People, Liverpool FC; Ward Hadaway; BLM; Jackson Lees; JV North
Liverpool FC official charity, LFC Foundation, has promoted its current director Matt Parish to the new role of chief executive officer.
Parish, who joined the LFC Foundation in March 2019, will also take up a trustee role alongside his new position in recognition of the growth and development of the Foundation.
The new role as CEO will see Parish continue to accelerate the foundation’s rapid expansion since he joined. The charity has seen an 80% increase in the number of people engaged from 15,000 to more than 28,000.
Its staff have also more than doubled from 25 to 60 in just over two years and, despite the impact of the pandemic, more than £315,000 has been raised recently by fans and partners to support local foodbanks, providing essential support to those in need.
The board of trustees is being further strengthened with the appointment of Davinder Jhamat, who brings a wealth of knowledge and experience within the corporate and charity sectors.
Currently working for a global engineering foundation, Lloyd’s Register Foundation, Jhamat is a trained economist and researcher. Having worked at local, national and international levels and across a breadth of sectors, she has led and engaged experts and government to deliver works of impact, and positive change. In addition, she also holds non-executive board roles within children’s education, public health and the sports sectors.
Gavin Laws, independent chair of LFC Foundation’s board of trustees, said: “We are extremely fortunate to have a wide range of experience and knowledge on our board of trustees and these two new appointments will bolster it further.
“As foundation director, Matt has established a solid operational structure in just under two years and with this now in place, Matt’s new role as CEO will allow him to operate at a more strategic level across the Liverpool City Region and beyond to continue to drive the expansion of the charity.
“We are also delighted to welcome Davinder as a member of the board, who will add so much value to the foundation and its staff, and in doing so help us to achieve our mission of creating life changing opportunities for young people and families in more communities, and ultimately support more people. Her wide range of skills and experience, I believe, will make a positive impact.”
Liverpool FC Foundation board comprises a range of internal and external independent trustees who contribute their time, expertise, and resources to contribute to help others in need.
::
Law firm Ward Hadaway has strengthened its built environment team in Manchester with the appointment of two solicitors.
The firm has continued with its growth aspirations by appointing Emma Collins and Chris Devitt.
Emma joins as an associate solicitor and will be responsible for advising and providing legal advice to both landlords and tenants in the negotiation and settlement of leases including advising and negotiating lease assignments, surrenders and renewals. She will also work with the firm’s banking and finance and corporate partners in relation to both freehold and leasehold disposals and acquisitions.
She brings with her 14 years’ experience working as a solicitor in commercial property and held a similar position in her previous role, providing support to the corporate team in the acquisition and disposal of businesses and acting for lenders in corporate refinancing or new loan matters.
Emma said: “I’m really excited to be joining such a great team. Ward Hadaway has a strong reputation within the sector and I am looking forward to working with the firm’s wide range of commercial property clients including developers, commercial lenders and national retail operators.”
Emma Collins
Chris Devitt also joined the firm recently as a planning solicitor. He has been advising the firm’s housing developer clients and local authorities on section 106 agreements and deeds of variation. He is also advising on assets of community value designation, the pre-commencement of compulsory purchase orders and assisting with responses to a stop notice.
Chris qualified in 2016 at University of Law in Chester and joins from his previous firm where he started as a paralegal and qualified as a planning solicitor after completing his training in childcare law, planning and property.
He said: “I am really enjoying my new role and have been impressed with the knowledge and support from other colleagues within the firm. When I saw the position advertised, I had no hesitation in applying and look forward to building my knowledge and experience working with a range of clients here in the North West and further afield.”
Matthew O’Brien, a partner in the real estate team which forms part of the built environment team who also joined the firm in March last year, said: “I’d personally like to welcome Emma and Chris into Ward Hadaway. They will support our existing team and clients and it’s reassuring to see that we are still able to create new job opportunities and make key appointments in this current climate.
“Our real estate team in Manchester has grown three-fold in the last 12 months and demonstrates our commitment to further strengthen our service delivery to clients. I am looking forward to working with them both.”
Ward Hadaway’s real estate team also operates from offices in Newcastle and Leeds.
::
Manchester-based insurance risk and commercial law firm BLM has re-elected senior partner Matthew Harrington for a second three-year term, effective from March 1, 2021.
Matthew became senior partner on March 1, 2018, and works alongside managing partner Vivienne Williams, who was re-elected in July 2020 for a further three years.
In addition to growing its technology offering and analytics capability, Matthew set out his vision at the time of becoming senior partner to “continue our ambition of being a market leading firm operating in risk and insurance in the UK and Ireland with an international reach, together with a strong non-insurance capability to offer to a wider client base.”
The firm’s commercial advisory and private wealth offering celebrated more than 20% revenue growth for 2020, a year in which it also welcomed a number of key hires and a wave of major new clients.
Matthew Harrington
Matthew said: “It has been an absolute privilege to lead BLM over the last three years. In the midst of all the challenges of the past year, many positives have emerged, principal amongst which has been the way our colleagues have supported each other, backed our vision and embraced change.
“Their dedication and professionalism has meant we have continued to win new work from new and existing clients and that we have become a truly digital first firm, a key element of our strategy for the last three years.”
Matthew joined BLM in 2007 and has enjoyed a number of significant milestones, including his extensive experience in client relationships, creating an office in Cardiff to extend the firm’s national footprint before joining the senior leadership team in 2014, when he became a member of the firm’s partnership board.
::
North West law firm Jackson Lees is widening its offering with the launch of a new corporate and commercial department.
The firm has appointed Charlotte Mills, a highly experienced and well regarded corporate and commercial expert, to head up the new department.
With more than 15 years’ corporate experience Charlotte trained in the South East and then spent seven years working for a Lancashire-based firm before making the move to Manchester where she has practised since 2013.
Charlotte’s focus for the new department centres on developing and nurturing outstanding client relationships and working collaboratively with both business owners and their wider professional adviser network.
The department will be primarily focused on supporting SME business owners across the North West as they look to manage change in their companies.
Charlotte and her team will provide clients with a wide range of corporate law support, ranging from general advice and guidance on the rules of running a business, to complex restructures, from starting up a new business, to selling companies when the owners are ready to say farewell.
She will also work closely with the accountancy community to support and assist clients who need help making changes to the ownership structure of their business or who may be altering their finance arrangements such as re-banking or increasing investment in the business.
Charlotte said: “People and relationships are at the heart of a successful legal practice, so it’s brilliant to be joining a firm with such a positive culture. This is a challenging time for business, so we’re looking forward to being able to support our clients and provide the clarity and guidance they need as they navigate this uncertain landscape.
Charlotte Mills
“I’m looking forward to building a fully-fledged corporate and commercial department with Jackson Lees, with an approachable, expert team committed to working in partnership with our clients and their professional advisors across Liverpool, Wirral, Manchester and the wider region.”
Esther Leach, managing director, said: “I am really excited about the launch of the corporate and commercial department as it expands the services Jackson Lees is able to provide to our clients and means we now have a full service offering. This is a key milestone for the firm and we look forward to working closely with the region’s businesses to provide the expert legal guidance they need to fulfil their corporate ambitions.
“Charlotte is a highly experienced, outstanding practitioner who brings real warmth and approachability to this role, coupled with a brilliant and long-standing track record of working closely with business owners to deliver elegant solutions to their legal requirements.
“We are delighted to have her on board and look forward to seeing this department grow and thrive under her leadership.”
::
JV North has appointed a specialist consultant to help members with their delivery of shared ownership and rent to buy homes.
Clay & Co has a proven track record of helping large numbers of housing providers and assisting Homes England with its 2016/21 Shared Ownership Affordable Homes Programme.
Exclusive quarterly housing market reports will be provided to JV North’s board focusing on shared ownership insights along with thought leadership pieces.
Clay & Co will also offer critical friend support, run advice clinics, workshop sessions and focus groups exploring issues affecting multiple members. Since forming in 2007, JV North has built the equivalent of two-and-a-half homes every working day.
Ben Clay
More than 4,550 properties are being constructed in the current 2016/21 Shared Ownership Affordable Homes Programme thanks to an investment of more than £500m between members and Homes England.
Ben Clay, who is director of Clay & Co, said: “Government continues to place great emphasis on affordable home ownership with 50% of its new programme earmarked for shared ownership and rent to buy with the roll out of the new Right to Shared Ownership model.
JV North chairman and chief executive of Weaver Vale Housing Trust, Wayne Gales, said: “We first appointed Clay & Co last year at the start of the pandemic to help members understand the wider implications affecting the housing market, in particular shared ownership.”
JV North members include Bury Council, Community Gateway Association, Jigsaw, One Manchester, Plus Dane Housing, Sovini, Stockport Homes, Torus, Trafford Housing Trust, Weaver Vale Housing Trust and Wythenshawe Community Housing Group.
