People: Taylors Solicitors; OBI; Public Sector Plc; Inciner8; Legal & General Capital

Tony Catterall and Rebecca Horne

Taylors Solicitors has welcomed back commercial disputes and intellectual property expert Rebecca Horne less than two years after she left the firm.

Rebecca initially joined the North West practice in 2019, then departed a year later for Napthens.

Now she has returned to Taylors, where she is working alongside the firm’s head of intellectual property, partner Tony Catterall.

Her return further bolsters Taylors’ disputes team, following the recent arrivals of partner Stuart Farr and senior associate Alison Rowley.

The team continues to experience strong growth in demand for its services, with year-on-year fee income increasing by more than 30% in the first half of 2021.

Tony Catterall said: “I am thrilled to have Rebecca back on my team. She is an extremely experienced solicitor who is a delight to work with, and her appointment further enhances the IP team’s strength in depth.”

Rebecca said: “Now that I have gained more disputes experience, I have made the decision to specialise in intellectual property.

“I recognise that Tony Catterall is acknowledged nationally and internationally as a leading practitioner in this area of law, and most particularly in the fields of copyright and design. I believe I can develop my career much more effectively by working closely with him, and I am delighted to return to Taylors.”

Taylors is an eight-partner firm exclusively focused on commercial law. It has offices in Manchester and Blackburn.

Its IP team has worked with businesses in the home furnishings industry for more than 30 years. Taylors is the only North West law firm to be appointed as a legal affiliate of ACID – Anti Copying in Design – a trade association for manufacturers and designers.

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Property firm OBI has appointed Kate Malone to its transactions and asset management team, following a raft of new business wins.

Kate joins the transactions and asset management team, servicing OBI’s extensive client base, which boasts some of Manchester’s most high profile developments.

Previously, Kate spent eight years at Bruntwood operating managed workspace in Manchester city centre where she worked on some of the city’s most well known office spaces including the newly refurbished annexe of the Bloc development on Brown Street.

In her new role at OBI, Kate will lead on marketing, letting, and reporting of available managed workspace across the Manchester city centre portfolio, while helping to build and retain lasting relationships with occupiers.

Kate Malone

Kate said: “OBI’s reputation is unrivalled, and I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to join such an exciting team. I am really looking forward to a new challenge and exploring a different side of the property market.

“The firm is now one of the biggest property companies in the North and it’s been great to hit the ground running over the last week and to work alongside such experienced professionals.”

OBI’s Richard Lace said: “Kate is a great addition to the team. She has a vast amount of experience, her knowledge and insight from working with such a prominent developer for many years will be a real asset to our team and for our clients.”

Founded in 2010 by Will Lewis and Dominic Horridge, OBI’s landlord and occupier clients include Aviva Investors, Bruntwood, Schroders, Kinrise, Property Alliance Group, Booking.com, Morson Group, AO.com and The Hut Group (THG).

In both Manchester and Leeds OBI provides advice to clients across its multi discipline services, which include leasing and investment, office acquisitions, building consultancy, business relocations, interior design, project management and dilapidations. It said the collection of services is known as the ‘OBI Difference’.

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Public Sector Plc has appointed Patrick Hickey as senior project manager as it strengthens its nationwide development and project management team.

Patrick joins Public Sector Plc from Arcon Housing Association, where he was head of development, responsible for securing a £30m pipeline of residential development which will deliver 300 new homes over the next three years.

Public Sector Plc is a specialist UK strategic asset manager, creating commercial partnerships with local authorities and other public sector bodies to add value to land and property assets by bringing resources, innovative funding solutions and end-to-end delivery services.

Based in Manchester, Patrick will support the delivery of development activities across the UK.

Patrick Hickey

In the North of England, Public Sector Plc has established partnerships with housing associations and councils including Cheshire West & Chester Council, Bolton Council, and Warrington Council.

Patrick has more than a decade of experience in the construction, property, and housing sectors, beginning his career as a surveyor for Wates Construction where he worked on a range of projects from the construction of new schools, a new leisure and entertainment venue and the renovation of a Grade II-listed salt works.

Following that, he joined BCEGI Construction as a project surveyor to help enable the £400m redevelopment of Middlewood Locks in Salford into residential, commercial, office, industrial and mixed use spaces.

Patrick also spent three years at FI Real Estate Management, delivering residential and mixed use developments across London and Southampton and coordinating the feasibility, planning and procurement process for the acquisition of the Toys R Us portfolio.

In his new role, Patrick will work with Public Sector Plc’s technical and development team led by development director, Kate Howe.

Kate said: “Patrick’s appointment is an important step forward for us as we continue to support our partners as they build back from COVID.

“Public Sector Plc delivers strategic asset management projects on public owned land and assets across the full spectrum of real estate with an emphasis on socio economic benefits for our partners and community.

“In the year of COP26, we’re seeing an increasing appetite from housing associations to develop zero carbon offsite homes to speed up the pipeline and deliver housing that is future proofed and helps to combat fuel poverty.

“Patrick’s knowledge of working with housing associations and expertise in delivering housing and major projects for public and private sector clients will help to further strengthen the expertise within our team.”

Patrick said: “The work that Public Sector Plc does to empower public bodies to deliver more investment and better assets to their communities has never been more crucial, especially as we begin the build back from COVID-19.

“There are several innovative projects the team have delivered including the development of new zero carbon family homes in Kent which produces more energy than consumed by the occupants. I’m excited to be joining Public Sector Plc at such an important period of growth and as it helps its partners to recover.”

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Southport-based waste management specialist, Inciner8, has appointed Chris Russell as its new engineering manager.

With 30 years’ experience in medium-heavy mechanical and electrical engineering, design and software management, Chris joins Inciner8 following 15 years as technical director at Manchester-based Street Crane, where he was responsible for the design and delivery of cranes used the world over.

Prior to this, he held the roles of principal design engineer and senior design engineer at MAN B&W Diesel and CRP Group, respectively, having also spent a period running his own design and software consultancy, clients of which included Jaguar Land Rover and Meggitt.

He will now be responsible for overseeing Inciner8’s in house engineering facility, influencing the design of the company’s world leading incineration solutions and quality control across the business.

Chris Russell

He said: “In the waste management sector, efficiency and quality of product are key to achieving results. My vast experience in the field will enhance Inciner8’s ability to produce solutions which are geared for the next generation of waste management, including developing our role in the waste to energy movement.

“My priority is to ensure we continue to make advances in the delivery of modern day, fit for purpose incineration systems that not only tackle the major waste crisis we are experiencing around the world, but which also contribute towards achieving a greener planet.”

Stuart Winship, managing director of Inciner8, said: “As well as Chris’s wealth of experience in mechanical engineering roles, we’re now gifted with his desire to make a global difference in the face of a growing need for sustainable waste management solutions.

“We have a responsibility to arm the world with the necessary tools to tackle growing amounts of waste, while simultaneously protecting the planet, and Chris is already demonstrating the multiple ways we’re able to achieve that. We’re very pleased to have him on board.”

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Legal & General Capital (LGC) announces that Gareth Mee, a partner at EY, has been appointed to lead its financial operations from January 2022, as chief financial officer.

The announcement follows LGC’s capital markets event last week which set out plans for the business to generate up to £600m in profit from alternative assets by 2025. Its key ambitions include growing its alternative asset portfolio to £5bn by 2025 and generating returns of around 10% to 12% per annum, across its key focus areas of housing, SME finance, specialist commercial real estate and clean energy.

Gareth has been brought on board to help LGC in meeting these ambitious targets, and to support its aims of bolstering its attractive risk adjusted returns for shareholders, structuring attractive long duration investments for its retirement arm, Legal & General Retirement, and attracting significant further third party capital.

Gareth Mee

He has a proven track record in managing and building big teams, as well as developing people and culture. Currently overseeing a team of around 250 people, Gareth is head of EY’s UK actuarial team, covering life insurance, general insurance, pensions, investments and sustainable finance, and global head of investment advisory – a practice he established in 2012.

Laura Mason, CEO of Legal & General Capital, said: “Gareth will be a fantastic addition to the team, with strong sector and technical ability to support our growth and clear alignment with LGC’s mission.

“With his background in developing EY’s UK sustainable finance consulting practice, Gareth will continue to support LGC in its strong purpose and values that drive its direct investments into the UK to address climate change, back innovation and create the assets that society needs.”

Gareth Mee said: “LGC has built a strong, scalable platform which is creating attractive pipelines of investable assets, whilst meeting its purpose to invest society’s capital for society’s benefit.

“I am delighted to be joining the business at this crucial time in its growth cycle to support its significant profit growth ambitions and help lead the business through its next exciting chapter.”

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