People: Harrison Drury; Clarke Nicklin; Irwin Mitchell; Savills; Ainscough Strategic Land; Primas Law

North West law firm Harrison Drury has welcomed three new trainees to the firm.

Charles Mather, Alex Barr and Ben Foulds will undertake two-year traineeships with the firm to qualify as solicitors.

All three will provide support to different teams and offices across the firm, gaining experience in different areas of law and sectors before going on to specialise at the end of their training.

Amanda Webster, partner and head of professional development, said: “We have a long tradition of investing in people and bringing through the next generation of legal talent.

“Our trainees and apprentices play a vital role in supporting our teams and will receive quality mentoring and support from their colleagues and peers as they develop their skills and knowledge.

“It’s always a real pleasure to see our trainees growing personally and professionally and we’re delighted to welcome Charles, Alex and Ben and give them this opportunity.”

Ben is completing the Practical Skills Course operated by BPP as part of his training and will work with the commercial property team during his first training seat.

Alex is completing the LLM Legal Practice Course at BPP University ans will join the commercial litigation team first.

Charles was already working as a paralegal with the firm and will start his training with the regulatory team.

Harrison Drury has taken on more than 20 trainees and legal apprentices in the past five years. In 2021, it launched the HD Academy aimed at developing the next generation of lawyers and leaders.

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Clarke Nicklin Chartered Accountants partner, Brian Bradley, has recently been appointed as the chair of Cheadle Towns Fund Board. The board’s membership reflects the diversity of Cheadle and comprises representation from private sector, local business, community and voluntary groups, Cheadle MP and councillors, Local Enterprise Partnership and local government officials.

Brian Bradley

In November 2019, the Government formally launched a £3.6bn Towns Fund as part of a wider strategy to rebalance the national economy. The objectives of the fund are to invest in economic growth, regeneration, improved transport, digital connectivity and skills. After two-and-half years of hard work, the Cheadle Towns Fund Board secured £13.9m of the Government’s Towns Fund.

As an independent chair from a private sector business, Brian will be crucial to lead the Cheadle Towns Fund Board in achieving its objectives, maintaining an overview of activity, and championing and supporting partnership working.

He said “As a board we will work collaboratively with all partners to deliver the infrastructure and transformational projects Cheadle deserves. We have an ambitious vision for Cheadle and in these challenging times it is important we deliver something positive which we can all be proud of.”

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Irwin Mitchell is continuing to bolster its industry sector teams with the appointment of respected Manchester-based lawyer, Claire Petricca-Riding, as the head of its national manufacturing group.

Claire Petricca-Riding

Claire joined Irwin Mitchell’s real estate team in 2019 as a partner and national head of planning. She will continue in this role but will also now lead the 20-strong team of sector experts which includes lawyers from a range of legal disciplines including commercial litigation, M&A, real estate and tax.

Earlier this year Claire was named in the top 100 ‘Powerlist’ of influential environment advisers by leading sustainability publication, The ENDS Report. Claire is confident that her expertise and understanding of complex environmental issues puts her in a strong position to take the team forward.

She said: “The environment is the golden thread running through the entire manufacturing sector. It incorporates a wide set of challenges and these issues are moving up the corporate agenda and have the potential to reach the very top.”

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Savills has appointed Simon Turner as a director in its Manchester development team. Simon, a former senior development manager at Homes England, has joined the firm to specialise in supporting public and private landowners and developers across the North.

With more than 20 years’ experience working in development and regeneration, Simon has worked on a number of key assignments during his career, including advising on the planning and delivery of major residential, mixed-use and regeneration developments in the North of England, and advising on the regeneration of iconic assets such as Wigan Pier and Grange Lido.

Simon Turner

Simon’s focus at Savills will be to support public and private sector landowners and developers to shape and promote development proposals, through property market and land use analysis, viability appraisals and delivery advice. Prior to joining Homes England, where he had been for the past two years, Simon had held the role of director and regional head of planning development and regeneration at Lambert Smith Hampton since 2015.

Adam Mirley, director and head of development consultancy at Savills in Manchester, said: “This is a really significant appointment which will further strengthen the expertise provided by our 17-strong development team in Manchester.”

Simon said: “It’s an incredibly exciting time to be joining Savills and I am looking forward to building on the success that the team has had to date. Public and private sector organisations continue to face challenges towards delivery of development, which requires all stakeholders to explore innovative and pragmatic solutions. This presents real opportunities across the North and I am looking forward to getting stuck in to this new challenge.”

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Liam Kenyon has been promoted to associate land director at Ainscough Strategic Land (ASL).

Kenyon (37) joined the national land promotion business nine years ago as a land manager and now assumes more responsibility for securing land under contract, to be promoted through the planning system.

Leigh-based ASL signs land promotion agreements with landowners, whereby it assumes the cost and risk of promoting their plot through the planning system for alternative use, usually housing or commercial purposes. ASL then manages the sale of the consented land to developers via an open market bidding process, retaining a proportion of the final sale proceeds, plus its costs.

Liam Kenyon

David O’Reilly, ASL’s managing director, said: “Liam’s focus, professionalism and performance merits his promotion and I’m delighted for him.

“The transition strengthens further the senior management capability we have within the business whilst reflecting our values of ‘growing our own’. We are focused on driving the business forward and Liam will play a key role in achieving our targets.”

Kenyon’s focus will be on building and sustaining the firm’s relationships with residential land agents across the country, driving the growth of the business, while working closely with existing landowner partners.

The company recently concluded its largest ever land sale, the disposal of land consented for 2,500 homes plus commercial and community space at Lotmead Farm in Swindon. Planning officers had earlier praised the firm’s masterplanning skills when recommending the site for approval.

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Corporate and commercial legal practice, Primas Law, has announced its latest set of appointments as the business signals its intent for its employment law offering.

Just seven months after appointing its new head of department, David Walton, and nationally-recognised employment partner, Danielle Ayres, the practice has welcomed two new additions to its employment team.

Holly Navarro joins as an employment solicitor with experience across a variety of employment matters including settlement agreements, contract and policy drafting and tribunal support advising both employees and employers.

Holly Navarro and Rebecca Bloxsome

Primas’s team of employment specialists will now also be supported by a dedicated executive assistant, Rebecca Bloxsome, who has joined the team with more than 15 years of administration experience.

Since announcing its move into Liverpool, the practice’s employment team has started working with a host of Liverpool-based clients including healthcare brand, DAM Health.

David Walton, Primas Law’s head of employment, said: “Just seven months after joining the Primas team to head up our employment offering, I’m thrilled to have made two key appointments to support the department’s rapid growth.

“It’s a really exciting time for us, particularly as Primas settles into its Liverpool office base, and new clients are coming to work with us from a broad range of sectors including retail and leisure, manufacturing, finance, aviation and education.

“That’s why we’re thrilled to welcome our new recruits to the practice and our employment offering. Both Holly and Rebecca bring with them fantastic experience to complement our existing team and have a clear commitment to providing quality client service, in keeping with what Primas and the employment team stand for.”