People on the Move: Ronald Fletcher Baker; Panthera Biopartners; The Translation People; Prospect Homes
An international law firm celebrating its 70th year has invested in the further expansion of its Manchester office with the appointment of a specialist real estate litigation solicitor.
Paul Pinder, who has 15 years’ experience in dealing with complex commercial, mixed-use and residential development schemes, joins Ronald Fletcher Baker as partner.
Formerly head of the housing law property disputes team at Pinsent Masons in Manchester, Paul has held senior positions at international law firms DLA Piper UK and Nabarro, where he acted for UK and international pension funds, institutional investors, public sector landlords and private developers.
A member of the Property Litigation Association, Paul will be responsible for advising clients in all areas of real estate litigation matters, encompassing site assembly, vacant possession strategies, statutory compliance and mixed-use commercial-residential structuring, including service charge consultations and lease extension claims.
He will work alongside partner, and head of Manchester office, Afsheen Nasr, in developing Ronald Fletcher Baker’s growing client portfolio.
It is the latest significant new hire for the firm, having made the strategic decision to launch a presence in Manchester four years ago.
The firm now boasts a 12-strong team at its offices in 111 Piccadilly, including Paul Stanley, a partner in real estate finance and secured lending, who joined from Fieldfisher last year.
Paul Pinder said: “Ronald Fletcher Baker is a well-established and ambitious international law firm, that is committed to further growth in Manchester over the next few years.
“The firm has a fantastic reputation for its work in the real estate sector and is known for employing a highly-skilled and approachable team that offers its clients real value for money. I’m looking forward to working alongside Afsheen, Paul Stanley and the team to further develop our client base and our presence in the North West.”
Afsheen Nasr, partner and head of Manchester office, said: “This is another significant appointment for our Manchester office, which continues to expand thanks to a hugely talented team of legal professionals.
“Paul is a technically skilled and highly specialist real estate litigator, who perfectly embodies our values as a professional and responsive firm. His appointment gives Ronald Fletcher Baker the opportunity to develop our constantly growing client base and standing in Manchester and London.”
Founded in 1950, the business is growing organically in all offices. It employs 80 staff with 62 legal professionals at its three established offices in the City of London (Old Street), the West End (Baker Street) and Istanbul, and an additional Russia, Ukraine and CIS desk.
The Manchester office specifically deals with a variety of asset management, residential and commercial real estate. The firm acts for medium to large national and international companies, financial institutions, domestic and international governments, high net worth individuals and substantial corporate investors, many of whom are based overseas.
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Independent site management organisation Panthera Biopartners has appointed Joanna Cox as its operations director.
Joanna joins the Panthera team from Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust, where she was the senior research nurse responsible for the day-to-day management of the clinical research team across a wide portfolio of trials.
Previously, Joanna has also worked as clinical trial manager at UCLan, and senior research nurse at Salford Royal Foundation, as well as in a senior position at Synexus.
Panthera chief executive, Stuart Young, said: “With her years of experience in running clinical trials, both within the NHS and commercially, Joanna is an outstanding addition to the very experienced Panthera team.
Joanna Cox
“Her clinical and patient management expertise is a huge asset for us going forwards, and I am hugely excited to be working with her.”
Preston-based Panthera is initially aiming at recruiting patients and running clinical trials in therapy areas which are traditionally managed in primary care, including cardiac disease, allergies, migraine, osteoarthritis, diabetes. etc.
It will also expand into other key indications including neurology and oncology later this year.
The company, which opened its first clinical trial site in Preston in November 2019, is in advanced discussions to open two more sites, one in South Manchester and one in North Manchester, shortly. Further sites are planned across the UK and then overseas.
The Panthera site model is to locate their clinics either in mega GP practices – more than 100,000 patients – or at major hospitals, ensuring that there is an easily accessible patient pool and connected services.
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A translation and language services provider based in Cheshire is strengthening its European links by promoting its German operations manager to its senior management team.
James Maclean has been appointed to The Translation People’s senior management team after he led their German subsidiary, The Translation People GmbH, to achieve 60% growth in the past four years, with German turnover breaking through the €1m barrier for the first time in 2019.
Having previously held the post of German team leader with the company, before being promoted to operations manager for the DACH region, he will now take the lead on a strategic growth plan of the German business – Germany is The Translation People’s second largest market after the UK – with immediate effect.
Based in Cheadle and with four additional offices around the UK, The Translation People operates from two German offices in Bonn and Munich, having held a presence there since 2011.
With clients in Germany, including engineering giant thyssenkrupp Elevator and fashion retailer Pimkie, plans are in place to grow the company’s German footprint exponentially within the next five years, making it a major contributor to the group’s revenue target of £11m by 2025.
Mr Maclean said: “Our success in Germany is due to our extensive service offering and our ability to adapt our translation technology to seamlessly integrate with global corporations working within Germany.
James Maclean
“My experience of working so closely with the team and clients from our two German offices means I can ensure that our proposition is in line with service demand, so we can further develop The Translation People’s already successful brand across the German market.”
He added: “Our growth over the last few years is a clear indication of the continued opportunity working in Germany presents, and I am confident our team can further strengthen those European links in the next year and beyond, to take The Translation People into its next phase of growth.”
Jasmin Schneider, managing director of The Translation People, said: “James’ passion for growing our presence in Germany, and his glowing reputation amongst our customers, make him the right person to lead The Translation People’s growth in this market.
“He consistently demonstrates an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the translation and business landscape in Germany, and I have full confidence he will help make our plans in Europe a reality.”
The Translation People has more than 40 years’ experience of delivering high quality translation services to clients around the world.
Able to translate material in 300 different language combinations, The Translation People operates from nine offices across Europe and the USA, and has a pool of more than 4,000 translators to service its customers, which range from global brands to smaller, independent businesses.
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North West residential housing developer, Prospect Homes, has boosted its senior management team across its sales, land and construction departments.
Samantha Williams has started as head of sales, Martin Caldwell is head of construction and David Clifton as head of land.
Samantha Williams has joined the business with 20 years’ experience working in the industry and has previously worked with Redrow, Lovell Homes, Watkin Jones Homes and Elan Homes. Samantha’s career has progressed hugely over the past six years after working her way up from sales co-ordinator at Lovell Homes to her current position.
She understands all different markets after working on affordable homes right up to homes worth £1m-plus, so her knowledge is full spectrum.
Martin Caldwell joins the business with more than 15 years’ experience in the industry and has worked for developers such as Redrow and Barratt Homes. Martin’s work has been recognised in the industry and he has won a number of major industry awards with both NHBC and LABC, most recently at the LABC Building Excellence Awards where he was highly commended in the Regional North West Construction Professional of the Year category, as well as winning the highly coveted LABC National Residential Site Manager of the year in 2017.
David Clifton has joined Prospect Homes after working in the industry for 17 years, most recently at Countryside Properties as associate director.
A qualified masterplanner, David has worked for a number of housebuilders and agencies both in the North West, central London and the South East, including Montagu Evans, Knight Frank and Bellway Homes.
Nigel Yates, managing director, said: “These appointments complete our senior management team at Prospect Homes alongside Simon Johnson, head of commercial, and Gary Humphries, head of technical.
“David Clifton’s new role has strengthened the land team and he will assist us in securing land and development opportunities.”
Prospect Homes is part of The Riverside Group and build high-quality residential homes across the North West.
Prospect Homes’ profits are gifted back to Liverpool-based Riverside to fund a wide range of social purpose business including affordable homes and care and community support services.
Cris McGuiness, chief financial officer at The Riverside Group, said: “The Riverside Group is working closely with Prospect Homes so it can achieve its growth strategy into 2020 and beyond, including building 300 units within the next five years.
“These appointments will ensure the business is well placed to meet future challenges and hit its targets, including achieving a 5-star builder service status.”
From left: David Clifton, Samantha Williams and Martin Caldwell
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