People: Steve Morgan Foundation; Pannone Corporate; Lichfields; Mitchell Charlesworth; Building Design Northern
The Steve Morgan Foundation has appointed its first chief executive.
Liam Eaglestone, who comes from a pastoral background and has extensive experience in the education and third sector, said he felt ‘privileged’ to be the first CEO in the 21-year history of the foundation.
The 44-year-old, who lives in Anfield, Liverpool, said he wanted to build on the organisation’s reputation for changing lives. He said: “I’ve seen first hand the impact the Steve Morgan Foundation has on supporting entire communities and it’s a genuine honour to be appointed as CEO.
“The relationship the foundation has with the charities it works with goes far beyond the grants it provides and has been forged over many years.
“The Steve Morgan Foundation was first out the blocks when it came to supporting charities impacted by COVID-19 and its partnership with the cancer support charity Maggie’s goes from strength to strength.”
Earlier this year the foundation announced a £50m donation to Diabetes UK and JDRF UK to transform the lives of people living with type 1 diabetes and lead the global race to a cure. It’s a subject very close to father of four Mr Eaglestone’s heart as both he and his 14-year-old son, Jack, have type 1 diabetes.
Philanthropist Steve Morgan, who founded Norh West housebuilder Redrow, said: “Over the last 21 years the Steve Morgan Foundation has become one of the UK’s leading, individual, philanthropic foundations.
“Under the leadership of Jane Harris, we’ve gained a thorough understanding of the challenges facing the people in our region and we will continue to support those individuals via the numerous charities we fund. However, we have even greater ambition. We are increasingly initiating and supporting larger scale initiatives, both regionally and nationally.
“Liam has the ideal skillset to realise our ambition, we are all incredibly excited for the future and the foundation achieving ever greater things.”
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North West law firm, Pannone Corporate, has announced the promotion of seven people across its team, including two promotions to associate partner.
Bill Dunkerley has been promoted to associate partner in the firm’s regulatory team. Since joining the firm in 2019, Bill has quickly built up a strong reputation in the area of regulatory interventions and prosecutions, including corporate and gross negligence manslaughter, health and safety offences, with extensive experience advising and assisting care providers.
He is joined as associate partner by Michael McNally, who joined the employment team last year as director. He advises employers on all aspects of employment law, including regular representation and advocacy in the Employment Tribunal. He has particular experience working with businesses in the care, manufacturing, transport and logistics, retail, leisure and hospitality sectors.
Bill said: “It’s a real honour to have moved up through the ranks, as we look to build on the momentum achieved across the regulatory team, and the firm as a whole.”
Bill Dunkerley
Other promotions include Arshnoor Amershi, who has been promoted to director in the corporate services team where she specialises in all aspects of corporate legal work such as M&A and disposals, reorganisations and restructuring, Andrew Walsh, who joined Pannone as a trainee solicitor seven years ago, rising up the ranks to become senior associate in corporate services, and James Brandwood, who has been promoted to senior associate in the real estate team.
In addition, Radhika Das, who joined as a legal executive in 2018, has become an associate in the employment team, together with Lauren Beech, who has been promoted to associate in commercial services.
Paul Jonson, senior partner at Pannone, said: “These promotions represent Pannone’s commitment to investing in our people and the future of the firm.
“The associate partner promotions are thoroughly well deserved. Bill and Michael have both demonstrated a clear focus on both technical excellence and commercial advice in a short space of time, to provide a high quality service to clients. Everyone who has been promoted should be incredibly proud of their achievements.”
The promotions follow the recent appointments of Paul Jagger as debt recovery manager, joining from Ward Hadaway, together with Dominic Beddow, solicitor in real estate, Lauren Whittaker, foreign lawyer, regulatory, and Belinda Cheung, associate, corporate.
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Manchester planning and development consultancy Lichfields has promoted Tamara Ettenfield to senior planner as the firm continues to develop its national operations and see strong revenue growth.
Tamara Ettenfield
The move comes as Lichfields is marking its 60th anniversary year in 2022. The firm, which employs 215 people working across nine regional offices, has hit fee revenues of £22.6m and is aiming to pass the £25m milestone before the end of this year.
Recognising Tamara’s contribution to the business in recent months, chief executive James Fennell, said: “This promotion reflects the great work our staff do for our clients and the pride we take in creating a work environment to nurture our talent.”
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North West accountancy firm Mitchell Charlesworth has made a series of senior appointments to its audit and accounts, tax, outsourcing and insurance teams.
Managers Reece Sutcliffe and Alex Young have been appointed to develop the firm’s outsourcing services which include systems automation, management reporting, VAT returns and bookkeeping.
Reece Sutcliffe delivers specialist compliance and advisory services through utilising value-added software applications. He provides expert advice on app integrations that enhance the accounting process for clients. He has gained a wealth of financial experience by working with SMEs in a wide variety of sectors, including healthcare and medical, creative industries, digital marketing and IT. He became fully qualified as a chartered certified accountant during December 2021.
Alex Young has a particular focus on delivering high quality financial information through the use and integration of a wide range of software. As an advocate and avid user of cloud-based accounting software, Alex can provide guidance when adapting for Making Tax Digital or even for entities looking to enhance their current accounting function. He has six years’ experience of advising and working with clients across a number of sectors, including construction, engineering, technology and creative industries.
Sarah Guppy has rejoined the Liverpool audit and accounts team as a manager after spending three years working in industry. Sarah trained at one of the Big Four while studying Accounting Studies at Newcastle University and first joined Mitchell Charlesworth in 2013 on completion of her degree course.
She completed her formal ACA training in December 2015. She has extensive knowledge of accounting and taxation matters and also provides clients with cloud software support and training. She advises SME businesses not just on compliance issues but also effective growth strategies. Sarah has experience of advising businesses across a wide range of sectors, including manufacturing, property, and professional services.
Jordan Hayes has been appointed as an audit and accounts manager in the Widnes office. He started his accounting career by working in practice in 2013 and obtained his AAT qualification in 2015 which was followed by the ACA qualification in 2018. Jordan has a wide range of accounting and tax knowledge, having worked with clients across a wide range of sectors including property, tech start-ups, manufacturing and hospitality.
From left: Alex Jones, Lisa Thompson, Jordan Hayes, Louise Wilkins, Arron Hodder, Andy Foulkes
From left: Alex Young, Alison Lavelle, Reece Sutcliffe, Sarah Guppy, Stephen Laffan
Manager Louise Wilkins has also joined the accounts team in the firm’s Widnes office. Louise has more than 20 years’ experience in advising small and medium-sized businesses in all financial and accounting matters. Louise qualified in 2001 and is a fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.
Lisa Thompson has been appointed as a tax manager in the Widnes office and deals with both personal and corporate tax, carrying out a mixture of compliance and advisory work. She has experience of dealing with a wide range of clients from sole traders and high net worth individuals to groups of companies. Lisa has 18 years of experience of working in practice for small and medium-sized accountancy firms and qualified as a chartered tax adviser in 2010.
Arron Hodder has also joined the Widnes office as a tax advisor and has 19 years of experience in personal and corporation tax. In his new role, he mainly deals with personal tax, carrying out a mixture of compliance and advisory work. He has experience of dealing with a wide range of clients ranging from sole traders and high net worth individuals to partnerships.
The firm has also welcomed account director Alex Jones to its insurance team. Alex has more than six years of experience in the insurance industry having previously worked for leading UK brokers while attaining qualifications specialising in commercial and business insurance. In his new role, Alex works with business owners to understand exactly what insurance cover they need. Alex takes great interest in helping local businesses with a particular focus on start-up companies.
Mitchell Charlesworth has also made two promotions.
Stephen Laffan has been promoted to manager. Stephen has spent his entire 35-year career within the accounting and finance industry and has gathered a significant amount of knowledge and wide range of experience in most of the areas within the accounting umbrella. The majority of his experience has been in audit, accounts production and tax, both business and personal. He deals with clients across a varying range of sectors, such as retail, manufacturing, housing and charities. He is based at the firm’s Liverpool office.
Andy Foulkes has been promoted to assistant manager. Andy started his accountancy career in 2010 working at a specialist contractor accountants. He completed his AAT and ACCA qualifications and qualified as an accountant in 2019 before joining the firm’s Widnes office in November 2020. Andy provides business support and accounts services to a mixed portfolio of businesses across a wide range of sectors, including manufacturing and property. He also delivers cloud accounting software support and training.
Alison Lavelle, partner at Mitchell Charlesworth, said: “As this latest round of appointments and promotions shows, we are continually investing in the brightest talent that enables us to deliver the highest quality service to our clients. This is a very exciting time for the firm, we are seeing growing demand for our services and the individuals we have recruited and promoted will play a key role in our future growth.”
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Architects and engineering practice, Building Design Northern (BDN), is accelerating its growth plans in the North West with the appointmet of Josh Allington as an architect in its Ulverston office.
He has joined the 25-strong team at the Cumbria site. BDN also has a Sunderland base.
Chartered architect Josh has spent seven years working for a large firm in Birmingham and played a pivotal role in the design and delivery of Birmingham’s tallest residential building, the 42-storey tower for Moda Living, The Mercian which opened last month.
Originally from Barrow, Josh will bring his broad architecture experience to BDN, as the firm looks to expand its portfolio of residential and commercial projects in the North West.
Josh Allington
The multi-disciplinary practice offers architecture, civil and structural engineering services to clients across the UK. BDN led the £1m restoration project of the listed Old Simpson Street School into its North East head office and luxury apartments in 2020, and is now seeking to establish a larger Ulverston base.
Josh said: “I am really excited to be joining BDN at a time when the Ulverston office is seeing rapid growth. It is an ambitious company, with diverse clients and an ever-expanding project list.
“It’s great being back home, and I’m really looking forward to adding my experience to an already impressive team.”
Josh has joined BDN during a period of significant growth, having increased its headcount by 12 in just 24 months. Director of architecture and head of BDN’s Ulverston office, Joe Warner, said: “It is great to see the expansion of our business in Ulverston. We are committed to employing the best local talent.
“We are delighted to have Josh on board and believe his skills and experience will complement the team as our Ulverston base in the North West continues to grow.”
Josh’s hire is the start of a period of planned expansion in the Lake District, as BDN has plans to open a larger Ulverston office in 2023.
