People on the Move: Vincents Solicitors; Liverpool City Region Digital & Creative Board; CloudM; Avison Young
Property lawyer Tim Grover has been appointed to the commercial team at Lancashire’s Vincents Solicitors.
Working under head of corporate, Matt Scott, Tim will take on corporate and commercial property requirements for the firm’s business clients.
Tim, who will be based primarily in the Chorley office, is clear about the role he wants to fulfil, becoming a trusted advisor to business clients locally and regionally.
He said: “Lancashire has an active economy, with a wide variety of businesses from sole traders to global manufacturers, all providing employment and growth.
“Chorley, in particular, has an incredibly vibrant SME market which is crying out for good commercial lawyers who understand their business and will provide the commitment they need.
“Most businesses require premises of some form, yet commercial property is an ancillary requirement, so they rely on trusted advisors to ensure the assets work for them. It is my job to also take on that responsibility and, hopefully, make some complicated things more straightforward, allowing them to get on with running their business.”
Tim joins the firm from Winder Taylor Smith in Bolton, where he qualified in 2016.
Matt Scott said: “We’re very fortunate to have secured Tim in these competitive times and we are pleased to have attracted him here to Vincents. His combined expertise in both corporate and commercial property meant he really stood out from the crowd.
“Having Tim on board will provide much needed support for the incredibly fast-growing corporate and commercial department, for which we are still recruiting across all levels throughout 2020.”
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Key players from the digital and creative sector, including Facebook and ITV, alongside local companies specialising in video game technology, Internet of Things (IoT) and Immersive Tech, have joined the Liverpool City Region Digital & Creative Board.
The digital and creative sector is of critical importance for the Liverpool City Region and forms one of the key growth sectors as identified in the city region’s growth strategy as central to driving sustained growth of the economy over the coming decades.
The board, established by the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), on behalf of the city region brings a variety of experiences and insights to make informed decisions on topics such as skills, business support, place and policy across the digital, creative, commercial and academic sectors to accelerate the city region’s global position in the digital and creative industries.
Co-chair of the Digital and Creative Board and deputy chair of the LEP, Paul Corcoran said: “The breadth of what we do here in the city region is truly awe-inspiring – from Immersive Tech, Big Data and Internet of Things (IoT) through to digital marketing, film and e-health – all making an important contribution to the economy.
“That is why having a strong and representative Digital & Creative Board is so important and something that I, personally, wanted to ensure was true of this board – a truly diverse structure ensures we have a fully-inclusive board that will work together to accelerate the development and competitiveness of this sector.”
The 11 new members will help shape the sector and build upon its strengths as a major UK digital and creative hotbed.
The new members are: Vanessa Bakewell, Facebook; Phil Charnock, Draw & Code; Jen Fenner, DefProcEngineering; Ruth Hartnoll, JnR Agency; Lauren Hogan, ITV; Camilla Mankabady, Liverpool City Council; Phil Owen, D3T; Lisa Pearson, Arriva; Nicky Speed, Edge Hill; Helen Stephens, Little Sandbox; Pete Woodbridge, LJMU.
Vanessa Bakewell
Vanessa Bakewell said: “I am delighted to be a part of the board. I am so proud to be from such a vibrant and inspirational city.
“I am very excited to be on the Digital and Creative Board and to be a part of the incredible journey and continued growth of Liverpool City Region.
“The city informed my love and passion for everything art, culture, music, entertainment and technology and informed my career choices. I owe so much to all of my positive experiences growing up, learning and working in Liverpool.”
Phil Owen
Phil Owen said: “I believe I am ideally suited for the Digital and Creative Board having spent my career, which spans 26 years, in the computer games industry in the North West.
“I would hope to bring a fresh insight and fresh thinking, with the goal of influencing and strengthening creativity within the Liverpool area and beyond.”
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Manchester-based cloud software specialist CloudM has appointed a new commercial director to drive the business’s UK and international growth.
Nick Miles joins from identity and access management company Okta, where he was regional alliance director and responsible for the company’s channel and partner business across EMEA.
During his five years at the company, Nick grew his side of the business from generating just two per cent of Okta’s overall revenue to 92%.
Prior to that, Nick spent 13 years in various roles the software industry and 14 years in the Royal Navy as a tactical warfare specialist in communications.
Nick’s appointment is part of CloudM’s wider ambitious strategy to more than double the business’s turnover in each of the next three years.
His key focus will be growing the business’s presence in the software as a service (SaaS) market domestically and internationally.
Nick Miles
He will also be responsible for the company’s sales worldwide, managing all commercial aspects of the business while leading a team of 15 members of staff.
CloudM helps businesses migrate over to the cloud. Its proprietary suite of software products includes cloud migration and management tools including CloudMigrator and CloudManager.
Nick said: “Moving to CloudM was a natural progression for me. The company’s founders, James Doggart and Steve Dobson, have a big and clear vision for how they want the company to grow and I wanted to be a part of that.
“SaaS is a huge market that we need to be taking advantage of. Working with our partners in the channel, there’s a big opportunity for us to provide a unique offering to our customers that makes it even easier for them to transition over to the cloud.”
Nick’s appointment follows the promotion of Gary Bennion to CloudM’s chief product officer in May 2019, who is now responsible for CloudM.
Gary said: “CloudM has grown from around 30 employees in 2018 to nearly 80 today and we’ve migrated more than 36,000 business to the cloud. Nick’s joining at a time where we’re looking to accelerate this growth even further and we’re looking forward to having him on the team.”
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Avison Young has announced that 13 of the company’s UK senior management team have been named principal, including Nicola Rigby from the firm’s Manchester office, and Edward Coxon in Liverpool.
The distinction marks an important milestone at the leading principal-owned and led global commercial real estate firm, whose culture is built on collaboration and taking a longer-term view to meet client needs.
“We’re delighted to be bolstering our UK business with our latest cohort of principals – colleagues who represent the mission and values of our company, and also offer exceptional market expertise and industry-leading advice to our clients across the real estate lifecycle,” said Jason Sibthorpe, Avison Young principal and president, UK.
“As a company we take great care to place our clients and our people above all else.
Nicola Rigby
“Our principal-led culture of empowerment and collaboration enables a co-operative working environment in which our people co-develop innovative, strategic and highly bespoke CRE solutions for each and every client.”
Chris Cheap regional MD of the Manchester office at Avison Young, said: “‘I am so pleased to welcome Nicola into the Avison Young principal group.
“Nicola is not only a market leader in her area of expertise, but she is also a huge contributor to the success of our Manchester business.
“Moving on to this next level in her career is testament to Nicola’s commitment to the business and the clients she represents, and it is also reflective of our focus to help our talent develop within Avison Young.”
Edward Coxon
Stephen Cowperthwaite, principal and MD of Avison Young’s Liverpool office, said: “Eddie has been a highly-valued member of the team in Liverpool for 33 years, from his days as part of the original Dixon Webb team, through to Avison Young today.
“I look forward to continuing to work with Eddie as we drive forward the growth of our offer in Liverpool.
“All of our teams work hard to achieve great results for our clients every day, so it’s fantastic when we have the opportunity to reward those who are going above and beyond, and really excelling in their field.”
