People: PAM Group; Irwin Mitchell; Opus Business Advisory Group; Atradius; Beyond Group
Preventative healthcare specialist PAM Group has appointed a new chief financial officer to succeed Stewart Boxer, who has retired after seven years with the business.
Phil Foster, 55, has taken over the strategic day-to-day financial management of the Warrington-based group and its subsidiary businesses in a planned succession.
He was recruited to the group earlier this year to a corporate finance role to help facilitate private equity firm LDC’s minority investment into PAM, which was completed in June.
LDC’s backing will help drive PAM’s organic growth and support product launches.
Phil is a chartered accountant with more than 30 years’ experience in finance and strategic finance roles, including senior positions at foodservice giant Brakes, contract caterer Elior UK and airport ground services and air cargo handling business Swissport UK.
PAM Group, founded in 2004 by chief executive James Murphy, is one of the UK’s largest occupational health and wellness providers. It offers a range of integrated programmes to public and private sector clients, supporting more than 600,000 employees at in excess of 1,000 businesses and organisations.
James said: “Stewart has decided to retire and leave the business after seven years. In his time with us he played a key role in the growth of PAM Group through increased sales and acquisitions. His contribution to the growth and success of PAM Group has been greatly appreciated and I wish him well for the future.
“Phil has successfully managed businesses from £40m turnover to £400m, and has worked with PE-backed companies for nearly 20 years. I am confident he will be a tremendous asset as our CFO by providing support to the board and our management teams as we look to achieve our ambitious growth plans.”
PAM Group, which employs 650 staff, is looking to double annual revenues to £80m within the next three years through continued organic growth and acquisitions.
Phil said: “PAM Group is a dynamic and interesting business and has a fantastic group of people to work with as we look to implement our exciting strategic plans.”
His move to CFO follows two further senior group appointments in recent months.
Caroline Munday has joined as group people director from International Personal Finance, where she was group head of human resources and organisational development. She has 27 years’ experience in senior HR roles in the public and private sectors, including ones at Northern Rail, Lincolnshire Police and the NHS.
She said: “I can’t think of a more important sector to be working in right now – the health and wellbeing of UK employees has never been as vital. I was drawn to the role by James’s vision for PAM Group of sustained business growth and his philosophy of creating a high performing people culture. It’s a great time to join PAM.”
James said: “Caroline is passionate about her specialist area and has an impressive track record of creating value through highly effective and engaging people strategies and building high performing teams to innovate, enable change and deliver results with energy and pace.”
Lee Kingshott has joined PAM as chief technology officer. His role is to support and lead the delivery of technical investments in PAM’s various business units and deliver solutions in line with its growth ambitions. He has held senior board positions for more than 25 years at companies including Optionis Group, Payzone and divisions of two UK clearing banks.
He said: “I was very impressed by the passion of the team at PAM and their real desire to deliver a best-in-class service to their clients. The team at PAM clearly recognise the critical role that technology plays in providing this service and I am truly excited about being able to help them to deliver this vision.”
James said: “Lee has a strong track record of delivering IT strategy and transformation that leads to significant commercial results. He’s innovative and progressive in his approach, already having built a comprehensive new IT strategy and team to serve PAM Group’s future IT capability needs to support our growth plans.”
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Law firm Irwin Mitchell has expanded its successful asbestos team in Manchester with the appointment of two new senior solicitors.
Helen Tomlin joins as a senior associate and Victoria Cadman as a new associate on the asbestos team, both with decades of experience in asbestos-related cases.
Helen Tomlin
Helen joins from Thompsons Solicitors, where she has specialised for the past 17 years in asbestos-related disease cases, becoming part of the leadership team for the Yorkshire region.
Nationally, Helen also worked with the charity Mesothelioma UK, trades unions and members of the Forum of Asbestos Victims Support Groups, to ensure that asbestos sufferers and their families receive the highest quality of advice and assistance following their diagnosis with an asbestos related disease.
Helen was inspired to pursue a career helping those living with asbestos related disease, after meeting asbestos disease sufferers in Liverpool during her training.
Through her 17 years of specialist work, Helen has achieved hundreds of settlements for clients and their families, securing hundreds of thousands of pounds of compensation to benefit those who have been diagnosed with diseases such as mesothelioma.
Helen has also played an active role in various regional support groups, and has carried out fund raising and awareness activities to raise the profile of mesothelioma, and the dangers of asbestos that are still present today.
Victoria was an associate in the industrial disease team at Birchall Blackburn Law and after qualifying in 2005, has enjoyed a career spanning 19 years, with the past 10 specialising in asbestos-related disease claims. Victoria has worked on complex claims securing not only financial compensation for clients, but also assistance with the costs of care needs and private medical treatment.
Gerry Coombs, head of the Irwin Mitchell asbestos team in Manchester, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Helen and Victoria to the team. We are all very aware that asbestos claims require expertise and in-depth knowledge from specialist solicitors, and to have two new solicitors joining our team is wonderful.
“Both Helen and Victoria are known for their sensitivity and compassion in helping people, who can be in the most difficult circumstances. Between them, they will help us to continue to provide exceptional service to asbestos sufferers and their families across our region.”
Victoria Cadman
Helen Tomlin said: “I’m very excited to be joining Irwin Mitchell. I love the work that I do, helping asbestos sufferers to investigate their work histories and securing settlements that mean people no longer have to worry about the financial burden of ill-health.
“Often, the settlements also include additional items, such as securing agreements from insurers to pay for medical treatments not offered on the NHS, or claiming back the costs of hospice care.
“The nationwide team have been so welcoming, and I am looking forward to working with new people, expanding my knowledge and contributing in a positive way to the expertise already in the North West region.”
Victoria Cadman said: “I am immensely pleased to have joined the Manchester team, where it is clear they place huge emphasis on providing a high quality, supportive, service for clients. As a solicitor committed to asbestos-related disease work, it is so exciting to work alongside solicitors who have not only shaped the law in this area, but continue to look for ways to do so.”
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Opus Business Advisory Group said it is continuing its commitment to supporting business with local expertise, by opening a new office in Preston.
Insolvency practitioner, Ian McCulloch joins Opus Restructuring & Insolvency to lead this dedicated office.
A corporate insolvency professional specialising in SME liquidations and administrations, Ian has more than 17 years’ experience in the corporate market. Alongside this expertise, Ian believes that a focus on advisory support for business owners is crucial.
He said: “I am pleased to be joining the Opus team and working with like-minded partners. In what is going to be a turbulent time ahead for the economy, it has never been more important to carry out our work with director-led advice and recommendations based on the best outcomes for all stakeholders.
Ian McCulloch
“This has always been the Opus ‘way of working’ which is what attracted me to joining the group.”
While the Government support has been instrumental in the survival of many businesses during the pandemic, the gradual relaxing of furlough and repayment of loans has created cash flow pressures on businesses as they reopen. This has already seen the Insolvency Service report that company insolvencies across England and Wales have climbed by 31% quarter by quarter to 3,116 in the second half of fiscal year 2021.
Colin Wilson, a founding partner of Opus, said: “Our philosophy is to provide a high quality national service that is firmly rooted in strong local knowledge and Ian is a fantastic addition to head up our new office. We firmly believe in delivering support that takes the stress out of distress as we look forward to playing our part with confidence in achieving the best outcomes possible for all stakeholders as businesses start to resume trading.”
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Trade credit insurer Atradius has appointed Nicola Hinchliff to the role of service leader for its Northern Hub.
Nicola first joined Atradius in 1997, starting as an account executive based in the firm’s Manchester office on what was originally a temporary contract.
Flourishing in the role, she took a permanent position and within nine years, was promoted to the role of account manager while she was on maternity leave. Building up extensive customer service experience, the latest promotion sees Nicola take the combined roles of senior account manager and service leader of the entire northern region.
In the new position, Nicola is responsible for driving service excellence in the servicing team, maintaining and growing client and broker relationships and supporting the management and development of the northern Atradius team.
Nicola said: “Atradius is global business with experts all over the world which regional businesses can access through a familiar face on their doorstep. We’ve always prided ourselves on the strong relationships we have with customers and brokers across the entirety of the North, ensuring we know our customers’ businesses inside out to provide the best support possible.
Nicola Hinchcliff
“As service leader, I want to ensure Atradius maintains the first class service it is renowned for and continue to enhance our offering.”
As a trade credit insurer, Atradius protects businesses from the risk of non-payment by paying out claims should a customer not be paid by its buyer, for instance due to default, insolvency, political risk or late payment. It also acts as a business partner, advising customers of new opportunities for growth and developing robust trade strategies which mitigate risk.
Darren Power, regional manager for Atradius’s Northern Hub, said: “Having worked at Atradius for 24 years, Nicola has an unmatched knowledge of the business and the region.
“She has extensive relationships with our network of northern brokers and customers and her commitment to offering the very best service is exemplary. Atradius is delighted to be able to reward Nicola’s commitment with this well deserved promotion where we know she will continue to thrive.”
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Beyond Group, which comprises specialist legal practices McAlister Family Law, Beyond Corporate and Beyond Conveyancing, has continued its strategic expansion, notwithstanding the 18 months-long lockdown, with the appointment of Oisín Quinn as senior associate and Matthew O’Brien as legal executive within the Beyond Corporate litigation and dispute resolution team.
The group, whose strategy is to create and build specialist independent legal practices which have an element of human perspective, has a business model which enables clients to identify better with their lawyers and legal teams, and enables each of the practices to focus on specific client needs and specialist client services.
Beyond Group has strategically grown its family and corporate practices since its inception and the addition of Oisín and Matthew to the dispute resolution team, which is headed by partner Dónall Caherty, reflects the group’s target of continuing growth for Beyond Corporate, especially in what is proving to be a key area of the business.
Oisín graduated from Queens University and the Institute of Legal Studies in Belfast and then practised as a barrister, gaining a broad range of experience working across both criminal and civil litigation. Since leaving the Bar, he worked in-house at a global law firm and an international bank.
Dónall Caherty, left, and Matthew O’Brien
Matthew, currently a legal executive but due to qualify as a solicitor this year, brings to the team both experience and expertise, particularly in the fields of resolving disputes involving shareholders, partnerships, director’s duties, professional negligence, technology, reputation protection, banking, and finance. He obtained his LLB at Nottingham Trent University, before going on to simultaneously complete his MSc in Business and LPC at Chester University of Law.
He’s known for his ability to develop and maintain great relationships with clients – he favours a cutting edge and fresh approach to his work, always striving for optimum efficiency and organisation.
Dónall said: “Dispute resolution is an area of the law which covers many topics, and we advise national and regional corporate clients on the full spectrum of complex contentious corporate and commercial matters.
“I started our team during lockdown, and we have been consistently extremely busy since we began, though my own networks and group referrals, and this has spearheaded our growth. I am, therefore, delighted to welcome Oisín and Matthew to the team, as their experience and expertise fits perfectly with our goal of delivering commercially astute solutions for our diverse client base.”
Beyond Group head, Matt Fleetwood, said: “I’m delighted to continue the forward momentum of Beyond Corporate with the recruitment of Oisín and Matthew, empowering our specialist corporate and commercial practice to further expand its litigation and dispute resolution offering, which has proven so successful we are now looking to recruit for the team again at a senior level.
“Oisín and Matthew have not only the necessary skillset but also the human perspective that is vital to all our businesses, and their appointments reinforces our commitment to continued investment in the right people, at the right time.”
