People: Hope Capital; Roberts Bakery; Engage Hub; Hilton Smythe; Knights

Hope Capital has announced it has further strengthened its team with three key appointments.

The firm’s sales team has been further boosted with the appointments of Charlie Gregory and Jamie Gillespie. Charlie will be supporting clients in London and the South, while Jamie joins Hope Capital as an internal BDM.

Both Charlie and Jamie have delivered exceptional results in their previous roles and will be using their experience and knowledge to help drive Hope Capital forward and support the volume of enquiries the Bootle-based company has experienced for its range of bridging finance products in recent months.

Hope Capital has recently welcomed a wave of other new appointments at all levels of the business, to support its broker partners, as well as the firm’s ambitious growth plans. Along with Charlie and Jamie, Hope Capital has also welcomed Charlotte Holt as finance coordinator, who will be supporting the firm’s finance director, Kate Cowan.

Jonathan Sealey, CEO of Hope Capital, said: “Hope Capital has been growing rapidly in the last year and we are delighted to welcome Charlie, Jamie, and Charlotte to the team. All three appointments will be fantastic additions and I look forward seeing them help grow the business and add value to our offering in their own individual ways.”

Charlie Gregory said: “I am delighted to join Hope Capital. The skills and expertise of the team, coupled with their passion for delivering an excellent service, is fantastic and I look forward to supporting the company in the future as we continue to go from strength to strength.

“My approach as a BDM is to build and cement relationships with brokers, ensuring they fully understand the criteria, while being transparent and honest throughout the entire process.”

Jamie Gillespie said: “Joining Hope Capital at this exciting time is a fantastic opportunity. I have heard a lot of great things about Jonathan and the team and am really looking forward to playing a key part in ensuring we achieve the ambitious growth plans that have been put in place. The experience I have obtained previously means I fully understand the requirements and needs of brokers throughout the bridging process and strive to provide an outstanding service to all parties involved.”

Roz Cawood, director of sales at Hope Capital, said: “Charlie and Jamie will bring great value to our already strong offering and further enhance the support we provide to our broker partners. I have no doubt they will have an extremely positive impact on the business.”

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Roberts Bakery, in Cheshire, has appointed Mark Cooper, a widely respected turnaround and transformation specialist, to work with the family and senior management team to drive profitable growth in the 134-year-old, fifth-generation baking business.

Mark has more than 35 years’ experience of business turnaround and improvement, specialising in FMCG businesses, and has an excellent understanding of the bakery sector, having worked on similar programmes for Mr Kipling, Hollands Pies, Samworth Brothers, and Fox’s Biscuits.

He has been brought into the Northwich business to lead the turnaround, which is likely to take two years, with three key tasks: To complete the merger of the two brands – Roberts Bakery and Little Treats; to deliver a more sustainable business model in a tough post-COVID trading environment; and to reaffirm the values of the family business by focusing on people.

Mark Cooper

He takes over from Graham Hunter as transformation director and will build on his recent business improvement work on the Little Treats brand, which Mark returned to profit earlier this year, by bringing in new customers like Costa Coffee and Amazon, and driving a 40% increase in turnover.

Mark said that both Little Treats and the Roberts Bakery brands had bounced back relatively well post-COVID in terms of trading performance, with volumes returning, but margins were very much under pressure.

He said: “It is a positive picture on which to build, but there are challenging times ahead with energy and commodity price increases to deal with. My role will be to lead the team through that and ensure that Roberts is well represented in the growth parts of the bakery shelf fixture, and to fully exploit its Cheshire roots.

“We will also be refocusing on the family values of Quality, Nurturing, Courage, Togetherness and Community, which have been core to the bakery’s success for generations.”

Roberts Bakery has a turnover in excess of £90m with bakeries in Northwich and Ilkeston (Derbyshire), employs 750 people, and serves a mix of national branded retail, own label and food service customers.

Mike Roberts, deputy chairman, welcomed Mark to the post and said the family were looking forward to a brighter trading period under his stewardship. He said: “Mark has proven expertise in multiple management and operational roles and has already made a difference to the business. We are confident he is the right person to navigate us through current challenges and make a significant contribution to our future.”

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After an exciting year of fast-paced growth and expansion, Engage Hub, the Manchester social media and influencer marketing agency, announces four new senior appointments to strengthen its directorship team.

Charly Booth moves from head of influencer to influencer partnerships director. Charly started at Engage Hub as an intern after graduating from university and helped build the influencer team as it is today. She is now leading the direction of influencers and creators across the agency and heads up an explosive, fast-growing team.

From left: Charly Booth, Sian Walker, Liam Anderson, Abby Thompson

Sian Walker moves from account director to agency director. Sian will help lead the agency through the new stages of development and innovation, as founder Ray Sherlock focuses on new growth areas for the business.

Liam Anderson comes from Kairos Media Group, starting as the growth and operations director. Liam will head up the agency’s growth and expansion plans as it moves from Engage Hub to Engage Group.

Finally, Abby Thompson joins as creative director, coming from The Hut Group. Abby will head up the recently launched Engage Studio, along with a team of fresh creatives behind her – offering fresh content across a whole host of disciplines for new and existing clients.

Ray Sherlock said: “This year has been a whirlwind for Engage Hub, and it’s great to see our senior leadership team develop so powerfully and quickly. There are huge plans for the agency in the next 18 months, and we need the right people on board to help take us to the next level.

“I am certain I’ve got the perfect team alongside me to do this. We’re looking forward to taking Engage Hub to Engage Group and much more.”

The agency is in a rapid expansion phase, with more growth plans scheduled for the remainder of 2021 and into 2022.

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Hilton Smythe Group, business sales advisors and finance brokers, has appointed an experienced marketing director as part of its ongoing expansion.

Daniel Tasker joins the firm following a decade in marketing, starting his career with Bupa before moving to Linley and Simpson in Leeds.

He has a proven track record of growing companies’ profiles through curated and specialised marketing plans and building brand recognition.

Daniel Tasker

Hilton Smythe, which recently celebrated its 10th anniversary, employs more than 35 members of staff at its head office in Bolton and across the country and has recently expanded into corporate sales.

Daniel said: “I’m delighted to be working with Hilton Smythe as they are a fantastic company doing great work in the business sales and finance sector.

“I’m looking forward to supporting the team as it continues to grow and to help take it to the next level as a business. It’s a very exciting time to be part of Hilton Smythe.”

Gareth Smyth, CEO of Hilton Smythe Group, said: “We’re delighted to have Daniel on board as our new marketing director. He brings with him a wealth of experience and will be an asset to the team.

“The business is currently undergoing a period of growth and Daniel’s work will be essential to helping us make more connections.”

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Legal and professional services firm Knights, has announced two high calibre partner appointments across its Manchester operations, as it continues to grow organically and strengthen its expertise and presence in the regions outside of London.

Tony Dean

Tony Dean is highly experienced and recognised in the corporate banking and debt markets, having worked as a corporate banker at some of the UK’s largest banks for more than 30 years including RBS, HSBC and Santander.

He has been appointed to lead Knights’ recently launched specialist debt advisory offering, which delivers integrated expertise to corporate clients seeking specialist debt advice.

Jane Trevithick strengthens Knights’ real estate team and brings particular specialism in development and regeneration projects.

Jane Trevithick

Since Knights acquired Croftons in 2020 and Housing Law Services earlier this year, the real estate team has grown significantly, providing specialist housing and regeneration advice to registered providers and social housing clients.

The recruitment of these partners is the latest investment Knights has made in its future growth ambitions, further strengthening the group’s depth and breadth of expertise across its core service areas and geographies and providing greater capacity to deliver a broader range of high quality, good value services to its clients, it said.

Tim Bates, recruitment director, said: “We are delighted to welcome Tony and Jane to Knights. Their expertise will be invaluable to the team as we continue to strengthen our position in the regions outside of London. Our recruitment pipeline is strong, with high calibre individuals continuing to be attracted by our collaborative culture and risk free corporate model.”