People on the Move: Cushman & Wakefield; Chester University; love2move; Weightmans; White Oak; Montgomery Interiors

The Manchester office of Cushman & Wakefield has made three new appointments.

Sarah Myers joins as graduate planner, Brad Angel joins as building surveyor, while Sam Walker joins as assistant surveyor in the global occupier services (GOS) team.

Sarah joins Cushman & Wakefield from Peacock and Smith in Manchester where she has spent the past two years after completing a Masters degree in planning at the University of Manchester.

In her new position she will be preparing and submitting planning applications, appraising sites and providing planning advice.

Brad joins from Knight Frank in Manchester. He brings four years’ experience and holds a First-Class degree from Liverpool John Moores University.

He joins the project and development services team and will be involved in all aspects of project management and professional building surveyor services.

Sam joins from Carlton (North Wales) where he worked on a mixed national property portfolio as a graduate surveyor for 18 months.

Prior to this he spent 18 months in a residential estate agency as part of a sales team. In his new role within the GOS team, he is working on a commercial client account, assisting in the smooth running of its landlord and tenant relationships.

Caroline Baker, head of Cushman & Wakefield’s Manchester office, said: “I’m delighted to welcome Sarah, Brad and Sam to our Manchester team. They bring experience from a range of sectors will be a great asset to our clients.”

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Prof Eunice Simmons has been appointed as the next vice-chancellor of the University of Chester, from January 2020.

Prof Simmons is currently the deputy vice-chancellor at Nottingham Trent University (NTU), where she leads the academic and student affairs directorate, encompassing the student journey from primary school through university to graduate employment.

Her leadership has been instrumental in creating an outstanding student experience at NTU, recognised with three successive ‘University of the Year’ titles; a Teaching Excellence Framework Gold award; and a rise up The Guardian University Guide league table to 12th in the 2020 rankings.

Prof Simmons gained an Honours degree in biology at the University of Manchester and PGCE at Roehampton Institute.

She taught secondary school science before obtaining a scholarship to the University of Kent for an MSc. This was followed by a research post with the University of London and the Forestry Commission, surveying sites throughout England and Wales, leading to a PhD in forest ecology and conservation in 1992.

Prof Eunice Simmons

Her Professorship in Sustainable Environments was awarded for research and teaching in landuse and environmental habitats, ranging from Malaysian rainforest to Kent downland.

She has worked in five diverse institutions including two in the North West: University of London’s Wye and Imperial Colleges; UCLan; University of Cumbria and at Nottingham Trent since 2010.

She said: “I am thrilled to be taking up the role of vice-chancellor of the University of Chester in 2020 and am very much looking forward to visiting all the university sites and meeting students, staff and partner organisations.

“Chester’s values and its educational heritage and ambition resonate strongly with me and I am eager to help the university grow its offer to students and increase its impact in the region and beyond.”

Canon Dr Jeff Turnbull, president of University Council and pro-chancellor, said: “On behalf of the University Council, I am delighted to announce the appointment of the new vice-chancellor. We are looking forward to working with her in taking the university into the next stage, continuing to strive for the best for our students and staff.”

Prof Tim Wheeler, vice-chancellor of the University of Chester, said: “I am delighted that someone of Eunice’s immense talent and experience is taking on the role of vice-chancellor of the university. As she takes on the stewardship of this wonderful institution, she will undoubtedly bring her flair and energy in taking it still further in meeting the needs of students and the communities we serve.”

Dr Gyles Brandreth, chancellor of the University of Chester, said: “The University of Chester is a very special university, so it’s exciting to welcome someone with the special gifts and experience of Eunice Simmons as our new vice-chancellor. She is going to be stepping in to big shoes – Prof Tim Wheeler’s contribution as the university’s first vice-chancellor has been unique – but Prof Simmons has all the qualities, qualifications and experience for the job.”

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Lancashire-based online estate agency services provider love2move has boosted its credentials as a family business after marketing specialist Rachael Worrall joined the business full-time as marketing director.

Rachael had previously helped her husband, love2move co-founder Mark Worrall, with marketing, design and technology expertise when he and his mum, Georgina Cox set up the business in 2017.

Now love2move has grown and attracted investment to support its development, Rachael has joined on a permanent basis, bringing 12 years’ marketing experience to help deliver the business’ UK growth strategy.

The firm is an online platform that enables high street estate agents to compete against the internet-only services, allowing them to better access the online-only sales sector, complementing, not diminishing, their office-based services.

The service is targeted at buyers and sellers attracted to using online agents who prefer greater control and have the time to manage the process.

However, they often miss out on valuable local knowledge and expertise provided by established high street estate agents, which can lead to, for sellers, inaccurate, lower property valuations.

From left: Georgina Cox, Mark Worrall and Rachael Worrall

In less than two years the business has established a network of nearly 30 independent, often family-owned, single and multiple-location high street agent operators across the UK.

The firm aims to expand its partner network substantially through a strategy supported by recent investment secured from entrepreneur and angel investor Gary Dewhurst who acquired part of the business.

Rachael said: “Mark and Georgina have been the force behind love2move since we came up with the concept and I have loved supporting the development of the marketing and technology behind the scenes. I’m delighted we are now in a position to take the business to the next stage of development; this is the perfect time for me to join love2move on a permanent basis.

Mark Worrall said: “Being seen as a family business, even in an online marketplace, is very important to love2move.

“Most of the estate agent partners in our network are family firms and we understand the challenges and opportunities that brings with our background as a bricks and mortar business that wanted to carve out a slice of the expanding online property market favoured, predominantly, by savvy buyers and sellers.”

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Law firm Weightmans has appointed Helen Taylor as human resources director.

She will be the first ever HR director to sit on the Weightmans board.

She joins the firm from multimillion-pound insurance company esure Group, where she spent five years as HR director, responsible for around 2,000 people.

During her time at esure, Helen oversaw the people strategy, including reward, recruitment, engagement, talent and succession planning, also taking over responsibility for the facilities and internal communications teams in the latter part of her time there.

Helen has worked in HR for most of her career and has latterly worked at executive level.

Her experience spans the insurance, finance and retail industries, with senior HR positions at RSA, Next and Co-operative Financial Services. She is a non-executive director and council member at the University of Salford.

Helen Taylor

Based in Weightmans’ Liverpool headquarters, Helen will lead and support the firm’s human resources, knowledge and learning and development departments, helping the firm to deliver its people strategy.

Helen said: “People, values, culture and collaboration are all really important to me and although a business’ main objective is to provide a great service to clients and generate profit, the culture and the people are the core of its operation – Weightmans certainly shares this ethos and I am delighted to join a business that truly puts people first.”

Weightmans managing partner, John Schorah, said: “The implementation of our bold people and talent strategy is key to supporting our clients, achieving our goals and delivering further growth.

“Our people, their development and success are so important to us, and appointing our HR director to the main board for the first time is a testament to our commitment of putting our people and clients at the heart of everything we do.”

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White Oak UK, one of the UK’s largest alternative providers of business finance, has announced a number of new hires to its specialist finance team.

Based across the UK, the new hires demonstrate the business’ commitment to continued growth as it seeks to increase its focus on larger transaction sizes within the SME market.

Paul Roberts, head of specialist finance at White Oak UK, said: “At a time when traditional lenders are retrenching due to uncertainty around Brexit, there’s a growing need for alternative forms of finance to help UK businesses reach their aspirations and goals.

“By hiring a team with such a wide variety of specialisms and experience, we can offer UK SMEs the full range of business funding products, including asset financing, asset based lending, invoice finance, business and tax loans.”

Based in the North West, the new hires include Andrew Thrower who brings 15 years’ experience in business vehicle hire management and business finance from firms including Enterprise and Lombard. Andrew specialises in leasing and asset financing across energy and renewables, plant and vehicle hire, manufacturing and transportation.

Andrew Thrower

White Oak UK also welcomes Nikki Bowron, Cole O’Malley, Callum Bull and Gordon Malcolm.

All four have extensive experience in business finance across a number of different sectors, including aviation, marine, oil and gas, manufacturing, transportation, energy, renewables and plant & vehicle hire.

They will be assisted by Jessica Gorman who has 20 years experience in asset & business finance support.

Carl D’Ammassa, White Oak UK chief executive, said: “Our recent hires showcase White Oak’s commitment to hiring high-calibre individuals with extensive track records and proven credibility.”

White Oak UK, which rebranded from LDF last year, provided more than £500m in funding to UK businesses and broke £1bn on its own book in 2018 since its launch four years prior.

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Montgomery Interiors have hired its first home design consultant outside of London, to be based at its flagship concession inside Macclesfield’s Arighi Bianchi.

Eleanor West, 32, joins following roles at Selfridges, Harvey Nichols and Homesense.

Her new role will see her helping clients achieve their dream home by working with them to create their perfect design scheme.

She will advise on all aspects from wallpaper and paint options to blinds, curtains, upholstery and those all-important finishing accessories.

Her role will be a mix of store-based consultation and client home visits.

Eleanor said: “My styling experience and interior design education made for the perfect combination to confidently put room designs together.

Eleanor West

“This is something I now do at Montgomery Interiors, I help the customers create a whole design scheme that brings the room together.”

Eleanor’s appointment follows the launch of Montgomery Interiors’ new-look concession within Arighi Bianchi.

The outlet features a refreshed display and large windows to showcase products in natural light. It carries fabrics from leading brands including Harlequin, Jane Churchill, Osbourne & Little and Romo.

Eleanor is also the brand’s first home design consultant outside of London. As well as her previous experience in interior styling, Eleanor is also studying for an interior design degree from Manchester Metropolitan University, where she is on track to graduate with a first.

She added: “I am really looking forward to the home visits. This will allow me to gain a great idea of what works in the space and will enable me to create a more successful design.

“I have always been creative with a keen eye for detail. This is what drives me to choose and create a look I know our customers will love.”