People: Macmillan Davies; Travcorp; Aaron and Partners; Bromleys Solicitors; Beever and Struthers; Livv Housing Group
Macmillan Davies has expanded its Manchester-based team with the appointment of senior recruitment consultant, Amy Mottershead.
Amy, who has more than six years’ experience within both contingency and interim recruitment, began her career recruiting regional business support and accounting professionals within the real estate sector before moving to specialise in HR appointments.
At Macmillan Davies, Amy will focus on bringing in the next generation of HR professionals to businesses across the North West. She said: “This is a significant and exciting period of opportunity in the North West market. With so many businesses looking to invest in talent for the future and attract aspiring leaders within their people functions, this seemed like a natural move to make.”
Amy will bolster the firm’s FuturExec team, who work with leading organisations to provide exceptional HR professionals largely at the early stages of their careers. The rise in hiring opportunities mirrors the trends shown in the latest Business Barometer from Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking – confidence in the UK economy was at its highest in the North West.
Nick Allwood, director and head of the Macmillan Davies Manchester office, said: “We’ve seen a sustained increase in demand at all levels in the HR market and Amy’s personality, style and experience made her a natural fit for our business and for the FuturExec team. Bringing Amy on board has been a real demonstration of how attracting talent is more of a long term strategy than a short term fix.”
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BGF-backed Travcorp Holdings has strengthened its senior team, with the appointment of Kate Wadeson from Sykes Holiday Cottages.
Kate joins the Chester-based online travel operator as head of marketing, after 13 years at Sykes Holiday Cottages and brings more than 20 years’ experience in travel marketing to the role, from direct mail to omni-channel contact strategies. Having previously worked with The Cooperative Travel Group, Kate has a strong understanding of short haul, long haul and cruise markets.
At Travcorp Holdings, she’ll be responsible for leading the company’s marketing activity, including customer-centric marketing, loyalty, lifecycle-management, segmentation and brand awareness.
Kate Wadeson
Andrew Botterill, Travcorp Holdings chief executive, said: “Our ambition is to become one of the largest B2C tour operators in the UK and this newly created position will be pivotal in ensuring we reach the next stage of our growth journey. Our marketing team is already benefiting from part of the multimillion-pound investment BGF made into our business last November and over the next few months we expect to see positive changes as we look to expand our team further to help meet our strategic aims.”
Travcorp Holdings specialises in packaged holidays via its consumer brands Destination2.co.uk and HolidayGems.co.uk. The brands service a diverse holiday market, from premium, long haul holidays to destinations such as Barbados, Dubai and the Maldives, to low cost, short haul packages to locations, including the Canary Islands, Balearics, Turkey and Greece.
Last year the company raised £3.7m in equity funding, led by BGF. BGF’s backing, which is supported by a significant co-investment by Travcorp’s management team, is enabling the company to invest heavily in technology, marketing and new destinations as it continues to capitalise on a resurgence in the travel market.
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Chester-based law firm, Aaron and Partners, has announced its annual promotions in recognition of the continuing development of its people.
The firm, which has offices in Shrewsbury, Manchester and Wirral, has confirmed a total of 11 new roles for its team, ranging from associates to partners.
Aaron and Partners promotions
Layla Barke-Jones, a dispute resolution solicitor with a specialism in warehousing and logistics law, and Phil Caton, who deals with transactional and contentious construction law, have both become partners.
Solicitors Jennifer Harrison from the corporate and commercial team, Hannah Fynn from real estate, and Claire Hughes, who works in restructuring and insolvency, have all been promoted to senior associate level.
Rounding off the promotions are Debbie Dugdale, Jayne Bamford, Helen Alexander, Natalie Antenbring, Katie Hughes-Beddows and Michael Redston who take up new roles as associates.
Nick Clarke, senior partner, said: “The ability to progress your career at Aaron’s is one of the key things that distinguishes us as a firm and so it’s incredibly pleasing to be able to announce this year’s round of promotions. These appointments are all richly deserved and are testament to the commitment and expertise they have all shown.”
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Four solicitors have been promoted to senior associate at Tameside law firm Bromleys.
The quartet are Anthony Theakston, Kate Allsop, Rachael Frankland and Francesca Rigby.
Senior and managing partner, Mark Hirst, said: “This round of promotions reflects the acknowledged expertise of each individual in their respective fields as well as recognising their dedication, the success they have achieved for their clients and their contribution to the growth of the firm.
From left: Anthony Theakston, Kate Allsop, Rachael Frankland, Francesca Rigby
“Anthony, Kate, Rachael and Francesca all have a great future here with Bromleys and are integral members of our growing team. Their promotions are very well deserved.”
Meanwhile, several non-legal staff at Bromleys have also been promoted. Hailie Applegate has been promoted to associate in the accounts department, where Jackie Brindley has been promoted to legal cashier.
Caroline Renshaw, a law costs draftsman, and practice manager Louise Nolan have also become associates.
They are the first non-legal members of staff to be promoted under the firm’s career path, which was recently amended to recognise people’s expertise in specialist areas, not just in the legal field.
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Accountants and business advisors Beever and Struthers has strengthened its not-for-profit team with two senior appointments following significant growth.
The growing firm appointed Helen Knowles from BDO as director and Nonie Freeman from Crowe as senior manager.
These latest hires take the number of dedicated and specialist staff in the not-for-profit team to more than 100.
Sue Hutchinson, partner and head of charities at Beever and Struthers, said: “Helen’s skills and experience across not-for-profit in both external and internal audit will expand the strength of the team nationally, and in particular drive our growing foothold in the further education sector forward.
“Nonie’s extensive experience within the charity sector will support our clients to achieve compliance with the complexities of financial reporting for charities, as well as the increasingly challenging regulatory duties and good governance for Trustees.”
From left: Sue Hutchinson, Helen Knowles, Nonie Freeman
Helen Knowles said: “I’m joining Beever and Struthers during an exciting period of growth for the firm. The current economic climate is creating a number of challenges for not-for-profit organisations and I am looking forward to supporting our clients with navigating these issues.”
Nonie Freeman said: “I’m so pleased to join Beever and Struthers. The firm is committed to investing in the not-for-profit sector and I’m looking forward to helping the firm grow further and assisting our clients through these difficult times.”
Maria Hallows, executive partner and head of not-for-profit at Beever and Struthers, said: “Our recent appointments and wider recruitment drive prove our commitment to identifying and nurturing talent and having the highest ambitions for our staff and our clients. I’m very proud of our continuing investment in the charities and wider not-for-profit sector. It’s a pleasure to welcome Helen and Nonie to the firm.”
Beever and Struthers is moving to the iconic One Express building in Ancoats, Manchester, and will relocate from its current head office at St George’s House, Chester Road, Manchester, this autumn.
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Knowsley-based Livv Housing Group has welcomed 13 new apprentices to the company. As one of the largest apprenticeship providers in the borough, the housing association continues to pave the way for the next generation of young talent.
Livv has hired apprentices in a variety of areas across the business including health and safety, gas engineer, electrical, painting and decorating, sales and leasehold, customer insight, IT, HR and assets.
Three of the apprentices have joined after successfully completing their six-month Kickstart Scheme at Livv.
This year’s cohort also includes a female painting and decorating apprentice which is significant for the business in supporting and encouraging more women into construction and trade-based careers.
The new cohort
Ring-fenced for 16- to 24-year-olds living in Knowsley, apprentices will complete additional qualifications related to their area of work, alongside their on-the-job training.
Sharon Marsh, executive director of resources, said: “As Knowsley is one of the only areas in the country without A level provision, it’s important to us as a local organisation that we’re continuing to offer young people other routes into study or work that don’t require them to travel out of the borough.
“We’re really proud of the success rate of our apprenticeships and how they’ve paved the way for over 170 young people to launch their careers, whether with us or externally. Some of our current employees started out as an apprentice with us and went on to secure a permanent role – many have even worked their way up into leadership roles.”
The success rate of Livv’s apprenticeships continues to rise as two more former apprentices, Luke Duffy and Lewis Orr, recently secured permanent roles as gas engineers with the housing association.
