People: Lily Shippen Recruitment; Homes for the North; Parfetts; NorthEdge; Clough & Willis; Dow Schofield Watts

A Manchester boutique recruitment firm has strengthened its presence, with the appointment of a director to launch a new division.

Lily Shippen Recruitment, which has specialised in placing EAs, chiefs of staff, and executive support teams since launching in 2016, has appointed Kathryn Gunner to lead the firm’s new Human Resources division.

Previously a manager at a global HR recruitment agency, Kathryn has experience recruiting human resources professionals into various industries.

Managing director, Lily Shippen, said: “Kathryn is acknowledged by clients and candidates as being a very capable and well respected recruiter with great skill in placing professionals into various industries.

“Not only that, but she shares the same values as us on how to provide the best possible service to candidates. Recruiting someone of Kathryn’s calibre is a very natural response to the growth that we have witnessed over the last 12 months especially.”

Kathryn said: “Lily is an old colleague of mine and I have been watching her journey over the last six years with admiration and pride. She has successfully built a business from the ground who are now renowned for their exceptional support and recruitment into the PA industry, and I could not be more excited to launch the HR recruitment division.”

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Steve Coffey, chief executive of Liverpool growth and regeneration group Torus, has become the new chair of Homes for the North.

He succeeds Gentoo chief executive Nigel Wilson who held the position with the 17-strong alliance of homebuilding social housing associations for the past two years.

Having served as vice-chair during this time, Steve will build on Homes for the North’s recent success lobbying government to end the 80/20 rule that directed 80% of funding for housing supply to London and the South East.

Steve Coffey said: “Homes for the North has made excellent progress giving the North a stronger voice with national policymakers and I am looking to build on this further during my tenure as chair at what is a pivotal time.

Steve Coffey

“Levelling up provides us with a fantastic opportunity to not only build more vital homes but use housing as the bedrock to regenerate towns and cities across the North of England. For true parity we need to address broader socio-economic factors by connecting housing to government policy in such a way that it creates genuine, sustainable change and improvement in communities.”

He added: “Good quality housing is the starting point to improve lives but there needs to be training and skills development that leads to sustainable employment opportunities and a perfect way of doing this is by tackling levelling up and the green agenda simultaneously.”

Steve’s career began in civil engineering prior to moving into the housing sector. He also worked for several local authorities before taking up a senior housing role in the West Midlands at the start of the new millennium before returning to the Liverpool City Region some years later.

In 2008, he was appointed as the first chief executive of LMH, leading the large scale voluntary transfer of more than 15,000 Liverpool City Council properties and in 2019 directed the merger of LMH and Torus creating a new 40,000-home association.

Steve will be stepping down shortly from his role as chair of the National Housing Federation’s North West Regional Committee but will continue as vice chair of its sustainability strategy group.

Outgoing Homes for the North chair, Nigel Wilson, said: “Homes for the North’s approach more recently has been to explain the huge opportunity our sector offers to any government committed to the North and to levelling up. Despite recent success there is always more to do and Steve will lead the group to new heights.”

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Stockport-based wholesaler Parfetts has appointed Jamie Ferguson to the new role of head of marketing. He will lead the marketing department and oversee all aspects of the Parfetts brand and support the Go Local and The Local facias.

Jamie brings a wealth of experience in wholesale and retail from more than 26 years in some of the UK’s leading marketing agencies, spending the past decade working on a wide selection of the leading symbol brands.

Jamie Ferguson

Guy Swindell, joint managing director of Parfetts, said: “Jamie is a talented marketer who brings a lot of experience to the role. He is already making an impact on our wide ranging online and offline offering across B2B and B2C channels and supporting the rapid expansion of our own-label range.

“As we continue to grow, it’s important that our customers get the support they need in terms of impactful promotions and wider marketing. Jamie is ensuring we provide it.”

Jamie has a track record of delivering brand strategy, marketing and design and is looking forward to doing the same for Parfetts to deliver business growth and success. He said: “Thanks to its employee ownership model, Parfetts has a unique culture. I think this is key to everything we do and gives us a real point of difference. I look forward to supporting the business on the next phase of its growth plan and helping retailers across the country develop their businesses.”

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Lower-mid market private equity firm, NorthEdge, has made a series of promotions and a new appointment across its Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham offices, including the appointment of two new partners, Lucie Mills and Phil Frame.

Lucie has been instrumental in driving NorthEdge’s value creation approach and embedding it across the portfolio since joining the business in 2019, as head of business transformation.

She will continue to work closely with portfolio management teams to deliver on their value creation plans, as well as build on NorthEdge’s ESG credentials, which recently saw the firm achieve top performer status in the ESG Transparency Index and shortlisted in the D&I Leader of the Year category at The Private Equity Awards. Her appointment also reflects the increasingly diverse nature of NorthEdge’s leadership team.

Lucie Mills and Phil Frame

Phil has been part of the NorthEdge team for more than 10 years. He has been responsible for a range of deals across the North West and currently sits on the boards of portfolio businesses Helios and Meet. In his new role he will continue to take responsibility for generating new investment opportunities for the firm, alongside leading deals across the region.

Other promotions in the Manchester office include Dan Matkin and Charlie Page to director and chief financial officer, respectively.

Dan joined NorthEdge in 2016 and recently won the Rising Star of the Year at the North West Rainmaker Awards 2021. He has been involved in a number of investments and is currently a board member at CMap, Cloud Technology Solutions and Abbey Logistics.

Charlie joined NorthEdge as financial controller in 2017 after qualifying as a Chartered Accountant at Deloitte. As the CFO, Charlie will lead the day to day financial activity in the firm.

Meanwhile, Matthew Mellon joins the business as an investment manager. Matthew brings experience from his previous roles at AGC Equity Partners and JP Morgan. In his new role, Matthew will be responsible for supporting new investment opportunities and growing NorthEdge’s portfolio.

Ray Stenton, managing partner at NorthEdge, said: “2021 was a fantastic year for NorthEdge – delivering two successful exits and completing five new investments across three of our core sectors – Healthcare, Technology, and Business Services.

“We want to build on this success by continuing to invest in our people and our portfolio. Therefore, we are thrilled to announce these promotions and appointments which reflect the hard work of our team and our collective commitment to building better businesses.”

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In its latest round of promotions, Bury and Bolton law firm Clough & Willis has confirmed that two of its team have been promoted. One has become an equity partner and the other a salaried partner.

Nicola Finbow, who joined the firm in 2018 as head of the private client team and was promoted to salaried partner in 2020, has become an equity partner. Nicola focuses on a variety of core work including wealth and succession planning, inheritance tax advice, trust creation and administration, wills, lasting powers of attorney and estate administration. She is also a full member of STEP, the global professional association for practitioners which specialises in family inheritance and succession planning.

Rhianna Bateson and Nicola Finbow

Also in the private client team, Rhianna Bateson has been promoted from associate solicitor to salaried partner. Rhianna has worked at Clough & Willis since 2017 and, like Nicola, covers all areas of private client law. She is a member of the Solicitors for the Elderly and is due to complete her final examinations to become STEP qualified. Rhianna graduated with a first class law degree from UCLAN in 2012. She completed her Legal Practice Course in 2013 qualifying in July 2016.

Lee Marston, managing partner, said: “As a business, we are firmly built on the talent, dedication, and commitment of our respective teams. Both Nicola and Rhianna have been instrumental in building our private client offering over the past few years, so their promotions are hugely deserved and reflect their efforts. Clough & Willis is focused on developing, growing, and promoting from within and this approach will continue to remain a central part of us.”

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Daresbury-based business advisory firm, Dow Schofield Watts, has appointed Susie Dow as finance and operations project manager to support its continued expansion across the UK.

Susie started her career with PWC in London, where she spent four years working in audit, assurance and risk management and where she qualified as a Chartered Accountant. She went on to found and run her own online clothing business, High Tied Apparel.

Susie Dow

Prior to joining Dow Schofield Watts, in 2021, she provided assistance to the team on a temporary basis to support the successful IPO by DSW Capital, which owns the Dow Schofield Watts brand. In her new permanent role, she will be based at the Daresbury headquarters where her responsibilities will include financial reporting, risk management and supporting the firm’s 80-odd professionals with their training and compliance requirements.

Dow Schofield Watts, which now has eight offices across the UK, operates a unique licensing model which enables finance professionals – mainly from ‘big four’ firms – to run their own business under the Dow Schofield Watts banner. Susie’s appointment follows the launch of the Dow Schofield Watts Entrepreneurship Grant which will see up to £2m awarded to teams of professionals looking to set up their own businesses, accelerating the group’s expansion across the UK.

Nicole Burstow, finance director at Dow Schofield Watts, said: “Susie impressed us with her hard work in the run up to the flotation last year. We are delighted that she will be joining us on a permanent basis to support the wider growth of the business as we continue to roll out the Dow Schofield Watts model and launch new service lines and locations nationwide.”