People on the Move: LIFT-Invest; JMW Solicitors; Vita Student; CurrentBody

Altrincham-based discretionary investment management firm, LIFT-Invest, has welcomed industry heavyweight Stuart Niman to its eight-strong investment committee.

Stuart has more than 30 years’ experience in the financial sector.

In 1992 he was appointed head of fixed income at Halifax, managing the interest rate risk in the Treasury Department.

From 2002 to 2014 he was a managing director in BlackRock’s fixed income division where he led the sterling and euro liquidity funds portfolio management team as well as the short duration fixed income portfolios.

During this period he built assets under management from $5bn to $95bn. He was also chief investment officer for Nationwide Building Society and was a non-executive director at the London Derivatives Exchange.

He currently sits on the investment panel for London-based not-for-profit venture capital firm Future Care Capital Innovation Fund and is a mentor at Cambridge University Entrepreneurs – one of the most successful student-run business competitions in the world.

As a bond market professional, specialising in short duration fixed income, Stuart’s role at LIFT-Invest will be to provide advice and analysis on its long-term investment strategies for the firm’s clients.

LIFT-Invest, which also has offices in London and Edinburgh, was established in May 2017 by Joel Adams and Mike Holden and it already has more than £350m in assets under management.

Adams and Holden also established the award-winning Chartered financial planning firm LIFT-Financial in 2007, which is part of the wider LIFT-Financial Group that has approximately £2bn of assets under advice. LIFT-Invest is independent of the LIFT-Financial Group.

Stuart said: “I’ve known the team at LIFT-Invest for many years and have always been impressed with the culture of transparency and the client-centric investment strategies, which are at the heart of everything LIFT-Invest does.

“The investment committee is a fundamental aspect of the firm and I’m very privileged to join it and help manage client assets.”

LIFT-Invest’s chief investment officer, Joel Adams, added: “Stuart is a high-calibre investment professional with an enviable track record. He cemented his reputation in the 2008 financial crash when he safeguarded client assets and successfully steered them through a global financial crisis not seen before.

“He’s a welcome addition and certainly complements our existing team of professionals that collectively have over 100 years’ of experience. We’re looking forward to Stuart working alongside us as his insights and analysis are going to prove extremely beneficial to our clients in the coming years.”

LIFT-Invest’s investment committee comprises Joel Adams, Ross Glanfield, Neil Sadler, Jonathan Halsall, Colette Noble, Jonathan Stubbs and Dan Thompson.

::

Full service law firm JMW Solicitors has recruited a further partner into its construction team in Manchester.

Helen Daley joins JMW from TLT. She will work alongside well-known construction partner Andrew Rimmer who advises on all areas of construction law.

She is an experienced construction lawyer who advises clients in all aspects of dispute resolution and dispute avoidance. She is particularly interested in adjudication and enforcement proceedings, but regularly advises clients in connection with mediation and claims in the TCC (the Technology and Construction Court).

Helen is a member of both TeCSA (The Technology and Construction Solicitors Association) and the Society of Construction Law.

The construction team counts among its clients the Urban Splash Group of companies and Domis Construction, who are both active in the current market in the North West and further afield.

The construction team is part of the real estate group at JMW and the real estate commercial team recently advised developer Investar Property Group, led by partner Tom Cressey, on its development agreement for the new Royal George Scheme in Stockport.

The development will involve the refurbishment and repurposing of part of the Stockport College Greek Street Campus to provide more than 400 new flats and houses, plus retail and co-working space.

Helen Daley

Andrew Rimmer, head of construction at JMW, said: “Helen brings with her a great deal of experience in construction disputes and especially in ADR and adjudication proceedings.

“We are pleased to welcome Helen to JMW and we feel her specialist experience will be invaluable to the construction team and our wider offering in real estate.”

Helen said: “I am delighted to be joining a progressive and dynamic firm like JMW. I am very much looking forward to working with the extremely well-respected real estate commercial team and their wide client base.”

Joy Kingsley, senior partner at JMW said: “While we are all working in difficult and upsetting times, we are working hard to ensure our people continue to work in a strong business.

“Continuing to recruit and employ people at this time is part of that.

“Helen is an excellent addition to our team and we have had six further offers of partnership accepted since 1st April in Manchester and London. We have also welcomed several partner and lawyer appointments at both locations in the past few weeks.”

JMW was recently ranked number 33 in The Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For in 2020, while Ian Lewis was named Partner of the Year at The Manchester Legal Awards.

::

Vita Student, the student accommodation brand, is pleased to announce that Pauline MacDonald will join the board in the newly-created role of chief welfare officer.

As CWO, Pauline will lead the welfare strategy for more than 6,000 students who currently live with Vita Student.

The role will span hygiene, infection prevention, mental health and wellbeing initiatives and will be a combination of home-based, head office in Alderley Edge, and visits to the firm’s residences across the UK.

A healthcare professional with more than 35 years’ experience working with the NHS, Department of Health and the Ministry of Defence, Pauline is a nationally-recognised leader in the fields of infection prevention and control and immunisation.

For seven years she was a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, an independent advisory body providing advice to UK Government health departments.

Pauline has recently been supporting Public Health England on the nationwide fight to stem the coronavirus outbreak.

Pauline MacDonald

Managing director Max Bielby said: “The welfare of our students is paramount, and this appointment further demonstrates our commitment to designing, implementing and operating the safest environments for our residents.

“Positive mental health amongst students has become so important as they battle with factors such as social isolation and anxiety, and the recent coronavirus outbreak has brought a whole new awareness surrounding infection prevention. We believe Pauline’s experience and leadership will help Vita Student remain on the forefront of these evolving challenges.”

Pauline said: “I’m delighted to join a business that makes the welfare of residents and staff the ultimate priority.

“I believe my experience, combined with Vita Student’s forward-thinking approach, will allow us to create the safest environments for students.

“Anxiety for students can be created by a range of factors, from illness to stress of university, or simply the stress of ‘fitting in’. Vita Student already delivers supportive, experience-led accommodation that provides students a ‘sense of belonging’, and that’s an exciting platform to build on.”

::

BGF-backed CurrentBody, the online retail specialist for home-use beauty devices, has expanded its team with hires across operations, commercial and marketing functions.

In December 2019, the company received investment from BGF which joined Mercia Asset Management in backing the Manchester-based business.

The hires are in line with CurrentBody’s plan to expand its team and operations.

Leanne Cooney joins as operations manager; Madelaine Wahdan as global partnership manager as the business looks towards new markets; and Leticia Tinelli takes the position of logistics coordinator.

The marketing team has been boosted with Beth Cox as social and outreach strategist; Carly Hibbins as online content executive; Beatriz Palomino as paid media manager; and Tom Williams completes the hires as junior content producer.

Laurence Newman

Co-founded by Laurence Newman and Andrew Showman, CurrentBody says it is the world’s largest supplier of beauty devices, with partnerships including market-leading brands such as Tripollar, NuFACE and Smoothskin.

The company’s product range includes anti-ageing and acne treatment devices, facial cleansers, and hair removal devices, incorporating clinically-proven technologies as they found a niche in providing professional results at home.

Laurence Newman, co-founder and CEO of CurrentBody, said: “Following investment, we were looking to bolster our team.

“We’re really proud to announce the new hires that have joined the business in recent weeks. The calibre of talent across our business means we’re ideally positioned to bring our plans to life.”