People on the Move: Black Cat Building Consultancy; Ombudsman Services; St John’s Buildings; HPVD; Forbes Solicitors
Manchester-based Black Cat Building Consultancy has announced that former CBRE director, Lucía Bravo, an experienced façade engineer and architect, will join Diego Alves as part of Black Cat’s London-based façade consultancy team.
Lucía has more than 10 years of international experience in the coordination and management of a huge variety of projects, from concept design to execution.
Black Cat’s façade team has seen a huge rise in demand as it seeks to assist its clients in providing due diligence around the acquisition and development of new façade systems, as well as providing technical support in resolving issues with existing cladding and façades.
Diego Alves, who heads up the team, said: “I am delighted that Lucía has joined Black Cat to strengthen what is an increasingly exciting team and to assist in establishing Black Cat’s façade engineering division. With the global experience that she has, she will be a valuable asset to the team and I’m looking forward to working together on a number of exciting projects.”
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Ombudsman Services, the Daresbury-based not-for-profit organisation that investigates unresolved energy and telecoms complaints, has appointed its first director of regulatory affairs.
Ed Dodman joins the Cheshire-based outfit from BT – the largest provider of fixed-line, broadband and mobile services in the UK – where he oversaw commercial and regulatory strategy for BT’s consumer business.
Prior to this, Ed held operational and regulatory roles at the UK’s largest water supplier, Thames Water.
At Ombudsman Services Ed will be responsible for regulatory strategy at a significant time of change within the energy and telecoms sectors.
Central to Ed’s role will be ensuring that the interests of businesses and consumers continue to be recognised and accounted for as part of ongoing industry discussions on the future of regulation in these sectors.
Ed Dodman
Ed joins Ombudsman Services with the aim of ensuring that the organisation is at the forefront of discussions around consumer redress in essential services.
He said: “Ombudsman Services possesses meaningful cross-sector experience, data and insight which can add real value to discussions surrounding consumer redress within the energy and telecoms sectors at a critical time.
“My job will be to continue to strengthen our voice in conversations around regulation and to ensure that our internal operations inform and adapt to the changing regulatory landscape.”
Matthew Vickers, chief executive at Ombudsman Services, said: “Ed brings with him a wealth of experience from two of the largest regulated companies in the essential services space.
“His appointment forms part of the wider transformation of our business and strengthening of our senior leadership team.
“We are delighted to welcome Ed to Ombudsman Services, where he will play a defining role in shaping and leading our regulatory strategy.”
Ombudsman Services was founded in 2002 and employs more than 400 people at its offices in Daresbury, near Warrington.
As well as being approved and authorised by regulators Ofgem and Ofcom to provide alternative dispute resolution in the energy and telecoms sectors, Ombudsman Services administers the Parking on Private Land Appeals (POPLA) service for the British Parking Association.
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St John’s Buildings has welcomed data and information law specialist, Aaminah Khan, to its Chambers.
After being called to the Bar in 2001, Aaminah spent six years developing her common law practice before moving in-house to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to specialise in information law.
During her time at the ICO she practiced as the lead in-house prosecutor and gained vast experience advising on high-profile cases, including Operation Cederberg, the investigation into data misuse in political campaigns involving Cambridge Analytica and Facebook.
Aaminah advises on data protection and GDPR compliance, with a particular interest in the overlap between cybercrime and other offences. She is also an expert in reporting security incidents and handling claims for compensation that can arise from data protection breaches.
Aaminah Khan
Chris Ronan, chief executive at St John’s Buildings, said: “The laws around data protection and information are increasingly gaining the attention of both the media and the general public, so it is an excellent time to welcome Aaminah.
“Her wealth of expertise in this complex and specialist area resonates strongly with St John’s Buildings, as we work towards becoming the leading chambers in the field of legal technology.”
Aaminah added: “I am delighted to be joining St John’s Buildings, particularly as it has such a strong reputation for client satisfaction. I’m looking forward to working closely with the wider team and supporting the Chambers in its legal technology ambitions.”
Aaminah is a member of ARDL (Association of Regulatory and Disciplinary Lawyers), the Criminal Bar Association, and sits as a legally qualified chair for MPTS (Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service), and is a legal advisor to the Optical Council fitness to practise panel.
St John’s Buildings has operations in Manchester, Chester, Liverpool and Sheffield.
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Manchester-based High Voltage Partial Discharge (HVPD) and its subsidiary, HVPD Inc, has underlined its commitment to serving international customers with the addition of two new recruits.
They are North America sales manager Tim Layman, and test engineer Michael Nie.
Tim Layman, a University of Mississippi alum, has more than 15 years’ experience working with a range of large industrial companies across the entirety of North America, and a thorough understanding of HV/MV assets. He has built a stellar reputation through client development and nurturing genuine relationships, earning trust and respect across high voltage industries.
Tim Layman
Tim is now looking forward to working with HVPD’s award-winning partial discharge monitoring technology and test services.
On his appointment Tim said: “I’m very interested in HVPD’s technology – that’s one of the aspects that attracted me to the role. HVPD has a global reach and I’m looking forward to bringing my local knowledge of the North America market to the table.
“The company is a great fit for me. My experience and HVPD’s expertise complement each other – there’s a lot of opportunities ahead.”
Tim brings with him test engineer Michael Nie, with whom he has worked for the past three years.
Michael, an electronic engineering major, has a decade of extensive experience detecting PD in switchgear including GIS, as well as data analysis, and training engineers around the globe.
He has even had a hand in the PD technology product development process over the years.
Michael has also built a solid reputation for customer care, providing technical assistance and commercial support on a range of PD-related issues, and developing a real understanding of customer requirements before, during, and after purchase and implementation.
Michael Nie
Michael Nie said: “When I started my career, I knew about HVPD because they are famous for their experience with partial discharge. I have used HVPD case studies to further my knowledge of asset management. I am looking forward to working with the best PD monitoring technology in the field, and introducing it to more companies in North America.”
The move is significant not only in adding diverse knowledge and experience to HVPD’s already market-leading team of partial discharge specialists, but also in improving the way it delivers its services to its North America customers.
President of HVPD Inc, Rachel Oates, said: “We are delighted to add Tim and Michael to the team.
“We have a lot of big customers in North America, and now we can provide an even better service to them than before. At the same time, there are a lot of potential customers that would hugely benefit from our technology.
“Tim and Michael will be able to help connect us with new customers and support even more industries across the region. They spent a week with us at our global head office in Manchester, UK, and were welcomed by their new colleagues with open arms. Everyone is thrilled to be working together.”
The hiring of Tim and Michael is the latest investment of HVPD’s continued global expansion strategy, following the opening of regional offices in China, Abu Dhabi, and Australia – as well as the USA earlier this year.
Since it was founded in 2006, HVPD has worked with – and continues to work with – some of the biggest names in global business across a range of high voltage industries, including Chevron, BP, Siemens, Stena Drilling, Shell, International Paper, Freeport LNG, CNRL, Irving Oil, and more.
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Law firm Forbes Solicitors has further enhanced its successful wills, trusts and probate team by launching a new notary public service and making two new appointments.
Solicitor Megan Diamond will oversee the new service, dealing with everything from authenticating and witnessing the signing of legal documents to a wide range of overseas matters.
Associate solicitor Elizabeth Whitaker is also joining the team to further enhance the expertise it provides across a wide range of areas.
The new notary public service provides a wide range of solutions for businesses and personal clients in an efficient and easy-to-use way.
Megan is an internationally-recognised lawyer who deals with documents for use anywhere in the world, acting as an impartial and trained witness to authenticate and certify the execution of documents, usually required or intended for use outside of England and Wales.
Megan Diamond, left, and Elizabeth Whitaker
Megan, who is based in Preston, qualified as a notary public after studying a Notarial Practice Course at the University College of London (UCL).
She also specialises in wills, estate planning, lasting powers of attorney, probate and estate administration and trusts.
Elizabeth, who is based at the firm’s Preston office, has relocated to Lancashire after previously working for a firm covering North Yorkshire and the North East.
As well as specialising in the preparation of wills, she is also an expert in inheritance tax planning and advice, the setting up and administration of trusts, probate applications and the administration of estates, preparation of lasting powers of attorney and Court of Protection applications.
She is a full member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) and a fully accredited member of Solicitors for the Elderly.
Elizabeth said: “I am excited by the challenge of working with such a dedicated and talented team and helping to grow their reputation for excellence even further.”
Megan said: “I am delighted to be taking up a role at the prestigious Forbes Solicitors. Their visions and adaptable working mean that I can offer accessibility and flexibility to all my solicitor and notarial clients.”
Jane Burbidge, partner and dead of the wills, probate, tax and trusts team, said: “As a member of Solicitors for the Elderly and STEP, Elizabeth has a wealth of expertise and experience to bring to the role and we are delighted to welcome her to the team.
“Megan also brings a wealth of experience which will drive forward our notary public services solutions and offer an additional area of expertise to our clients.”
