People: Leonard Curtis Legal; Oakwood Valuation Surveyors; By Gamers for Gamers; Context PR; Aaron & Partners; Redrow; WHN Solicitors
Manchester-based law firm Leonard Curtis Legal has strengthened its commercial property services with the appointment of Alicia Renshaw as senior associate.
The hire evidences the firm’s commitment to growing the real estate practice to meet increasing client demand, it said – with property joining corporate, commercial and dispute resolution as core areas of its practice and expertise.
Alicia is now tasked with raising the firm’s profile and growing its client base within the real estate sector, while complementing the wider Leonard Curtis group offering when specialist property advice is required.
She brings more than 15 years’ real estate experience, specialising in all aspects of commercial property including acquisitions, disposals, landlord and tenant, asset management and real estate finance.
During her career Alicia has coordinated and managed complex property transactions and projects, as well as advising institutional lenders on live lends.
She has acted for a range of clients including some well known high street names as well as for accountants and insolvency practitioners on the distressed property transactions.
Jennifer Moore, director at Leonard Curtis Legal, said: “We are delighted that someone of Alicia’s calibre has joined the firm. As an experienced and respected property lawyer, her expertise will be invaluable to many of our clients in their roles as landlords, tenants, funders and investors.
“We are committed to growing the range of specialist services we offer to meet our clients’ needs and Alicia’s appointment is key to this. Her skill set complements our existing trusted service offering and significantly strengthens the firm’s property capabilities enabling us to provide our growing client base with the highest quality property law advice.”
Alicia said: “I’m very happy to have joined the team at Leonard Curtis Legal and the move to focus on property as a core practice area is the obvious step to take to build on the impressive growth of the Manchester and national team since the launch of the firm in 2016.
“The move is an organic development driven by client demand, and I’m very much looking forward to spearheading the planned expansion of this area of the business and building a specialist team around me to deliver this.
“My previous experience of handling distressed property transactions also stands me in good stead enabling me to add value across the wider Leonard Curtis business. I know the firm, team and position will provide the perfect opportunity to fully utilise my expertise and passion.”
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Chartered surveyor Andrew Aspinall
Property advisers Oakwood Valuation Surveyors is continuing its growth with the appointment of a new director.
Chartered surveyor Andrew Aspinall has joined the Altrincham firm to work on progressing its property development arm.
Since the business started two-years-ago, founder Graham Bowcock has established Oakwood as a leading provider of property valuations and expert witness reports throughout the North West.
Andrew Aspinall has significant property experience, having spent 19 years at Co-operative Group, having responsibility for strategic land holdings and commercial investments across the UK.
Andrew said: “Although Oakwood is a young business, I have already found depth to the client base and nature of work with such a variety of clients, ranging from banks to private landowners.
“There are already a number of sites under Promotion and Option agreements, with the largest at 94 acres. I am keen to speak to both landowners and developers about opportunities across the North West.”
Managing director Graham Bowcock added: “Andrew and I have worked together for many years on the Co-op portfolio and share the common goal of professional delivery. I am impressed by Andrew’s property knowledge and his ability to impart information to clients and colleague.”
Oakwood now has a team of ten, including staff working on property management and agency, based at Station House, Altrincham.
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By Gamers for Gamers, an online PC gaming and tech publishing house in the heart of Manchester, has appointed a new editorial director as part of a major recruitment drive.
Dave Woods joins the rapidly growing firm as content director working across each of its PC gaming and tech sites WePC.com, eSportsVerdict.com and PCGuide.com.
In his new role he will be responsible for growing a best-in-class editorial team as well as the strategic direction of the content.
Dave has more than two decades of editorial and commercial experience across a wealth of different content brands and platforms.
Throughout his career he has successfully launched, edited and redesigned a large number of specialist and consumer magazines and websites including PC Zone, The Big Issue and PokerPlayer.
Dave Woods
He spent the majority of his 20-plus year career at Dennis Publishing, where he rose to editorial director of the contract division, Dennis Communications.
Transitioning to digital publishing with Breaking Media, where he was also appointed editorial director, he successfully grew the flagship site to more than 70 million page views for the 20/21 calendar year, and launched five new football websites, with one recording three million+ views /month.
Dave said: “I’m thrilled and honoured to be given the chance to build and evolve an already massively talented editorial team. Helping to take BGFG to the next level is something I’m very excited about. BGFG is authentic, with a super strong team and a clear vision, and I’m pleased to have the opportunity to help grow such a brilliant business.
“Company culture is massively important to me and BGFG share the same values. I was also impressed by the level of knowledge they have about what readers want – authenticity and governance. People are ever-more sophisticated and savvier and want a deeper relationship with the content they interact with. Successful businesses will put themselves at the heart of the conversation, just like BGFG do.”
By Gamers for Gamers was founded in April 2019 by brothers Andrew and Craig Kirkcaldy and Will Blears after the trio spotted a gap in the market.
The firm comprises a team of experienced, passionate individuals dedicated to bringing readers the best in unbiased PC tech, gaming, and Esports news.
With millions of readers each month, its continued purpose is to provide readers with unbiased hands-on reviews and practical buying advice as well as tips to get the most out of their tech and gaming setup.
Craig Kirkcaldy said Dave is exactly the person they were looking to lead the company’s editorial growth: “Dave brings with him over 20 years’ experience in building best in class content teams and shares our brand values which is massive for us to scale and bring to life our vision.
“We knew the moment we began chatting that he was the right fit for BGFG and that the rest of the team would welcome his arrival.”
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Macclesfield-based technology PR specialist Context Public Relations has appointed Ellie Howarth as an account manager to support the agency’s growing portfolio of clients.
Ellie joins Context after six years working for creative video technology provider, Blackmagic Design.
Ellie Howarth
During her time there she held a variety of positions in channel marketing and was responsible for managing the company’s PR activity across the UK and Ireland. She brings a wealth of B2B and B2C tech PR experience to her role at Context and will focus on working for clients in cybersecurity, fintech and healthcare technology sectors.
Jenni Livesley, account director, said: “We’ve secured a number of new accounts over the past six months and Ellie’s technology background will be a valuable asset to the team. She will play an integral role in developing new and existing accounts and we all look forward to working with her.”
The news follows the announcement that Context has joined the Eurocom global network of independent PR agencies and a series of account wins including data science training specialist EXPLORE Data Science Academy (EDSA), digital simulation software company, Simul8 and Israeli wireless communications company CardoCrew.
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Chester law firm Aaron and Partners has promoted its head of quality and compliance, Gavin Ball, to the role of partner.
Gavin has successfully led the firm’s quality and compliance team for the past three years and his promotion is in recognition of his achievements and comes after he took on the role of money laundering reporting officer for the firm last year.
Nick Clarke, senior partner, said: “Compliance is a vital part of any legal practice but what is often overlooked is the role that compliance teams can play in contributing to the quality of service we deliver.
Gavin Ball
“This is why our compliance function is responsible not only for compliance but also for ensuring a consistently high standard of service to all our clients across the firm. Gavin has proved a key part of achieving this. His promotion is testament to his hard work, drive and commitment to keeping us compliant and delivering exceptional service.”
Marc Sorrentino has also been promoted to associate in Aaron & Partners’ planning, environmental, energy and regulatory team after five years at the firm and Amy Buscombe has been appointed as a system analyst in the quality and compliance team.
The promotions follow a series of new hires and ongoing team growth throughout 2020.
Nick added: “It has been very rewarding to see the resilience and flexibility that the team have shown during what has been a hugely challenging year and it’s a pleasure to be able to recognise excellent performance through promotions.
“We’ve always aimed to create an environment where our people can develop and progress with us, so it’s always really pleasing when we are able to promote from within.”
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Planning manager Sally Riley and land negotiator Abi Graveson will be using their promotions to secure new development opportunities for housebuilder Redrow’s Lancashire division.
The pair have taken on key roles in the land and planning department at the Chorley-based home builder as part of changes made by managing director Claire Jarvis, who is prioritising the acquisition of new sites in 2021.
Both are recent graduates and are already quickly rising through the ranks.
Sally, 25, from Clayton-le-Woods, has been promoted from planner to planning manager. She started at Redrow in 2017 as planning assistant having graduated from Newcastle University with a degree in Urban Planning.
Her new role will see her working closely with the land team to compile planning applications and gain planning consent for new land acquisitions.
She said: “Since starting my new role I’ve been heavily involved in the preparation of a number of major residential applications – these applications have given me exposure to a range of schemes with differing sizes and technical constraints. I will also take a greater role in the negotiation of contractual agreements to acquire land across the region.”
From left: Abi Graveson, Sally Riley, Claire Jarvis
Redrow sponsored Sally’s Master’s degree at Manchester University, where she obtained a first in Town Planning in 2019, before promoting her to the role of planner in July 2019. She is also working towards her Chartership for the Royal Town Planning Institute for which she is being mentored by planning director Robin Buckley.
Abi Graveson, 23, from Preston, is now land negotiator after starting with the company in 2019 as land assistant.
She said: “After learning about the process of land sales during my previous role, I am now putting it all to practice and progressing new sites. This involves preparing bids, liaising with landowners, agents and consultants about new sites and achieving best value for new land opportunities.”
Prior to joining Redrow, Abi studied geography at the University of Sheffield. This opened her eyes to urban development and led her to pursuing a career in land and planning.
Sally and Abi will work alongside land director Karl Longworth, planning director Robin Buckley and senior land manager Edward Ramsden to find and progress new sites for the division.
Claire Jarvis said: “Sally and Abi represent the new face of our land team and will be working alongside the wider team to help us to deliver our ambitious land acquisition targets so we have a strong pipeline of future developments.
“They will work closely with landowners and agents in our patch, which covers Greater Manchester and Lancashire as well as parts of Cheshire and Merseyside. I’m really looking forward to seeing their continued growth and success over the next few years.”
Redrow’s Lancashire division has recently announced six site acquisitions in Cowlishaw, Lowton, Billington and Fulwood and two sites in Halewood, Merseyside which will deliver more than 1,100 homes in total.
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Lancashire and Greater Manchester law firm, Woodcocks Haworth and Nuttall Solicitors (WHN Solicitors) has promoted associate Jennifer Prysiaznyj to head of residential conveyancing.
As part of the move, long standing head of conveyancing, Graham Ireland, will take on a new role of senior consultant solicitor, leading the firm’s conveyancing team in Clitheroe.
Jennifer specialises in all types of residential conveyancing including complex areas of leaseholds, new builds, help to buy and shared ownership. She has developed a niche specialism in Islamic finance, advising clients across the world.
She joined WHN Solicitors as a conveyancing solicitor in the Bury office in 2018. Having qualified as a solicitor in 2005, Jennifer was head of conveyancing and director at Blackburn-based firm, Blakewater Solicitors, for 10 years and led the department from two staff to 12.
In her new role, Jennifer will continue advising clients as well as overseeing the development of the department, its team and processes. She will also be the senior responsible officer (SRO) for the firm’s conveyancing quality scheme accreditation (CQS) as well as being responsible for the firm’s membership of mortgage lender panels.
Jennifer Prysiaznyj
Jennifer said: “This is my dream job. I am proud to be following in Graham’s footsteps as head of department. He is so well regarded by his clients and peers and has been a huge inspiration to the team. Graham has an exciting new challenge in Clitheroe and I am looking forward to working with him on that project.
“My goals for the future are to develop our team in terms of professional development, grow the department and to strive to be as innovative and streamlined as possible in terms of systems and technology. I am also keen to develop our Islamic finance department. It’s an area of the firm that continues to grow.”
Jennifer is a member of the Law Society’s Property Team, Conveyancing Quality Scheme accredited, has a first class degree in Law with German and gained a distinction in the Legal Practice Course. She is a previous Law Society prize winner on its Legal Practice Course.
WHN Solicitors has offices in Accrington, Bacup, Blackburn, Bury, Clitheroe, Great Harwood, Haslingden and Rawtenstall. The firm employs 100 staff and provides an extensive range of legal services to individuals, families and businesses across all its offices.
Graham added: “I have loved every minute of leading our firm-wide conveyancing team and Jennifer is the perfect candidate to build on our success. Clitheroe is a town close to my heart and I am looking forward to the opportunity to helping grow our Ribble Valley presence.”
Michael Shroot, chief executive officer at at WHN Solicitors, said: “Jennifer is a natural leader, she has some great ideas for the future and we’re looking forward to working with her and delivering those to make our excellent conveyancing service even better.”
The origins of WHN arise from the merger in 2012 of Woodcocks Solicitors – established in 1791 – and Haworth and Nuttall Solicitors – established in 1878 – to become WHN Solicitors.
