People: Taylors Solicitors; Andrew Grace Law; Ten Locks; JBH; Collinson Construction
Commercial law firm Taylors Solicitors has made a key appointment to support its growth plans over the coming years. Experienced director Paul Bolton has joined the board in a non-executive capacity after assisting Taylors in a consultancy role with its business planning and business development strategy.
He is a chartered director, having qualified through an Institute of Directors’ programme, and has more than a decade’s experience at board level.
Paul co-founded training company Salford Professional Development and grew it from a start-up to a business with annual revenues of more than £5m. He has also held other non-executive positions across the North.
Elaine Hurn, managing partner at Taylors, which celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2021, said: “Looking to the future as we celebrated this milestone, the owners wanted to bring in independent expertise to assist with our business strategy for the next five years.
“Paul was tasked to assist initially on a consultancy basis with business planning and business development. However, we found that we all worked really well with him and so invited him to join our board and continue the association.
“He brings a refreshing enthusiasm to the business and in his new capacity will be responsible for working with the management team and our younger partners to help deliver the next phase of growth at Taylors.”
She added: “We are already making excellent progress with our strategy, having relocated our Manchester office to facilitate flexible working, implementing a new cloud-based practice management and a new customer relationship management system, and making four significant partner level appointments in key areas as well as a new head of finance.”
Paul said: “Working with Taylors for over 12 months as a consultant gave me a real insight into the firm’s strong, clear vision and culture. These have provided a very solid base for the long standing relationships which the firm enjoys and continues to forge with new corporate clients.
“Taylors has an exciting vision and strategy for the next five years and beyond, focusing on ensuring that clients’ needs and objectives are front and centre of everything it does. I look forward to playing my part in helping the firm to achieve its goals.”
::
Lancashire businessman Darren Yates joins award winning solicitors Alexander Grace Law as CEO.
Darren, of Lytham, has an accomplished property-based track record, building up a large property portfolio over the past 25 years.
For the past five years Darren has been the owner and CEO of Sandcastle Care, Blackpool, taking the company from three children’s homes to 53 before selling to private equity. Sandcastle is now one of the largest childcare providers in the country.
Darren Yates
Alexander Grace Law, which has offices in Hapton, Blackpool and Lytham, has acted on all Darren’s property purchases in recent years and a solid working relationship was built with co-founders Donnamarie Sturrock and James Young.
Darren said: “I’m thrilled to be taking up the position of CEO at Alexander Grace Law. I have witnessed the company’s rapid growth over the past five years and I’m ready to use my own property knowledge and expertise to help move the business to the next level alongside James and Donna.”
Lancashire-based Alexander Grace Law has grown from one office and 10 staff to four offices and 184 staff since its inception in December 2016 and recently won four awards at The ESTAs – an industry award for conveyancers which celebrates excellent customer service.
Donnamarie said: “We’re extremely happy to have Darren on board. He has vast experience in the property sector and big plans for Alexander Grace Law from 2022 onwards.”
The company said Darren is already working on putting various processes in place that will enable everyone throughout the business to do their jobs more efficiently moving forward.
::
Salford’s Ten Locks is celebrating a successful first year of business, having made its mark on the UK drinks sector, established an expanding portfolio of conscious, progressive spirits brands, and has welcomed Kieran Lyons to the team.
Kieran Lyons joins Ten Locks as London account manager, bringing five years’ experience in cocktail making at some of London’s top bars, including Heads and Tails and London Cocktail Club.
The Ten Locks team
He will be responsible for managing key on-trade accounts for Ten Locks across the capital – a critical piece of territory for premium spirits.
He will extend the reach of the firm’s portfolio of conscious brands across a range of venues and work alongside operators to offer drinks development support and deliver premium drinks experiences.
Becky Davies, head of commercial at Ten Locks, said: “I’ve had the pleasure of expanding our team to include some incredible talent, which has been fundamental to our success, and Kieran joins us at a very exciting time for the business as we have some really creative and innovative projects in the pipeline.”
::
Following the news earlier this year that Manchester digital PR agency JBH has tripled in size, the agency has appointed James Bishop, who has joined the team as business development manager.
James brings with him more than 15 years’ experience in digital, working for some of the UK’s leading agencies, and with some of the world’s most prominent brands and retailers, across a wide range of industries.
He said: “I feel extremely lucky and so excited to be joining the JBH family.
“After meeting with the founders and senior members of the team, as well as taking a look through the incredible client list and associated results JBH has achieved, I knew immediately that the agency would be the perfect fit for me.
James Bishop
“Just a few days into my role and I already feel completely welcomed and supported by the entire agency, and am thrilled to be part of JBH’s growth plans for the coming months and years.”
Jane Hunt, co-founder of JBH, said: “I am delighted that James has joined us here at JBH, bringing with him a wealth of knowledge in the digital sector.
“Bringing over 10 years of experience and an innate understanding of the digital landscape means he will no doubt be a valuable addition to the already fantastic team we have in place here at JBH.
“This year, the JBH team have won both a UK and European search award for their work with igaming brand SlotsUp, and most recently, a Content Marketing Award for their work for internationally-renowned genealogy brand MyHeritage.”
Jane added: “The last few months have been crazy, we’ve won so many new accounts and we are still driving forward with our recruitment, to find the best PR talent in the North West and all over the UK.”
::
Collinson Construction has appointed a new business development manager to support the growth of its modular construction division.
Julie Hood has joined the Lancashire-based firm to help it secure more modular-led building projects in the education, healthcare, and commercial sectors.
Julie has worked in the construction industry for more than 30 years and has had previous business development roles with companies including NetZero Buildings, MAR Offsite, Ilke Homes and Capita.
Robert Duxbury, managing director of Collinson Construction, said: “We’ve invested significantly in our modular construction expertise and infrastructure over the last few years as more organisations are starting to look at modular methods. We believe firmly that modular solutions will play an increasingly vital role in creating the sustainable buildings our society needs.
Julie Hood
“Julie is an incredibly experienced business development manager with outstanding credentials in the offsite construction sector. As part of our wider business development team, Julie’s knowledge and relationships will help us connect with more of the organisations that can benefit from modular projects.”
Julie said: “This is an exciting new challenge for me. Collinson Construction is an innovative and forward thinking company that has created an impressive modular manufacturing facility. I’m looking forward to being part of the company and helping it win and deliver more modular-led projects for clients.”
Collinson Construction’s recent modular projects include a new training facility for Ealing Trailfinders Rugby and Cricket Club and a new arts and music teaching centre for Morecambe Bay Academy.
It is building up a strong pipeline of modular projects and will soon start work on a project to create new modular teaching spaces at Central Lancaster High School.
