People on the Move: LIFT-Invest; Secure Trust Bank; Simpson Millar

Altrincham-based discretionary investment management firm, LIFT-Invest has boosted its ranks with the appointment of Dan Thompson.

Dan has joined as a portfolio manager from global wealth management and investment company Sanlam where he was a model portfolio manager.

His appointment follows on from the recent arrival of prominent industry figure, Stuart Niman, who joined as an investment consultant.

LIFT-Invest has offices in Altrincham, London and Edinburgh. It was established in May 2017 by Joel Adams and Mike Holden and 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.

Joel Adams, LIFT-Invest chief investment officer, said: “The business is going from strength-to-strength, which is down to the people we have here and we want more experts like Dan to join the fold. He has the expertise our clients need, and more importantly, he shares our values in putting clients first.

“We’ve known Dan for some time as he’s played an important part in the development of LIFT-Invest as a consultant to our investment committee. By working with him we knew he’d be a fantastic asset to the team.”

Dan added: “I’ve known and worked closely with the LIFT team for many years.

“I’m keen to build upon the success already achieved and explore additional discretionary solutions for clients.”

::

Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance has announced the appointment of Graham Brew as a portfolio & structuring director based in its Manchester office.

Graham will be responsible for supporting existing clients in the North West, as well as driving new deal origination for the firm’s suite of alternative finance products.

He joins from Barclays, where he spent 32 years across a variety of roles.

Most recently, Graham held the position of large corporate trade and working capital relationship director, where he was responsible for the risk management and operation of working capital facilities across a portfolio of more than 20 corporate clients.

In addition to working across Barclays offices in the North West, Graham spent more than 20 years in a flexible working environment, the benefits of which are currently being reaped as all businesses and employees adapt to ensure high levels and continuity of service for clients.

Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance provides a full-suite of flexible asset-based lending and invoice finance products, ranging in size from £1m to £50m, to small- and medium-sized businesses.

Established in Manchester in 2014, the lender now operates sites in Leeds, Birmingham and London. In its latest annual results the firm revealed that its lending balances increased 29.3% to £251.7m in 2019, up from £194.7m in the previous year. Secure Trust Bank is now one of the top 10 independent operators in the asset-based lending market.

Graham Brew said: “Secure Trust Bank provides a dynamic and fast-moving environment, and a new challenge that I am extremely excited to be taking on.
“This is an ambitious and rapidly-growing business that has built a reputation for thinking outside the box in seeking bespoke solutions to some of the more interesting transactions in the market.

Graham Brew

“I’m looking forward to working closely with the team in the North West and supporting our clients through this challenging time.”

Paul Johnston, regional managing director at Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance, said: “Graham has gathered an enormous amount of corporate experience during more than 30 years at Barclays, and will be a valuable addition to our team in Manchester.

“As companies continue to be resilient, Graham will provide much-needed financial and business support to help our clients through this uncertain time, and will help us play a key role in delivering growth as markets begin to re-emerge.”

::

Law firm Simpson Millar has announced the appointment of Chris Fairhurst as partner within its national family team in a move that will further strengthen its private client offering across the country.

The appointment represents a real coup for Simpson Millar as Fairhurst joins from a specialist boutique firm, bringing with him more than 25 years’ experience specialising in complex family finance cases following divorce or separation, as well as the dissolution of civil partnerships involving pensions and business assets.

Joining the national firm with immediate effect, and based in Manchester, he is the second senior appointment for the team since the arrival of new head of family law, David Lister, in September last year, with Maya Bhatiani joining as senior associate in the firm’s central London office.

A Resolution accredited specialist in financial and children disputes, Fairhurst says he is “excited and privileged” to be joining the team and working alongside such a “dynamic head of family law”.

He said: “I am very much looking forward to working alongside David and helping to bring to life his vision for the future of family law, making it less daunting and more open for the public.

Chris Fairhurst

“I’m excited and privileged to be able to build the team throughout the North West and beyond and share my own experiences and views about how we can make things better for separating families and children.”

David Lister said: “We’re delighted to be welcoming Chris to the team, who brings with him a wealth of experience in Manchester and Lancaster, both of which are key growth areas for the firm following our recent expansion across the North West.

“His work with Resolution’s innovation committee perfectly complements the work we are already doing in order to fundamentally change the face of family law – making it more accessible and open to our clients, including implementing a fixed fee divorce and financial legal services package.

“As part of this we are working in collaboration with mediators in order to deliver neutral evaluations and consent order drafting services.

“The fact that Chris joins us from a well-regarded boutique family law firm tells us that we are gaining traction in our quest to become an employer of choice for real talent.”