People on the Move: Baldwins; Ball & Berry; Sellick Partnership; GC Business Finance; Gorvins Solicitors

A North West accounting and business advisory firm is marking the start of a new decade by promoting two team members in its Lancaster office.

Baldwins, a CogitalGroup company, has promoted Susanna Cassey and Ryan Wear to partner, as part of its continuing growth plans.

The pair have worked from Baldwins for two and three years, respectively, and both are looking forward to the challenges their promotion will bring.

Susanna, whose new role will involve building existing client relationships and new business development, said: “I’m delighted to have been promoted to partner, and this is exactly where I want to be in my career.

“Initially, I’m going to be focusing on growing Baldwins’ presence in the marketplace and shouting about the great work we do.

“It’s a very exciting time for the firm, we’re working on a number of new initiatives to meet client demands and, luckily, because of the size of the company, we have plenty of resources at our disposal.”

Baldwins is one of the fastest growing practices in the UK, with 95 offices employing 3,000 people, and a significant North West presence operating out of seven offices.

Ryan, who joined the firm in 2016 from one of the big four accountancy firms, KPMG, added: “Being promoted to partner is a huge milestone in anyone’s career and to have been able to achieve this in a dynamic firm like Baldwins means the actual journey to promotion has been equally as enjoyable as the promotion itself.

“I am looking forward to the challenge of building on the success to date of the Lancaster office, which has been built on a mantra of being client-centric and the delivery of excellent service.

“Along with our clients, our people are the lifeblood of the firm and will be the reason for any success that we hope achieve going forward. As partner, my primary focus will be to build on our excellent levels of client service along with the continued development of our people so that they can be the best that they can be.”

Ryan’s commitment to the North West has also led to his appointment as an ambassador of the Lancaster & District Chamber of Commerce. Going forward he will be working alongside other ambassadors to support the chamber and provide members access to Baldwins’ comprehensive range of business services and expertise.

Baldwins specialises in accountancy and business advisory services, including corporate finance and specialist tax advice to all businesses from start-ups to mature companies, across a broad range of business sectors.

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Approved inspector and building control specialist, Ball & Berry, has made a quartet of appointments to service its rapidly-growing client portfolio.

The four new team members, to be based at the firm’s Preston headquarters, follow Ball & Berry’s high-profile hiring of regional director, Richard Cymler, in 2019.

Collectively, the new additions will seek to expand the company’s footprint and continue building on its reputation for delivering outstanding client service and technical expertise.

The appointments include Daniel Finlayson, who joins as a building control surveyor. With a background in environmental health, Daniel has worked as an approved inspector in the domestic sector for five years, and will now be a main source of contact for clients, architects and other third parties wishing to undertake site inspections and review technical guidance on construction projects.

Trainee building control surveyor, Muhammad Hussain, is shadowing senior figures within Ball & Berry to progress into the role of building control surveyor. Here, he will be responsible for ensuring the buildings the organisation is specified on are compliant to all regulations, therefore becoming integral to creating safe buildings of the future.

Sarah Wild, who has joined as a technical administrator, has a strong background in customer service and administration, spanning across a number of sectors from retail to childcare and, most recently, hospitality.

From left: Daniel Finlayson, Kiera Fletcher, Sarah Wild and Muhammad Hussain

Overseeing all client correspondence and registering new applications, she will bring her customer service expertise to the fore in order to manage the running of the Preston office.

Finally, Kiera Fletcher joins as an administrator, acting as the main point of contact for clients who require costings and quotes and working with project managers to progress initial enquiries through to live jobs.

The quartet join a growing and acclaimed team, which has been further bolstered by the opening of a third Birmingham-based office in 2019.

Paul McNeill, director, said: “2019 has been Ball & Berry’s most successful year to date. Not only have we expanded our footprint across the UK, we are seeing increased demand for our services based on a solid reputation of delivering customer and technical expertise.

“As a result, we’ve taken on a raft of new recruits, all of whom I am confident will embed seamlessly into the team as we continue building on our successes.

“I’d like to welcome Daniel, Muhammad, Sarah and Kiera to the team, and thank them for already demonstrating a desire to deliver brilliant results for our clients.”

Ball & Berry has staff across offices in Preston, Manchester and Birmingham, with its team including a number of ex-heads of local authority building control. It specialises in commercial building control services across a variety of industry sectors.

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Sellick Partnership has announced the appointment of two new associate directors – Laura Hayward and Mark Bailey – within its legal recruitment team.

Laura and Mark will be heading up their public sector and private sector legal recruitment teams, supporting managing director Jo Sellick and legal group director Hannah Cottam with the strategic direction of their legal offering.

Laura joined Sellick Partnership in October 2011 as a resourcing consultant and has quickly risen through the ranks. Now managing an experienced team of legal consultants from Manchester city centre, Laura has been instrumental in growing Sellick Partnership’s renowned public sector offering.

Laura said: “I am absolutely thrilled to be taking a step up and moving into a more strategic role within the business. Having worked exclusively in the legal locum market for the last eight years I am confident that I can use my knowledge and experience to assist the board with our growth plans through enabling others in the business to progress and develop whilst also continuing to further solidify and expand our position as market leaders.

“We have ambitious plans for 2020, and I am really looking forward to working collaboratively with the board to achieve our goals.”

Mark has more than a decade-worth of recruitment experience and joined Sellick Partnership as a manager in November 2015.

Laura Hayward

Since then he has focused on the development of their private practice offering and now manages their legal team in Leeds city centre.

Mark said: “I am extremely proud to have been appointed associate director and am excited by the future plans for the business moving forward.”

The appointments come less than a year after Sellick Partnership sold a majority stake to French soft services provider Samsic.

Legal group director Hannah Cottam said: “Both Laura and Mark are exemplary recruitment professionals. Not only have they helped build our teams, and grow our legal offering, they have also shown that they are able to think strategically, which is a huge bonus during this time of growth for Sellick Partnership.

“My fellow board members and I are excited to work with Laura and Mark. We know they have a great deal to offer, and their knowledge and understanding of the recruitment industry will be hugely valuable. We wish them every success in their new roles.”

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GC Business Finance has made three new appointments, expanding its team across the North West.

Jala Daly has been appointed as business development manager, Raj Dehel takes on the role of senior loan manager for NPIF (Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund) and Glenn Hyde has been appointed as loan manager for start-up loans.

Jala Daly joins following 10 years at Barclays Bank in Oxford where she started as a cashier and successfully progressed through several different roles. Her most recent role at Barclays was as business relationship manager, supporting a portfolio of 150 SMEs with a turnover of between £400,000 to £1m.

In her new role Jala will be responsible for increasing the number of SMEs that GC Business Finance support across the North West, while raising the profile of the business. Jala will also work closely with the loan managers, to increase investments.

Raj Dehel has been appointed as senior loan manager, looking to support SME businesses across the North West with a focus on Lancashire and Cumbria, specifically managing the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund. Raj will work alongside Jala and Glenn in order to support local SMEs seeking funding.

Glenn Hyde, Raj Dehel and Jala Daly

Raj’s background includes more than 20 years’ experience in the banking and finance sectors, initially joining NatWest (RBS Group) on their graduate programme.

He then spent 12 years at RBS covering a variety of relationship management roles. Most recently Raj held the role of specialist asset finance broker after joining the UK’s largest trailer manufacturer.

Working alongside Raj will be Glenn Hyde on the start-up loans team, who joins as a loan manager.

Glenn has had a varied career, with 27 years at NatWest working within customer service roles, progressing to bank manager then business manager. Following this, Glenn worked for the Ministry of Justice and, more recently, as a self-employed general manager in consultancy across the transport sector.

As loan manager Glenn will be responsible for managing the start-up loans team to ensure loans are provided to aid start-ups and promote growth of businesses across the region.

Established in 2002, GC Business Finance provides a range of alternative finance options for growing businesses that have been unable to obtain funding through a mainstream lender. The firm annually delivers in excess of £60m in SME finance to more than 5,000 small and medium sized enterprises.

Chris Hutchison, head of lending at GC Business Finance, said: “We are excited to be welcoming Jala, Raj and Glenn to the team and look forward to seeing the huge difference they’ll make to helping more businesses access funding across the North.

“The three new appointments highlight our commitment to supporting SMEs and start-up companies to achieve their full potential as well as driving our core purpose of economic growth and job creation across the North West.”

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Gorvins Solicitors has announced the promotion of three of its legal team to senior positions within the firm.

Claire Beaumont, Nicola Fraser and Danielle Ayres have all been promoted to senior positions in the commercial property, family and employment teams.

Claire Beaumont

In line with recent expansion of the commercial property team, and continued projected growth in this area, Claire Beaumont has taken on the position of co-head of commercial property.

She works alongside managing partner, Martin Hoare, responsible for positioning the team to service the region’s booming commercial property sector. Claire joined Gorvins in 2015 and has a full range of clients from developers to landlords and also funders.

The Stockport-based law firm has promoted Nicola Fraser to partner and head of family and matrimonial law.

Nicola has nearly 30 years of working in this area and has expertise in separation, divorce and civil partnership dissolution, prenuptial agreements, children matters, and financial and property settlements.

Nicola Fraser

Nicola is committed to delivering peerless legal advice and stability for clients at times when they are often experiencing great change and uncertainty.

Having taken on the role of head of department she has recently recruited more talent to the busy team who share her commitment to supporting individuals and families through difficult situations.

Danielle Ayres has also been made partner in the employment team at Gorvins.

With 12 years of experience working in this area, most of it with the firm, she advises both businesses and individuals on all aspects of employment law including contractual issues, disputes occurring throughout the employment relationship and exit negotiations.

Danielle Ayres

Danielle is a well-known and acknowledged expert in pregnancy and maternity-related issues and is prominent in this field.

She works closely with a number of specialist partners and organisations, including Pregnant Then Screwed, supporting working parents to challenge unfair treatment as a result of pregnancy and/or maternity/paternity leave.

Martin Hoare, managing partner at Gorvins, said: “We have a tremendous amount of talent at Gorvins, and these promotions of long-standing Gorvins people recognise the fantastic work they do for our clients.

“As major assets to their respective teams and the wider business, they are the right people to help to take the business forward for the continuing future success of our company.”