People: Cobalt Housing; The Joshua Tree; Back to the Garden Childcare; Myerson Solicitors; Zerum; CLEVR Money
Liverpool-based Cobalt Housing has appointed Claire Griffiths as its new chief executive.
Cobalt announced in January that Alan Rogers, who has led the organisation for 11 years, would be retiring in 2022.
Claire, who is currently executive director of growth, development & assets at Irwell Valley Homes in Salford, Manchester, has worked in the housing and regeneration sectors for more than 30 years. After graduating from the University of Liverpool, her career began working with community housing co-operatives in Liverpool. Prior to Irwell Valley Homes, she worked at Liverpool-based housing association Plus Dane Housing, in roles including executive director of property.
She said: “I’m hugely honoured and excited to be given the opportunity to lead this brilliant organisation in the next stage of its evolution and growth, serving and supporting the communities of Norris Green, Croxteth and Fazakerley. I’m looking forward to working closely with colleagues, customers, the board and our partners in the city and city region to make sure we deliver the best possible outcomes.”
Stephen Kinsella, chair of the board, said: “Claire came through a very rigorous process, and Cobalt’s board unanimously agreed that she is a great fit for Cobalt, fully understanding what we are trying to achieve for our tenants and community, and the importance of the role we play in North Liverpool.”
Claire will join Cobalt Housing in August 2022.
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Northwich children’s charity, The Joshua Tree, has appointed five new trustees, ahead of the launch of a new state-of-the-art support centre.
The Joshua Tree works across the North West supporting families affected by childhood cancers. Following the easing of lockdown restrictions, the charity has seen an unprecedented increase in family referrals.
In response to the increasing demand the charity has announced the expansion of its board. The five new trustees are Dr Susan Gilby, CEO of the Countess of Chester Hospital; Dr John Archer, head of radiotherapy services at The Christie NHS Foundation; Martin Keelagher, serial entrepreneur; Paula Byrne, employment lawyer; and Nerys Price-Jones, group head of HR, Platts Agriculture.
Dr John Archer
Andy Seferta, chair of trustees, said: “We had a number of high calibre applications, and I am delighted we have been able to appoint five trustees, bringing a great diversity of experience, knowledge and skills to further strengthen our board at this key moment. We have exciting plans for The Joshua Tree in 2022 and beyond.”
Martin Keelagher said: “It is a great privilege to be invited on to the board of such an important children’s cancer charity, being something very close to my heart. The challenge of ensuring that every individual touched by children’s cancer, can access the support they require for all members of their family affected, for as long as needed, is a challenge that we shall tackle head on. I am very much looking forward to helping to support this incredible charity, with this essential mission, as we move forward.”
Dr Susan Gilby said: “I am thrilled to be joining the board of trustees and supporting the work of The Joshua Tree at this important time. I personally recognise the value that diversity of experience brings to an organisation and whilst great progress is being made, there is much more to do to make the real change we need and I’m looking forward to getting involved and playing my part.”
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Back to the Garden Childcare has appointed Kate Kelly as administrative assistant.
Reporting into nursery manager Ann Marie Ellison, Kate will help with the day-to-day running of the natural child-led day nursery in Altrincham, assisting parents, carers and visitors with questions and queries and handling administrative tasks such as booking schedules, invoicing and registering and welcoming new children.
Kate Kelly
Kate has a wealth of hands-on experience with children and is also looking forward to communicating and celebrating the individual achievements of each of the nursery’s children as they develop and learn at their own pace.
Prior to joining, Kate was the finance and office manager for a childcare voucher company where she spent 13 years running all aspects of the business. In her new role, she aims to use her experience to streamline processes and increase day-to-day efficiencies while increasing bookings.
She said:“When the role came up, I knew that it was the one for me. It is both challenging and varied which I really enjoy.”
Nursery manager, Ann Marie Ellison, welcomed Kate, saying: “The parents and children love her and she is already making a great contribution to the smooth day-to-day running of the nursery.”
Based in Altrincham and coming soon to Lymm, Back to the Garden is a child-led day nursery that focuses on active learning through outdoor play in a garden setting.
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Altrincham-based law firm, Myerson Solicitors, continues to grow with the introduction of its new insolvency and restructuring practice area alongside the new hire of Richard Wolff, who joins as partner and head of the insolvency and restructuring team.
Richard was a partner at JMW, where he established its insolvency practice and was head of corporate recovery and insolvency for more than a decade before joining Pannone Corporate as a partner. He specialises in corporate and personal insolvency, advising a wide variety of clients, including public and private companies, secured lenders, insolvency practitioners, invoice discounters, accountants, and private individuals.
He is also a Leading Individual in the Legal 500, is recognised in Chambers and chairs R3’s national membership committee.
Richard Wolff
Akeel Latif, partner and head of the corporate and commercial team at Myerson Solicitors, said: “Richard’s vast knowledge and experience enable him to advise our diverse and ever-growing client base. Richard’s experience in insolvency will allow us to expand our quality service to new clients and professionals alongside our existing clients and contacts at Myerson Solicitors.
“The addition of Richard shows the firm’s continuing expansion, and we are looking forward to the continued growth of the insolvency and restructuring team.”
Richard has worked on notable/high profile matters, including for the administrators of the Allsports group, for the purchasers of the Texstyle World chain of home improvement stores in Scotland out of administration, for the administrators of Blackpool Automotive (formerly TVR) and on the acquisition from administrators of the High & Mighty chain of outsize menswear retailers.
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Manchester and Leeds-based planning, project management & cost management consultancy, Zerum, has made several new hires on the back of a raft of new business wins.
Danny Cremen
Russell Wright Turner, cost management director, said: “People are our greatest asset as a professional consultancy organisation. Zerum have recently set up a graduate development training programme to support and develop our staff outside of their daily project delivery and through their RICS Chartership journey.”
Danny Cremen has joined after recently relocating from Cork, Ireland, to Manchester. Danny will be working on projects across both the Leeds and Manchester offices, including the major development of Sweet Street in Leeds, which proposes 1,300 residential properties along with significant commercial floorspace, associated community uses and public open space.
Meghan Gleeson
Meghan Gleeson has also joined the team alongside Danny as an assistant planner and will be working towards her chartered membership of the RTPI via the degree apprenticeship route. She will also be assisting with the proposed development of Water Lane, Leeds, a high profile project that seeks to deliver in excess of 500,000 sq ft of new office floorspace and a new city centre hotel, along with a new landmark gateway building of 400 apartments in Leeds.
Both Danny and Meghan will also be assisting with other large projects, including the development of Middlewood Locks in Salford, the redevelopment of the Galleries Shopping Centre in Wigan and the flagship development of St Michael’s in Manchester city centre.
Cost management has seen a string of recent appointments including Jonathan Mitchell and Bethany Guirey who are joining as project surveyors and Branagh McNamara who has joined as a graduate surveyor. Yvonne Chow has recently joined the project management team from Investar.
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CLEVR Money, the credit union for Blackpool, Fylde, Wyre, Preston and Lancaster, has welcomed a new president and a new treasurer.
Solicitor and Blackpool councillor, David Owen, has stepped up from his role as deputy to head the board of directors, while retired banker Philip Owen has been appointed treasurer.
Ron Bell and Cllr David Owen
Cllr Owen, who has served as a representative on Blackpool Borough Council for 43 years, has been a member of the credit union’s board since its formation in 2009. He is also chairman of the council’s planning committee, chairman of the Winter Gardens Trust and runs his own law firm, Layton Law.
He replaces Ron Bell as president of the credit union board. Mr Bell said: “It has been an absolute pleasure working with this board and the fantastic CLEVR Money operational team. I am sad to go, but pleased to have overseen a phenomenal period for the organisation, having a record £2.96m out on loan helping people in this community to avoid bad debt.”
Philip Owen takes over the treasurer role from council finance boss Steve Thompson. Mr Owen is also chair of the credit committee, a role he took on in 2019. He retired as manager for Barclays Bank in Lancashire after 36 years and has served on the CLEVR Money board for the past four years.
The credit union has also welcomed new board member John Donnellon, chief executive of Blackpool Coastal Housing, while Paul Whitehead, director of finance and resource for Blackpool Housing Company, has joined the CLEVR Money supervisory committee.
