People on the Move: TrakRap; Electricity North West; Bermans; mmadigital; Siemens

Sustainable secondary packaging specialist TrakRap has made two new key appointments after a sizeable investment enabled it to pursue its ambitious growth plans.

Steve Crane has joined the Skelmersdale-based company as business development manager, a role that involves winning new sales opportunities and introducing TrakRap’s low-carbon secondary packaging system to organisations in the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industry.

Steve has held engineering and sales roles at companies in the packaging industry for more than 30 years.

He joins TrakRap from packaging machinery manufacturer Adpak, where he spent 20 years as the company’s area sales manager, maintaining successful relationships with some of the UK’s biggest brands, including Asda-George and Superdry.

Packaging projects manager Amy Clark has joined TrakRap from corrugate giant Saica, where she spent three years as a design engineer whose responsibilities included managing packaging projects and materials testing.

At TrakRap, Amy will help deliver innovative and cost-effective packaging solutions to the company’s wide range of food and drink manufacturing customers, managing packaging design projects from conception to production.

Chief executive Martin Leeming said: “Since securing more than £1m in investment through a Northern Powerhouse funding programme, we’ve been looking for the perfect candidates to grow our team and enable us to expand the business, so we’re delighted to have Steve and Amy on board.

“Steve’s wealth of experience in the packaging industry and proven track record of exceeding challenging sales figures will allow us to expand our customer base, while Amy’s design skills and extensive knowledge of retail markets and new materials will ensure we offer our customers the best, most cost-effective packaging solutions to meet their needs.”

The TrakRap system is a low-carbon, low-plastic alternative to shrink-wrapping that uses a 100% recyclable stretch film to wrap products for transit for FMCG manufacturers supplying supermarkets and retailers in the UK.

The system reduces users’ carbon footprints by as much as 70% through lower CO2e emissions and significantly reduces plastic and energy consumption.

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An industry expert has been appointed as chair of Electricity North West’s newly-reformed sustainability panel.

Todd Holden, the director for low carbon at The Growth Company, a large North-West based not-for-profit organisation, has an extensive background in resource efficiency issues and the development of low carbon services.

He was appointed to the role following a strong selection process.

Todd Holden

Electricity North West’s sustainability panel helps provide the business with advice and support on both current and future policies.

Holden, from Littleborough, will chair an experienced board which includes representatives from Carbon Co-op, Community Energy England, Cumbria Action for Sustainability, Lancaster University, Peak District National Park, Co-op, Arup, and various local authorities.

He said: “The panel has achieved a number of things, including the development of the Leading the North West to zero carbon plan.

“I’m excited to undertake the role and bring fresh ideas to the panel as well as meeting key representatives from stakeholders throughout the North West.”

Holden also sits on the independent customer engagement group helping shape Electricity North West’s business plans for future investments and at The Growth Company, he leads on environmental and low carbon issues.

Electricity North West is the region’s electricity distribution network operator.

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North west commercial law firm Bermans has recently strengthened its employment law offering with a new expanded team, welcoming four new solicitors to the department throughout 2019 so far.

The firm, which has offices in Liverpool and Manchester, put plans in place to expand its employment team to cope with increasing workloads during the previous financial year.

Bermans’ Liverpool team has been bolstered by the arrivals of Neil Gouldson, Rachel Giles and Sophie Robinson, all of whom are employment law specialists who have previously worked at established North West commercial practices.

They will assist head of department, Adrian Fryer, in dealing with an influx of new Employment Tribunal instructions that the team has received from its commercial clients.

From left: Rob Maddocks, Rachel Giles, Adrian Fryer, Sophie Robertson, Neil Gouldson

Neil Gouldson has practiced as an employment law solicitor for more than 20 years and provides the team with an experienced, safe pair of hands following the recent departure of former partner Nicky Benson, who took up the role of full time Employment Judge in September.

Neil has a particular interest in collective redundancy processes and complex employment tribunal litigation. He is also experienced in acting for GP practices and dealing with ‘fitness to practice’ hearings within the medical profession.

Rachel Giles had previously worked in-house within the HR team at Marks & Spencer before moving back into private practice in 2018. She, therefore, brings a valuable insight into the challenges facing busy HR professionals.

Rachel has a particular interest in guiding her clients through absence management processes and avoiding disability discrimination claims, especially those relating to employees’ mental health issues.

Sophie Robertson joins the firm from Napthens in Preston where she undertook her training contract. Sophie’s areas of experience include disciplinary procedures, absence management and redundancy processes, as she focuses on helping clients avoid the traps that can lead to employment tribunal claims.

In addition to the Liverpool recruits, Rob Maddocks has joined the firm as a senior associate with a brief to drive forward the firm’s employment law offering in Manchester.

Rob had previously worked at HRC Law and has a particular interest in business restructures and TUPE transfers. Rob has acted for a wide range of clients ranging from OMB’s to large national and international companies, however, he has a particular focus on owner-managed SME’s.

As well as working with clients, Rob will also be focusing on developing the firm’s employment law website, Praesidium. The website was recently redesigned to create a more modernised and user-friendly experience, giving HR professionals access to an extensive library of HR and employment law advice and templates.

Adrian Fryer said: “We have seen a noticeable increase in new cases since the ET (employment tribunal) fees were abolished in 2017.

“This, coupled with some significant client wins, has meant that we have needed to expand the team to deal with the new work. I’ve been delighted with how quickly the new recruits have settled into the team and got to know our key clients.”

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Didsbury-based lead generation agency mmadigital has appointed Daniel Clode as its new head of growth.

Prior to joining the company, Daniel spent more than a decade at Croydon-based financial services company Charterhouse Claims, where he managed all external partners and affiliates, and helped to increase the staff headcount from three to more than 150.

During this time, Daniel also managed the delivery of all leads from external partners and affiliates for one of the world’s largest customer generation businesses, MVF Global.

Daniel Clode

Daniel had previously set up two companies, specialising in web analytics and link-building, and so, he comes to mmadigital with more than 20 years’ experience in SEO practices.

Set up by Dez Derry initially as a digital marketing agency in 2011, mmadigital refocused in 2016 and now specialises in lead generation for the legal sector.

Alongside Daniel’s hiring the agency is also currently recruiting new staff into its contact centre team with the aim of taking the total headcount to 30 by the end of the year.

Daniel Clode said: “It was clear from speaking to Dez that mmadigital is in an exciting period of expansion within what is a growing legal services market. To help the company achieve its growth targets and continue attracting high-quality leads was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down.”

Dez Derry said: “Daniel comes into the business with a great track record in lead generation.

“Through his expertise, mmadigital will be able to generate more enquiries in each of our vertical areas, which are then filtered and fed through to our panels of legal firms located across the UK.

“This increasing number of leads means more work is being brought in, and so, there are now also opportunities within our dedicated contact centre team.”

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Siemens Digital Industries (Siemens DI) has appointed Lee Fletcher as business development manager to spearhead growth plans and boost its value add to the agri-tech sector through technology innovation and services.

UK agri-tech contributes £14.3bn to the economy and employs around 500,000 people.

This important sector has the focus of government with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), recently announcing £22.4m funding towards new technologies that will transform farming and meet the needs of a growing population.

Lee will be focusing on developing Siemens DI’s presence in the UK agri-tech supply chain and exploring how industrial digital technologies that have successfully enhanced productivity in industry can be deployed to aid productivity and outcomes in the agri-tech sector.

He brings around 20 years of experience working with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and as a food and drink sector specialist as a springboard into his new role.

Lee Fletcher

Brian Holliday, managing director, Siemens Digital Industries, said: “The agri-tech sector will grow over the next few years and warrants this investment.

“As a technology disruptor, Siemens Digital Industries has introduced cutting-edge simulation, automation and cloud analytics across manufacturing and agri-tech looks equally set to benefit from such innovation.

“Lee has the right credentials and expertise to engage with key agri-tech companies and help them drive productivity through our well-proven digital enterprise technology.”

Lee said: “Siemens has some leading technologies which will assist our country-wide agritech customers on the journey of automating and digitalising. With my breadth of experience and industry expertise I look forward to significantly raising the profile of Siemens DI in the agritech industry.”

Siemens UK is based in Manchester.