People on the Move: Applewood Independent; Topwood; Miller Homes; Redrow

Alex Pritchard and David Pritchard

Applewood Independent has appointed Alex Pritchard as joint managing director.

The Nantwich-based firm was set up by David Pritchard and his wife Kay in 1998 to offer independent financial advice about investments, pensions and inheritance tax.

It is now one of the longest-established, family-managed practices in the North West and currently has £210m under management.

Alex, the couple’s son, joined the firm in 2003 and is a fully qualified financial adviser.

As joint managing director, Alex will focus on growing the business while David will continue to look after the client base.

Alex said: “My parents have always hoped that I’d carry on the family business. Although they are still very much actively involved, I’ve been playing a more significant role in decisions about our future direction and strategy.”

David Pritchard said: “We are always giving advice to people about planning for the future, so it’s only right that we practice what we preach. Alex is clearly ready to step-up and take on more responsibility for the future of our practice.

“Exemplary advice and service have always been the cornerstones of our longevity and success. They are qualities ingrained in Alex so Kay and I are very confident he will steer the business successfully into the future.”

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Document management company Topwood has moved ahead with expansion plans by the appointment of Mark Baterip as business development director.

Owner of Topwood, Tom Gilruth, said: “We are delighted to welcome Mark to the business. He is a strategic appointment for us as we look to respond to the changing needs of our clients.

“He brings with him a wealth of experience in document scanning and data capture services which will make us a full service offering along with our established shredding and storage business.”

Mark Baterip said: “To be given the chance to join a 20-year-old company, with a proven reputation for service delivery, whilst having the opportunity to design and deliver a new division from the ground up is just unique and one that I just couldn’t turn down.

“Topwood has been scanning documents for a few years for existing clients but, with a whole new raft of production software and our own cloud-based storage solution, we are now going to market with a full bureau offering.”

Topwood moved to its new home on the Wrexham Industrial Estate in March of 2019. With more than 300,000 boxes in store there and at another site, along with its fleet of mobile shredding trucks, Topwood aims to be a one-stop solution for businesses who are making the transition from ‘paper to data’.

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Miller Homes has appointed David Brackley to the newly-created role of land and technical director covering the North West region.

David’s role is a key position for facilitating the future growth of the business in the region.

A civil engineer by background, David initially joined the business as technical director in January 2017, and has spent the past few years building up a strong technical function with a team of architects and engineers.

In his new role, David will have responsibility for both the land and technical teams – leading all activities related to the purchase of land for immediate development and working alongside the region’s strategic land director, David Morris, on future, strategic, land projects.

He will continue to lead the planning, architecture and engineering functions for Miller Homes North West to provide support to existing developments and in delivering a pipeline of new developments.

Based out of the Miller Homes office in Newton-le-Willows, he will have responsibilities for developments throughout the North West of England.

Ian Smith, managing director of Miller Homes in the North West, said: “We’re delighted to provide David with an opportunity to further progress his career within the business and in doing so to make us a more efficient and effective home builder of choice for land owners and land agents across the region.

“This is an exciting time for Miller Homes as we look to further grow our presence in the North West.

“David has developed his skills over many years in bringing forward complex sites for development by major home builders and is ideally placed to lead a new combined land and technical approach for Miller.”

Mr Brackley said: “I’m excited by the opportunity to expand my role at Miller and look forward to using my experience and expertise to help further grow Miller Homes’ position in the North West market.”

Miller Homes currently has nine active developments across the North West and has recently exchanged contracts and gained planning permission for a new development to be called Montague Place in Clitheroe, Lancashire.

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Phil Reeves has been appointed as new area construction manager for Redrow Homes, covering the North West of England and North Wales.

Phil, 41, who has lived in Frodsham for the past 15 years, has joined Redrow in Daresbury, Cheshire, after 16 years with Taylor Wimpey, where he worked his way up from assistant site manager to senior site manager and then production manager.

He said: “A big thing for me is the quality of homes that Redrow builds, it was what attracted me to the job in the first place.

“As area construction manager I oversee a number of sites making sure the individual site managers are building to a high standard and delivering the best homes possible for our customers.”

He added: “Quality has always been something that has been ingrained in me and now in my new role, my aim is to instill this in my teams working on sites across the division.”

Developments under Phil’s remit include Millstone View in Penymynydd, Flintshire, Cranberry Gardens in Congleton, Kings Moat Garden Village in Chester and the flagship Woodford Garden Village, in Woodford, near Stockport.

Jason Newton, managing director of Redrow Homes (NW), said: “Phil is a real asset to the business. He comes with plenty of experience and knowledge meaning our sites are in excellent hands to enable us to continue to deliver quality, much-needed new homes.”

From its offices in Daresbury, near Warrington, Redrow Homes (NW) has around 15 live outlets across Cheshire and parts of Merseyside and North Wales, building everything from starter homes to large, executive detached homes.

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