People: Harrison Drury; Amoria Bond Group; Savills; Realm Recruit; SoMo; The Armstrong Partnership
North West law firm Harrison Drury has appointed Danielle Jesson to its commercial property team in Clitheroe.
Danielle joins from Steele & Son with Bagot Heyes, where she trained and then qualified as a solicitor in 2020.
As part of the firm’s commercial property team based in Clitheroe, Danielle will primarily deal with landlord and tenant matters as well as commercial property acquisitions and disposals.
She will work alongside fellow property professionals Lara Watts, a senior associate solicitor at the firm, and solicitor Roberto Bonaminio, as well as supporting the commercial property team at the Preston office.
Her appointment brings Harrison Drury’s property team in Clitheroe to eight, serving commercial and residential property clients across the Ribble Valley and East Lancashire.
Lara said: “We have a great team in Clitheroe and Danielle brings with her a wealth of local knowledge and professional contacts which will strengthen our team in continuing to provide outstanding support to our clients in the region.”
Danielle said: “I’m excited to have the opportunity to develop my career with a progressive firm whose values align with my own. It’s great to be part of such a well respected commercial property team, not just in Clitheroe but across the whole region.”
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The Amoria Bond Group has announced the appointment of former COO of NP Group (Networking People) and founder of consultancy and advisory company Saltwater, David Etherington, as its new chief executive.
David has worked with the business for just over three years as a non-exec director and brings with him a wealth of experience and impressive track record of launching new services, driving innovation, and delivering sustainable growth in international staffing and consulting businesses.
His appointment further strengthens the board’s experience and capabilities, signalling its continued investment and commitment to delivering its ambitious strategic business goals and international expansion plans.
David Etherington
Delivering staffing and consultancy services into technology, advanced engineering & energy sectors, the Amoria Bond Group was established in 2006 in Manchester. Now, with more than 200 staff across its offices in Cologne, Amsterdam, Manchester, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, and a US office opening in Dallas later this year, the group consists of global recruitment and staffing consultancy Amoria Bond, and global management consultancy entity Coalesce Management Consulting.
Having worked within the staffing industry for more than 25 years, David has an excellent delivery record for companies such as TechPartners International, Capita IT Resourcing, and NP Group. His in depth knowledge of the group’s core specialist STEM markets and extensive experience of recruitment, staffing and management consultancy will significantly strengthen the businesses’s operating effectiveness in these and other complementary international market sectors.
Chair of the Amoria Bond Group, Gary Elden, said: “I have worked with David over the last three years and he has all the qualities and values required to lead such an amazing company.”
David said: “Having been part of the board for three years now, I believe that Amoria Bond Group has tremendous long term prospects underpinned by its deep rooted relationships and knowledge within its sector, combined with an ambition to be the best service-driven staffing and consulting business in Global STEM markets.”
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International real estate advisor Savills has expanded its Northern planning team with five new recruits across the firm’s Manchester and Leeds offices.
Sophie Moore has joined team as as senior planner. Based in the firm’s Manchester office on Booth Street, Sophie joins from Berrys where she worked as a planning consultant. She has worked on a wide range of planning applications across a number of sectors including, residential, agricultural and commercial schemes.
While working at Berrys, Sophie was involved in projects such as barn conversions, holiday let sites and the change of use of agricultural units to provide commercial uses, as well as residential schemes.
From left: Matt Burrow, Ben Parkes, Will Rogers, Sophie Moore, Alex Wylie
New graduate Alex Wylie has joined the Manchester office following completion of his Masters degree in Planning at the University of Manchester.
Matt Burrow will be based in the Leeds office as an associate planner following eight years in planning at Persimmon Homes. Will Rogers has joined the team as senior planner. Predominantly based in the Leeds office, Will joins from Harrogate-based Planning Potential.
New graduate Ben Parkes has also joined the Leeds office having completed an MPlan degree at the University of Sheffield.
The news follows the recent appointment of Matthew Gibbs who joined the firm as a director in the Northern planning team in November last year, working across Yorkshire and the North West.
Jay Patel, director and head of planning at Savills Manchester, said: “We have a strong presence across the North of England and Matt, Sophie, Will, Ben and Alex have joined us at an exciting time in the team’s evolution as we continue to grow our services.”
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Altrincham-based legal recruitment consultancy Realm Recruit has bolstered its specialist team with the appointment of two new members as demand for its services increases.
In response to the buoyancy of the private client legal recruitment market, Sarah Cortez has joined the team as a junior consultant. She will be working closely alongside principal consultant Kelly Reid within Realm’s private client division.
Sarah Cortez and Chloe Whittaker
Realm’s private client division was established in 2017 and now sources talent for more than three quarters of the top ranked firms on the Legal 500 list for this practice area in the North West.
The company has also welcomed Chloe Whittaker as a junior PA. Chloe previously worked in an administrative role within the NHS and will be working within Realm’s support division.
Managing director, Duane Cormell, said: “Sarah’s arrival will enable us to further increase our coverage of the private client market and take on an enhanced number of roles to help more private client lawyers find their next opportunity, while Chloe’s will support our commitment to maintaining the strongest ratio of support staff to consultants of any legal recruiter in the North West, to ensure we can provide excellent service and value to our growing roster of clients and candidates.”
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Bridging loan firm, SoMo, has appointed an in-house talent acquisition partner to keep up with its rapid growth.
In the past 12 months, SoMo has made nine new hires and this rate of expansion is only to set to continue as the bridging firm, formerly known as The Bridgecrowd, continues to see impressive growth.
Lindsey O’Neill joins the Manchester-based firm with a remit of recruiting top candidates, overseeing the onboarding process and developing personal growth plans to help retain talent. There are currently eight roles available, including key account managers and business development managers.
Lindsey O’Neill
She said: “SoMo is a brilliant and exciting place to work. It has a great social environment, an exceptionally friendly and supportive team, and people can rise up the ranks quickly as the business goes from strength to strength.”
Lindsey has already appointed two new recruits to expand the sales team.
Jamie Jolly, SoMo’s managing director, said: “Lindsey has already proved she can find the brightest talent in a candidate-led market so we’re confident SoMo can expand in line with our ambitions in 2022 and beyond.”
Lindsey will work across Social Money Limited’s additional fintech brand, the buy now pay later firm, Payl8r. There are currently 10 roles at Payl8r including a commercial director and full stack PHP developers.
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Chester-based full-service B2B marketing agency, The Armstrong Partnership, has promoted two of its team to senior level roles as the agency continues its impressive growth trajectory.
Maria Persia, formerly account director, is promoted to head of client services, while Simon Andrews moves from head of design to creative director. The promotions are part of the agency’s plans to further develop its creative offering to its numerous international industrial and manufacturing clients.
The news comes after The Armstrong Partnership announced a strong financial performance for 2021, with a 117% growth and turnover exceeding £3.4m.
Daniel Owen, chief executive, said: “We wanted to strengthen our senior team from within the agency, both Maria and Simon are so well respected in their teams. Not only are they both highly skilled leaders, they are trusted implicitly and they also truly understand the Armstrong DNA. This is really important for me.”
Simon Andrews and Maria Persia
As head of client services, Maria will be responsible for a team of more than 10 account directors, managers and executives. She will oversee all client activity while also managing the account handling team and supporting clients.
She said: “I’m eager to see what this year brings and to help develop the business even further in 2022 and beyond.”
New creative director, Simon Andrews, has worked at the agency for more than two years as head of design. Under his new role he will take responsibility for developing the creative team’s skills and have a view across the creative output for the entire client roster.
He said: “With over 20 years’ experience in creative agencies, I’ve worked with many great creative directors and I’m looking forward to bringing the things I have learnt from these experiences as well as my own thoughts and ideas to the role.”
In addition to the two senior promotions, The Armstrong Partnership has also welcomed three new creatives to its team already this year. Ivan Gomez Rubi joins as 3D motion designer, Alexander Chen joins as junior 3D artist, and Reese Nimmo joins as video and motion designer.
Founded in 1991, The Armstrong Partnership delivers brand strategy and development, creative services, digital, and CGI and motion projects for its international B2B client base, which includes Kawneer, Encirc, Bucher Emhart and Sorg.
