People: One Brand Magic; Blume; BECG Group; Claritas Tax; Banc; AJ Bell
Manchester-based integrated marketing agency, One Brand Magic, has welcomed three new faces to the business in recent months.
Nicola Wilkins joins the agency as senior account manager, having previously held a senior client services role at creative agency IPOS. Nicola brings with her considerable experience, in particular with retail brands in shopper and experiential.
Joining One Brand Magic as a PR account executive is Maddie Waters, making the move from London to Manchester, having worked in-house for fashion giants ASOS and River Island.
Graeme Browne also joins the agency as PPC manager with more than a decade of experience in digital marketing. Graeme has worked with clients across a number of sectors and specialises in managing paid search campaigns as well as business growth in e-commerce and lead generation disciplines.
Will English, client services director at One Brand Magic, said: “It’s exciting to welcome three new faces to the agency. In Nicola, Maddie and Graeme we have a fantastic blend of experience and enthusiasm, and skillsets aligned to the direction of travel for OBM, in particular with Graeme bolstering our digital offer.
“They already feel like part of the OBM family and we’re confident they will be a hit with clients.”
Established in 1976, One Brand Magic is one of Manchester’s longest running independent integrated marketing agencies.
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Blume, customer acquisition specialists for the legal sector, has appointed Rob Gough as head of engineering to lead its in-house engineering team and drive innovation through product development.
Gough will spearhead the roll out of new technologies and products to further enhance Didsbury-based Blume’s position in the legal services market. He will work closely with internal teams to ensure the company’s solutions are meeting the needs of clients and are continually improving the overall customer experience.
With more than 15 years’ experience developing software products, Gough has worked with a range of different technologies in a variety of domains, from healthcare (System C) to online retail (On the Beach), fintech (Open Money) and automotive (Wejo).
Erin Short and Rob Gough
Prior to joining Blume, Gough was senior engineering manager at Wejo where he formed the web products team and led the creation of its first web-facing technology platform ‘Wejo Studio’, including products such as Intersection Performance, Journey Intelligence and Historic Traffic Patterns.
This latest appointment comes on the back of a record year of growth and success for Blume which includes its first acquisition of Online Legal earlier this month. Gough joins at a time of accelerated growth in the product team, assisted by private equity investment, as the business sets sight on ambitious plans to achieve a £30m turnover by the end of 2023.
Blume’s chief product officer, Erin Short, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Rob on board. His depth of experience, technical know-how and business acumen will strengthen our product proposition and will help differentiate us in this market. He will help us to raise the bar and to tailor more innovative offerings for our clients.”
Rob Gough said: “I’m really excited to join Blume at such a transformational stage in the company’s development and to work alongside some incredibly talented people. I am certain this will be an exciting journey as the business evolves, and I look forward to advancing Blume’s technological capabilities to provide new and innovative products to our clients.”
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BECG Group, whose Manchester-based team works across the North West, has announced the successful completion of a management buyout, which includes BECG, Liberty1, Cavendish Advocacy and SoCrowd.
The group is now led by CEO Carl Daruvalla, formerly the group CFO and a key architect in the group’s breakthrough success over the past five years.
Carl and the new executive leadership team – which includes Gareth Morgan, Samantha Clough, Max Camplin, Jamie Gordon and Steven Park – are all existing directors in the business, and they will now lead the company through its next phase of growth.
Stephen Pomeroy and Andrew Howard have stepped down from their roles as CEO and managing director, respectively, but will both continue their involvement in the group. Stephen has taken on a new role as a founder non-executive director and chair of the advisory board and Andrew will continue to work with clients on a part-time basis, act as a senior strategic advisor and will also sit on the advisory board.
Carl Daruvalla and Stephen Pomeroy
Stephen Pomeroy said: “Carl has been an invaluable business partner over the last five years and his commercial and leadership skills, with his sector understanding will provide the group with a new CEO to take the company on the next stages of its success. I feel enormously proud of what the BECG family has built, together with our staff, clients, friends and supporters. Over the years, our growth, industry leadership position and the countless awards that we have won show the real impact of our work.
“I have absolute faith that the next phase of our group’s journey will continue to be impactful in supporting our clients and developing great professionals.”
Carl Daruvalla said: “Under Stephen’s leadership as CEO, BECG Group has evolved to become an award-winning full-service communications consultancy with over 150 staff across the UK. By investing in strategic acquisitions and new technologies, the group has built strong foundations to continue our evolution into a consultancy that is ready to service clients in an increasingly global, social and hybrid world.
“With our new leadership team in place, we’re focused on accelerating our growth plans – by investing in strategic insight, technology and creativity – and raising our profile as a globally recognised communications leader.”
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Claritas Tax, the independent tax advisory firm with offices in Manchester and Birmingham, has announced the arrival of Katie Edwards, senior manager, to its award-winning team.
Joining this month, Katie will bolster the rapidly expanding transaction tax and privately owned business tax service lines at Claritas. Katie has previously worked for Big Four and boutique tax advisory firms specialising in advising mid-market businesses, entrepreneurs and family offices on a wide range of tax issues throughout their business life cycle.
Katie Edwards
The appointments come as Claritas accelerates its growth and expands its operations which now include more than 14 key tax service lines.
Katie said: “I am thrilled to join Claritas and look forward to working with such a high performing tax team. Their ambitions are strong, which matches the market demand, and with my broad ranging experience I feel that I can support them further to enhance the services provided to clients to navigate tax challenges and achieve their commercial objectives.”
Iain Wright, partner at Claritas, said: “Katie is a key hire for Claritas. Her arrival is a further boost to our market leading tax advisory service. We are committed to building a best-in-class team that advises and supports our clients fully as they navigate the increasingly complex and ever-changing world of tax.”
Matt Hodgson, partner at Claritas, said: “Katie has a wealth of experience and will provide the depth and breadth of experience needed to guide and develop our people, serve our clients and stakeholders, and position us for long term sustainable growth.”
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Manchester-based digital agency, Banc, has attracted big agency talent for its latest hire in the client services team.
Taking on the role of account director, Neil Dring will oversee Banc’s extensive client base, enhancing account growth and business development while supporting the agency’s strategic evolution.
Neil Dring
Neil started his digital marketing career 18 years ago – and has worked for three agencies in that time, including a decade-long stint at CTI Digital. Prior to this, Neil worked in-house for Royal Northern College of Music and Out There events.
Jonathan Branney, Banc’s strategy director, said: “I cannot think of a more astute and intelligent professional to be heading up our burgeoning team. Neil not only brings with him extensive and rich client services experience, but years of enterprise-level technical project management knowledge, which will no doubt add significant value to our website development and marketing propositions – as well as further improving the outstanding experience we pride ourselves on offering to our clients.”
Neil said: “Banc is a fantastic agency with a client-first focus, a great working environment and a vast roster of exciting accounts. I can’t wait to build on our successes, continue to grow our accounts and bolster performance for our clients.”
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AJ Bell, the Manchester-based investment and pensions business, has welcomed its largest ever apprenticeship scheme intake.
A total of 22 apprentices have joined the business in its 2022 intake. It means that since launch six years ago, 74 new apprentices have taken part in AJ Bell’s core investment operations specialist and digital apprenticeship programmes for people aspiring to build a career in financial services and technology.
This year’s intake will see 13 apprentices join the investment operations specialist programme, where they will undertake a Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment qualification as part of their two-year work and study position with AJ Bell.
A further nine join the digital apprenticeship programme scheme, which will see them obtain a Digital & Technology Solutions degree with Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) while working in AJ Bell’s technology services team.
AJ Bell apprentices
The apprentices have completed a three week induction programme, during which time they met senior leaders in the business, including CEO Michael Summersgill, before beginning their new roles.
The business also offers apprenticeship training on its team leader and manager development programmes for existing staff, with the total number of apprentices to have enrolled across all its schemes now numbering 140.
Applications for AJ Bell’s 2023 apprenticeship scheme will open in November.
CEO Michael Summersgill said: “Developing our people is something I’m really passionate about and I’ve been privileged to witness our apprentices becoming key members of their respective teams, with every apprentice completing the programme subsequently going on to be offered a permanent role at AJ Bell.
“Our two programmes offer a fantastic opportunity for anyone that wants to build a career for themselves in financial services or technology to join a brilliant team in our Manchester office and study at the same time.”
