People on the Move: Bruntwood SciTech; Karl Tatler Estate Agents; Farleys Solicitors; Lu Ban Liverpool

Bruntwood SciTech, the joint venture between Bruntwood and Legal & General, has announced that Dr Kath Mackay has been appointed to its leadership team as managing director-Alderley Park, the UK’s largest single-site life science campus.

Dr Mackay joins from Innovate UK – the UK’s innovation agency – which is part of UK Research & Innovation, the £7bn body tasked with creating the best possible environment for research and innovation to flourish.

Kath is currently director for ageing society, health and nutrition, leading a team focused on growing and scaling businesses working in the biomedical, health, agriculture and food sectors.

She assumes her new role in October and takes over from Dr Chris Doherty, who has been the managing director for the past five years.

Kath, who has a PhD in Pharmacology from the University of Manchester, has worked at Innovate UK since 2013, joining originally to lead the organisation’s regenerative medicine and advanced therapies programme.

Her background is in commercial business development and operations.

Prior to Innovate UK she held roles at private sector life science companies spanning multiple disease areas and technologies across USA and EU markets.

As managing director she will be instrumental in delivering Bruntwood SciTech’s vision for Alderley Park as a global centre of excellence for fast growing life science and tech businesses.

Phil Kemp, Bruntwood SciTech chief executive, said: “I’m delighted that Kath will be leading our team at Alderley Park.

“Over the past decade she has established a reputation as a talented and inspiring leader in a critical area of innovation and discovery.

“Every day our community of businesses, research charities and institutions strives towards scientific breakthroughs. Kath has a formidable level of insight into the challenges they face and the value of what they can achieve.”

Kath Mackay said: “I’m thrilled to be joining the team at Alderley Park.

“The new generation of companies and research organisations based at the park are actively engaged in high-value science and tech discovery and collectively build on Alderley Park’s internationally-recognised reputation.

“I’m looking forward to being part of the Greater Manchester and Cheshire life science ecosystem working closely with partners at Health Innovation Manchester and Manchester Science Partnerships to support businesses to start, grow and scale as Alderley Park enters its next phase of transformation.”

Dr Chris Doherty will continue to be involved with Alderley Park in mentor, ambassadorial and independent non-executive director roles that support the developing science ecosystem.

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Karl Tatler Estate Agents, one of the biggest property sales and lettings operations on Wirral, has made two new appointments to its board of directors to drive the business’ continuing growth plans.

Andrew Schofield has been appointed operations director and will oversee the day-to-day running of the company’s five branches across the peninsula, while Debbie Evans, as finance director, will take charge of all the financial aspects of the business, along with HR affairs.

Both are based at the company’s headquarters in Pensby Road, Heswall.

Karl Tatler, who began building the business 22 years ago and who will continue to head up the operation and its 60-strong workforce, said: “To allow the company to grow and be more efficient I made a bold decision to appoint key players to the business so I could concentrate on its strategic growth plans.

“Both Andrew and Debbie have a proven track record of success with Karl Tatler Estate Agents and now is the time to bring their skills to the forefront as we begin to look at further expansion of property sales and lettings in the thriving Wirral marketplace.

Karl Tatler, centre, with Andrew and Debbie

“Thanks to their hard work and initiative, we have over the past two years become more efficient and productive than ever and, despite the current economic climate, returned a record first six months for 2019.”

Andrew joined Karl Tatler Estate Agents in 2017 and, with a law degree and a background in successful property letting projects on Merseyside, brings a fresh approach and new skills to the day-to-day operational functions, systems and processes of the business which, as well as headquarters in Heswall, has branches in West Kirby, Greasby, Prenton and Moreton.

Debbie joined the company four years ago as finance manager after working in finance positions in the construction industry, her role at Karl Tatler expanding to encompass HR duties. Last year she was promoted to head of finance.

Karl added: “Both Andrew and Debbie come from backgrounds other than sales so have a wealth of skills and knowledge gained in other business and commercial fields to produce exciting new ideas and working practices to greatly contribute to our growth plans.

“Equally important is their ethos of working as a team to bring out the best in our amazing employees as they work hard to maintain our great reputation and our excellence in professional service in real estate sales, lettings, land and new developments.”

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North West law firm Farleys Solicitors has announced its next round of promotions following another year of growth across the region.

Solicitor Ben Leech and solicitor advocate Rebecca Fairclough have both been promoted to associate partners.

Ben Leech

Ben, who specialises in criminal law and is based out of the firm’s Blackburn office, has worked at Farleys since 2015 having qualified as a solicitor in 2005. Ben represents clients during police station interviews as well as during trials at the Crown Courts and Magistrates Courts.

He said: “It’s nice to receive recognition from the partners. I look forward to building on the foundations that have been set down over the past four years.”

Rebecca originally joined the firm in 2009 and worked in the civil litigation department. After some time away from the firm she returned to Farleys in 2018 to join the commercial litigation department in Manchester.

Rebecca has a breadth of knowledge including commercial drafting but she specialises in contractual disputes, complex debt recovery, and professional negligence litigation.

Rebecca Fairclough

She said: “I am grateful for the partners to have recognised my work with this promotion. This is a huge honour. I am excited about my future at Farleys and how we can progress and continue delivering a great service to our clients.”

Managing partner Ian Liddle said: “We’re delighted with the appointments of Ben and Rebecca as associate partners. It is a recognition of the commitment which they have both made to delivering a service to their clients which surpasses expectations and their role as leaders among their peers.

“As a firm we place great reliance on growth from within and it is always really satisfying to see our young solicitors making that next leap in their career progression. Ben and Rebecca are excellent solicitors and have a bright future ahead.”

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The new £2.2m restaurant Lu Ban Liverpool, set to open this Autumn in the city’s iconic Brewery Village, has appointed Dave Critchley as executive head chef and Peter Ebbutt as general manager.

The duo, who have more than 40 years’ combined experience in the restaurant industry, will play pivotal roles in the restaurant’s development, which will bring a dynamic new dining experience to the city.

Liverpudlian Critchley, 36, is returning to work in the city after a three-year spell with Manchester-based Living Venture Group and their flagship Australasia brand, where he held the position of executive chef.

Ebbutt, who is originally from South Africa, has joined from Argentinian-chain Gaucho, where he spent 18 years. He departs his role as operations manager for the North West.

Both have started in their roles with Lu Ban Liverpool with their first task being a week-long visit to the region of Tianjin.

The visit will give them a chance to work alongside the chefs, tea sommeliers and service teams at some of the region’s finest restaurants and to devise dishes with the master chefs from the Tianjin School of Cuisine.

Critchley, who spent four years as executive head chef at the prestigious London Carriage Works at Hope Street Hotel, is looking forward to the opportunity at Lu Ban Liverpool, where he will have a range of responsibilities

“When I first heard about the project I was hugely excited by it and it was just something I had to be involved with. It has also given me the opportunity to return to my native Liverpool,” said Critchley, who has also had senior roles at Alma de Cuba, The Noble House, The Gallery in Formby and 52 Lark Lane.

He added: “As executive head chef I will be establishing a blueprint not just for Lu Ban Liverpool but future Lu Ban restaurants. I’ll be devising the menus with input from the Tianjin master chefs, hiring and training the team in the kitchen, sourcing suppliers and managing all the kitchen operations. It will be 100mph for me from now until we open.”

Peter Ebbutt, left, and David Critchley, right, enhance their Tianjin cuisine knowledge in China

That feeling is echoed by Ebbutt, who has overseen many restaurant projects during his career.

Ebbutt, 47, said: “I am bringing 25 years’ experience of working in the restaurant industry and in management. I have operations experience and of taking a restaurant from being a shell, right through to opening it and establishing it.

“The appeal is that this is start of something massive. We’re looking to not just open a restaurant but establish a brand and a culture based entirely around the Tianjin region, its food and its service. That excites me, because it is something entirely new for me.”

Lu Ban Liverpool co-founder and operations director Mike Mounfield said: “We have brought into the project two very talented and experienced members of the senior management team in Dave and Peter.

“Their knowledge combined with their enthusiasm for what we are doing here will be invaluable in the coming weeks and months as we bring an entirely new dining experience to Liverpool.”

Work has begun on transforming the former Cains Brewery building in Liverpool’s historic Baltic Triangle into the UK’s first Lu Ban restaurant, which is expected to open late Autumn.

The restaurant will be working alongside the Lu Ban Association, which is actively promoting Chinese culinary arts in the UK and delivering the next generation of restaurant teams.