People: Hurst; PWA Planning; Falconer Chester Hall; Azets; Shopblocks; DCB Legal

Accounting and business advisory firm Hurst has expanded its tax advisory team with two senior appointments.

Lindsey Egan and Liza Whiley have joined the firm from KPMG and Catax, respectively, as a senior tax manager and research and development specialist.

The new roles have been created to meet growing demand from an expanding client base at Hurst, which focuses on advising entrepreneurial companies with turnover of £5m and above.

Lindsey was a senior tax manager at KPMG, which she joined in 2016 from Mazars. She has more than 15 years’ experience of managing a diverse portfolio of clients.

Liza previously worked for seven years at Altrincham-based Catax as a manager in the R&D department.

The duo are the latest arrivals as Hurst, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, experiences strong growth across its operations. Recently the firm announced three additions to its corporate finance team and six new arrivals in its business services team.

Lindsey and Liza take the number of staff at Hurst to 96 and the firm expects the figure to top 100 in the near future in line with its growing client base and a buoyant deals pipeline.

The firm acts for a diverse range of clients, include entrepreneurial businesses such as Kinaxia Logistics, M&I Materials, London Lash, Beechfield Brands, Duerr’s, Oliver Valves and Delamere Dairy.

Liz Gallagher, Hurst’s head of tax advisory, said: “Lindsey and Liza are tremendous additions to our team. They bring a wealth of experience to the practice and enhance our capabilities to serve our client base of entrepreneurial North West businesses.”

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North West planning consultancy PWA Planning has expanded its team with the appointment of James Halsey.

James has joined the Preston-based firm as an assistant planner after three years with Gladman Developments where he gained experience in residential planning.

He recently returned to the UK after some time abroad travelling following the completion of a Master’s degree in spatial planning and development at Cardiff University. Originally from Aylesbury, James also holds a degree in geography from Lancaster University.

James Halsey

At PWA, James will work alongside the planning team to prepare pre-application statements and planning appraisals, as well as bringing forward planning applications and appeals for schemes in the residential, commercial and retail sectors.

Stella Walton, director of PWA Planning, said: “We’re always looking to bring on new talent to expand capacity within the team and build a bright future for the firm and our clients.

“James is a talented individual who brings fresh perspective to the firm – he has been a real asset to PWA so far and I’m confident he’ll build a great career with us.”

James said: “I feel like part of the team already and have benefited from a lot of one-to-one coaching. I’ve learnt so much already and am really looking forward to being exposed to schemes of all sizes and working alongside a wide range of clients.”

James is currently working towards chartered membership of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), the gold standard of planning practice.

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North West architects Falconer Chester Hall has made six promotions as the firm strengthens its team following a string of new instructions.

The 80-strong practice, which has offices in Liverpool, Manchester and London, was recently appointed to deliver an innovative Residents’ Club in Covent Garden for client The Other House, is currently completing the new purpose-built headquarters for fashion retailer Boohoo in Manchester, with construction beginning on Pall Mall Press in Liverpool, the city’s latest build to rent scheme in partnership with contractor Graham.

The promotions straddle the firm’s Liverpool and London offices and are: Alex Harrison, promoted from senior architect to associate – Liverpool; Jenna Fife, promoted from architect to senior architect – Liverpool; Alice Platt, promoted from architect to senior architect – Liverpool; Andy Brisk, promoted from architect to senior architect – Liverpool; Mafalda Franco, promoted from senior architect to associate – London; YuPin Chan, promoted from architect to senior architect – London.

From left: Alice Platt, YuPin Chan, Mafalda Franco, Alex Harrison, Andy Brisk, Jenna Fife

Director, Alastair Shepherd, said: “As our practice has grown over the last 25 years, we’ve always sought to continually refine our company structure. Promoting from within gives us enormous satisfaction. We have a really talented team and demonstrating that there’s a career path here is vitally important.

“We set a high bar for promotion and I’m delighted for each of my colleagues, who have all worked incredibly hard, gained extensive experience and have strengthened our business as a result.”

FCH is one of only three North West-based firms to make the coveted AJ 100 rankings of the country’s top architecture practices. The practice specialises in hotel, residential and commercial developments, with other current clients including Fragrance Group, Unite Students, Peel, Moda Living, Legacie and ForViva.

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Azets, the accounting, tax and business advisory firm, has appointed Simon Monks and Martin Woodhall. Simon joins as a director and Martin as a senior manager in the restructuring and insolvency team in the North West, based in Manchester.

Simon is a qualified insolvency practitioner and has spent more than 17 years assisting businesses from multinational companies to SMEs. He is a restructuring and insolvency specialist, advising corporates, lenders and other stakeholders across a variety of sectors that are impacted by financial stress or distress . He has worked in both ‘big four’ and boutique firms and started his career at CLB Coopers, a predecessor firm of Azets. Simon brings extensive experience with a track record of success in numerous high profile insolvency cases.

Simon Monks, left, and Martin Woodhall

Martin is also a qualified insolvency practitioner and has more than 17 years’ experience in restructuring and insolvency. He joins from a boutique firm in the North West having spent the prior 15 years at a large mid-tier firm. He has worked on a wide range of projects particularly for SMEs, including accelerated mergers and acquisitions and corporate insolvencies.

These appointments will enhance Azets’ restructuring and insolvency capabilities in the North West. The team specialises in helping companies experiencing financial distress or facing closure with restructuring and rescue options. It offers specialist advisory services to assist organisations in making better long term and effective, strategic business decisions.

Nicola Clark, head of restructuring and insolvency at Azets in the North West, said: “We are thrilled to welcome Simon and Martin to Azets. Their experience combined with Azets’ local and international presence demonstrates the firm’s continued investment in key talent in the region and commitment to growing our restructuring and insolvency practice in the North West as we look to build on a strong 2021.”

Simon Monks said: “My reputation is built on the integrity of the relationships I build with clients and I’m looking forward to the next step in my career helping companies in the region build resilience into their business for the post-COVID economy.”

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Manchester tech firm Shopblocks has made two key hires as part of its growth strategy.

The company, which produces bespoke ecommerce websites at scale, recently signed a six-year lease on 6,500 sq ft offices in No 1 St Peter’s Square in Stockport after closing a £1.2m funding round.

Kristian Hunt has joined as chief operating officer from Manchester audio branding agency PHMG after an 18-month search.

Stacey MacNaught has also joined the board as non-executive director after advising the company on its SEO and follows the recent appointment of former Proactis managing director Craig Slater, as a non-executive director.

Kristian Hunt

Hunt said: “I’m really excited by the potential and the projections for growth.”

CEO and co-founder, Kevin Jones, said: “We’ve never had a COO before and it took us 18 months before finding the right one.

“It was always in our plan to recruit a third director alongside myself and my fellow co-founder Stewart Reynolds and Kristian has been able to hit the ground running. Kristian has come from a business in PHMG that has so many parallels to Shopblocks. He joined as account manager when they had 40 staff and rose up through the ranks and left when they’d grown to 500 staff.

“As for Stacey, she’s one of the best digital marketing people there is and regularly speaks all over the world. She’s working very closely with our marketing team.”

Shopblocks was officially launched in 2018 after two years of planning and has doubled in revenue every year since and now has more than 1,500 customers worldwide.

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Runcorn-based DCB Legal, a specialist legal practice in matters relating to civil and commercial litigation, debt recovery and High Court Enforcement, and its sister company DCBL, has appointed Lee Samuels-Camozzi as strategy director.

DCB Legal is currently the second-biggest issuer of legal claims in the country. Collaborating with the senior management team, Lee’s focus will be to create strategies that enable long term growth, to improve and innovate the company’s current compliance processes, and to streamline operations between both companies.

As head of customer relations at Verastar for 20 years, Lee brings his vast experience of highly regulated utilities, communications and compliance-led debt collection industry with him.

Lee Samuels-Camozzi

Combined with a clear understanding of DCB Legal’s services and how to execute these for valued clients, making Lee a perfect candidate to drive the company forwards towards its next phase of growth.

With five offices located throughout the UK, this new appointment will see Lee review DCB Legal and DCBL’s methods, strategies and services, and develop new ways to enhance the client and customer experience across the two companies.

Lee said: “I’m thrilled to have been appointed to the DCB Legal board as strategy director and support the business on its next stage of growth.

“Working alongside the other founders and directors, I’m looking forward to finding new and innovative ways for both DCB Legal and DCBL to adapt and work together.”

Managing director of DCBL, Darren Connor, said: “Lee has a long and proven track record in the industry and joins us to further enhance our practices. We are constantly looking at ways we can improve the way we work and achieve even better outcomes for our clients. I have no doubt Lee is the person to lead group strategy in the next phase of the business.”