goddard announces the promotion of eight to partner across its UK and international offices, including two in its Manchester operation.

The latest promotions bring the total number of partners in the firm to 255.

Nick Ashcroft and Lucy Butterworth have been promoted in the Manchester office.

Nick Ashcroft

Nick joined AG in 2007, qualifying into the Manchester litigation team in 2009, from where he has played a key role in some of the firm’s biggest instructions.

With a strong track record of managing large and complex disputes, Nick is recognised as an expert in his field, ranked as an ‘Associate to Watch’ in Chambers and Partners 2018 and 2019.

Nick has been actively involved in the firm’s Africa Business Group since 2010, and will focus on winning work in the target jurisdictions in East Africa.

He will also focus on raising the profile of AG’s business protection practice, as well as growing the general commercial disputes practice through his existing client contacts, by being at the forefront of developments in the market and through the firm’s industrials sector team.

Lucy is a long-term and trusted advisor to the Bruntwood group, having worked with them for more than 15 years.

Lucy Butterworth

She is also a key facilitator of north-shoring work from London to the North West. Lucy has built up considerable experience acting on student accommodation and private rented sector developments, where the firm sees real opportunity to grow market share.

Welcoming the new partners, whose appointments take effect from May 1, Charles Penney, senior partner of Addleshaw Goddard, said: “I am delighted to congratulate these talented individuals who have been promoted to partner.

“Each has already made a strong contribution to the firm, and in their roles as partners they will play an important role in helping us to achieve our growth ambitions and deliver great value for our clients.”

These latest promotions follow the lateral hires of 21 partners into each of the firm’s UK and Asia offices since the start of the financial year, bolstering the corporate, banking, real estate, construction, tax, financial regulation, global investigations and energy practices.