People on the Move: Mason Owen; BDO; FibreNation; Autism Together; Hurst

Allie Bainbridge and Mike Williams

Commercial property consultants Mason Owen has appointed two new associate partners to its 60-strong Liverpool team, surveyor Allie Bainbridge and IT manager Mike Williams.

Mike has been with Mason Owen for more than 15 years, overseeing the IT for the commercial property business through a period of significant industry change.

Allie joined the business as a graduate in 2011, qualifying as a chartered surveyor four years later. Allie is now an integral part of the retail and leisure agency team.

Managing director Simon Bland said: “Both Allie and Mike are true assets to our business. Mike has steered us through ever-evolving technology, making sure we remain cutting-edge and progressive.

“Allie is a valued member of our retail and leisure team – she possesses a significant insight in these markets that has proved itself invaluable to our clients.”

He added: “We are a long-established business, and, therefore, careful about how we curate our senior team. Both Mike and Allie have important roles to play at Mason Owen as the business evolves, and we are delighted to be able to give them the opportunities they deserve.”

Liverpool-based privately-owned Mason Owen says it has sat at the forefront of property for more than 50 years and recently moved to new offices at 20 Chapel Street.

Mason Owen is responsible for some of Liverpool’s most significant transactions, including the recent £68m Exchange Flags purchase for Ashtrom, £125m purchase of India Buildings for Legal and General, the sale of 101 Old Hall Street to Nuveen and the letting of the BHS building to H&M as part of the Lord Street transformation for Vabeld.

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Accountancy and business advisory firm BDO has announced the promotion of James Fieldhouse to managing director in the M&A team.

Having joined BDO in 2003, James has more than 16 years’ experience working with owners and management teams of fast growing and entrepreneurial businesses.

He has strong experience across mid-market private equity, and has advised on several cross-border transactions, in a variety of sectors including event management, life sciences, marketing communications, manufacturing and recruitment services.

James Fieldhouse

In his new role at BDO, James will look to further develop the deal pipeline and the team within the firm’s Northern M&A team.

Rob McCann, Manchester M&A partner, said: “Jim has proven himself time and time again as a trusted adviser to clients and a well-respected colleague across the firm. It’s fantastic to see a key member of our Northern team progress to this important new role and we look forward to seeing him drive his further success.”

James added: “As a business, we continue to go from strength-to-strength in leading our markets. Against an ever-changing backdrop, our clients are the companies which are continuing to invest and go for growth, and our teams are perfectly positioned to help them succeed in doing so.

“My role will be continuing to develop our people to achieve their ambitions and work with our clients to reach their goals.”

James’s promotion is the latest in a string of senior promotions and hires across the firm in 2019, with Steven Roberts recently being made partner in Manchester in BDO’s audit team.”

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Full-fibre wholesaler, FibreNation, has welcomed two new appointments to its expanding management team, as it drives forward growth plans to bring a full-fibre network to the UK.

Darren Woods has been appointed chief financial officer, bringing with him more than 10 years’ experience operating at CFO level.

Darren has headed-up progressive change programmes including mergers and acquisitions, business-wide IT implementations, supply chain restructuring and outsourcing of transactional services, working across a range of sectors including construction, manufacturing and professional services.

A seasoned HR professional, Belinda Fearnley, has also joined the business as head of HR. Belinda is skilled in talent management, diversity and inclusion, recruitment, organisational design, performance improvement and change leadership.

She brings with her a wealth of experience from sectors including banking and financial services, utilities and retail, to help facilitate FibreNation’s ambitious growth plans.

Darren Woods and Belinda Fearnley

Both Darren and Belinda will be based in FibreNation’s new head office in Irlam, Manchester.

This year FibreNation will complete a successful network build of its gigabit-ready fibre to 54,000 homes and businesses in York, making it the most extensive city-wide fibre infrastructure currently available in the UK.

The firm is currently committed to the Yorkshire region, having announced work in Dewsbury, with projects in Harrogate, Ripon and Knaresborough to follow later this year.

Chief executive Neil McArthur said: “I’m delighted to announce these latest appointments which shows our talented team continues to grow.

“Both Darren and Belinda are hugely experienced in their respective fields. They will help to facilitate the next stage of our growth as we aim to reach our goal of bringing FTTP (fibre to the premises) to three million homes and businesses across the UK in the next 10 years, connecting our society.”

FibreNation was launched by TalkTalk in November 2018 as a wholesale FTTP operator. It operates as a separate company.

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Merseyside charity Autism Together has appointed Sue Stubbs as its new chief executive.

Sue replaces former CEO Robin Bush, who had been with the charity since 2013.

From its base in Bromborough, Wirral, the organisation supports people of all ages on the autism spectrum, with around 1,000 staff providing residential, supported living and day services to almost 450 individuals.

Sue joined Autism Together in 2017, becoming the charity’s finance director.

A qualified accountant, Sue has worked in a variety of senior financial and strategic roles across the private sector for the likes of Merrill Lynch and British Nuclear Fuels.

For the past 15 years Sue has worked within the arts and charity sector, with Bluecoat and FACT in Liverpool and the Big Life Group in Manchester.

Sue Stubbs

Sue said: “Autism Together is a wonderful organisation with talented, passionate and dedicated staff making a huge difference to the lives of the people we support.

“I am excited and proud to have the opportunity to lead the organisation through the next phase of its development.”

Andrew Davies, chairperson of Autism Together’s board of trustees, said: “We’re delighted to be able to confirm Sue’s appointment as CEO.

“We recently celebrated our 50th birthday and the board feels confident we have appointed the individual to lead Autism Together into a bright, exciting future.

“The organisation is healthy and growing, recently spreading our residential services into Cheshire and North Wales.

“With Sue at the helm, we believe we can become a key voice and supporter of people with autism across the UK.”

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Accounting and business advisory firm Hurst has announced six promotions and has recruited six new staff, including five graduates.

Tax specialist James Thompson has been promoted from senior manager to associate partner.

James joined Hurst in 2015 and has nearly 20 years’ experience. He provides tax advice to family and owner-managed businesses and is a specialist in research and development tax credits which save his clients thousands of pounds.

In Hurst’s business services team, Ryan Tattler, Kate Olivier and Katie Waud have been promoted to associate manager level.

Working across a varied portfolio of clients their roles involve ensuring the entire audit process runs efficiently and that compliance requirements are met. The trio also support junior members of the business services team.

Lucy McCormick has been promoted from marketing executive to marketing manager. She joined the firm four years ago as a PA to the corporate
finance team.

James Thompson

Her role includes managing Hurst’s marketing activities and communications, as well as implementing initiatives such as the firm’s executive insight programme which helps entrepreneurs drive growth in their companies.

Andrew Vennard, who joined Hurst as an apprentice in 2010, has been promoted from IT support technician to IT manager.

He has led a number of IT improvement projects for the firm, including the recent implementation of Hurst’s Microsoft 365 suite of products.

The five graduates who have joined as associates in the business services team are Georgia Hall, Jack Pritchard, Lisa Everett, Gareth McCallion and Daniel Noxon.

The sixth addition is Lucy Duckworth, who has joined the firm’s outsourced services team as an executive.

Partner and head of practice development, Simon Brownbill, said: “James, Lucy and Andrew have excelled in their roles and fully deserve their promotions.

“We are always keen to nurture talented individuals within the firm and to help develop their careers.

“In this regard we are also thrilled to welcome our graduate recruits to the business services team and Lucy to our outsourced services team and we wish them every success for the future with us.”

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