People: Jackson Lees; Maven Capital Partners; Adlington Retirement Living; max20 Project Solutions; FSB
North West law firm Jackson Lees, which has offices across Liverpool, Manchester and Wirral, has tasked three new associate directors with taking the firm to the next level and supporting other members of the team with their career development.
Jen Goodwin, Lisa Hughes and Dottie Lee will take on their new roles in which they will be nurturing talent and driving growth within the business.
Jen Goodwin is an experienced solicitor in the corporate and commercial team. She completed her Graduate Diploma in Law and Legal Practice Course at the College of Law in Chester, before going on to take roles with law firms across the North West, as well as in-house counsel in the telecommunications industry. Jen joined Jackson Lees in 2021 as a corporate and commercial solicitor, helping to build the department and increase service offerings.
Lisa Hughes is a medical negligence lawyer who has been with Jackson Lees for more than 10 years. She completed her Graduate Diploma in Law and Legal Practice Course at Liverpool John Moores University and, after securing a role with the Jackson Lees medical negligence department, started her training contract in 2013 before qualifying two years later.
Dottie Lee is a head of recruitment, inclusion and wellbeing at Jackson Lees Group, initially starting her career in law as a civil litigator. After seeking a change in direction, Dottie applied for a HR Assistant role and worked her way up while studying part time for a Masters in HR Management at Liverpool John Moores University, from which she graduated in 2019.
Since qualifying, she has brought her passion for wellbeing, mental health, and diversity and inclusion to her role at Jackson Lees.
As part of the selection process for associate director, applicants are asked to provide examples of their current contributions to the business in terms of nurturing talent, aligning themselves with the goals of the business, and extra-curricular activities such as being involved with the training academy. They are then required to present their application to the firm’s board of directors.
Esther Leach, managing director at Jackson Lees, said: “We are thrilled to bring Jen, Lisa and Dottie on as associate directors. As highly skilled and passionate employees in their current roles, they each have a lot to offer the business in terms of helping to grow the talent of their colleagues and the business itself. We look forward to seeing the positive impact our three new associate directors have on everyone at Jackson Lees over the coming months.”
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Maven Capital Partners has appointed Klarissa Nura and Josh Malyan as investment associates. Klarissa and Josh will support the local investment team working with high growth businesses to offer finance through NPIF-Maven Equity Finance, which is part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, across Maven’s North West office network in Preston, Burnley, Manchester, Liverpool and Southport.
Klarissa is an economics and management graduate, specialising in strategic finance with a background in sustainability and sustainable investment. Prior to joining Maven she worked with the ImpactVest team as project lead, and a research analyst at Capitol in sustainable investment. Josh is a graduate with a Master’s in financial and computational mathematics from the University of Nottingham.
Klarissa Nura, Ryan Bevington, Josh Malyan
Maven’s new hires will enable the launch of a series of live 1-2-1 investment clinics in March. The clinics will enable companies to identify the most suitable type of finance to meet their funding needs. Run by Maven’s local investment team, who have two dedicated investment managers for each sub-region they operate in, the clinics will be held across Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Cheshire and Liverpool City Region.
Ryan Bevington, fund manager, NPIF North West Equity Fund at Maven, said “We understand the importance of proactive localised support and we have invested in the resource to make sure we can spend time with ambitious management teams and deliver tailored funding support to businesses in the region.”
Sean Hutchinson, senior manager at the British Business Bank, said: “Klarissa and Josh’s appointment is a clear sign that talent can be retained in the North and that the business landscape is full of opportunities for young and upcoming investment professionals. The 1-2-1 investment clinics will help companies understand how they can best access funds and the new appointees will provide an invaluable perspective on how business can take the next steps in their growth journeys.”
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Congleton-based Adlington Retirement Living has appointed Sarah Chadwick as head of marketing and Karen McDonald as senior sales progressor, as part of its ambitious growth plans.
Sarah joins the business with more than 26 years’ experience. Half of that time was spent at McCann, a global leader in marketing and advertising, where she was head of channel for Aldi. More recently, Sarah was head of marketing for Well Pharmacy and Haulfryn residential park homes, gaining an in-depth understanding of the retirement market.
Alexandra Johnson, sales and marketing director for Adlington Retirement Living said: “Sarah has a very broad range of skills from TV production through to print, advertising, media buying, strategic planning and digital. Her depth of experience makes her the perfect addition to our team to support the growth trajectory of our business.”
Sarah said: “One of the main attractions for me to join the team was its solid foundation of family values. Everybody here really cares about our homeowners and our colleagues. I’m enjoying mentoring the marketing team and I look forward to continuing to support them as they grow with the business.”
Sarah Chadwick and Karen McDonald
Karen McDonald has worked for Adlington Retirement Living since 2018 and has now moved from her previous role as senior sales consultant to the newly created role of senior sales progressor.
With more than 40 years’ experience in residential sales and financial services and having already been part of the Adlington Retirement Living team for four years, the firm said Karen is perfectly placed to offer homeowners additional support to help make their purchase journey easier for them.
Karen said: “In my new role, I support our homeowners from the point at which they reserve an apartment in one of our retirement communities, right through to their completion date.”
The appointments are part of Adlington Retirement Living’s growth strategy. Since 2008, the business has launched 15 integrated retirement communities across the North West, Yorkshire, Wales and the Midlands. Having already grown to three new sites every year, the family-owned and run business is now looking to achieve six new retirement community sites a year.
Dr Ed Gladman, CEO of Adlington Retirement Living, said: “It’s an exciting time for anybody to join the business. In the past six years we have grown from 30 employees to a team of more than 150, with experts from land acquisition, planning, architectural and technical design, to procurement, construction, sales and marketing, legal and community operations. We’re now recruiting for a number of roles ranging from general managers to quantity surveyors.”
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Altrincham-based business, max20 Project Solutions, which delivers digital transformation projects to the NHS is planning to expand nationwide.
It says it is the leading provider of digital services through the NHS G-Cloud supplier framework which serves around 300 NHS bodies. Although it mainly operates in the North West and Wales, it now plans to roll its services throughout the UK to help the NHS to take advantage of the opportunities offered by digital technologies.
As part of its plans, it has made a number of senior appointments. Jo Watmore has been appointed head of finance. Jo, who joins from Equilibrium Financial Planning, is a qualified accountant with more than 25 years’ experience across financial services, healthcare and investment banking.
Meanwhile new account manager, Sam Taylor, will continue to boost max20’s capability in the North West while Jake Archer and Clirim Burrniku take on the roles of sales manager to drive max20’s growth in London and the South.
From left: Jo Watmore, Lynne and Don Tomlinson
The company was set up more than 20 years ago by Don and Lynne Tomlinson to recruit IT specialists for the NHS. Its projects division was established in 2017 and provides a unique service mobilising specialist non-medical consulting teams to deliver projects to improve healthcare outcomes across both acute and community settings.
Its clients include Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, The Northern Care Alliance, Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust and Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust.
Don Tomlinson, managing director, said: “The NHS is facing its biggest challenges in years, yet digital technologies offer the opportunity to dramatically improve efficiency and transform outcomes for patients. As a specialist in healthcare technology we can draw on our vast network of subject matter experts to mobilise quickly and effectively. Our key differentiators see us well placed to scale our model and expand across the UK, whilst understanding the challenges and constraints facing the NHS.”
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The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has elected a Stockport business owner to head up local grassroots lobbying activity in the Greater Manchester region.
FSB’s volunteer elections have seen David Sudworth chosen to join the business group as an area leader, one of two representing small businesses in the GM area.
David runs chimney sweep business Mr Soot, which has offices in Wigan and employs four people and operates across Greater Manchester, Cheshire, and parts of Merseyside, said: “I’m buzzing to have been picked for this key role within FSB’s Greater Manchester team. My aim now is to ensure the voice of small businesses across our city region is heard loud and clear.
David Sudworth
“I’m particularly keen to represent the blue-collar workers and the trades who I think are often underrepresented in discussions around what’s best for business, what’s not working, and what needs reform.
“We only have to look at the recent debacle around the Clean Air Zone here in GM to see how the trades, which would have been disproportionately impacted by the scheme, only came together with one voice at the 11th hour. Inclusivity is about everyone feeling represented.”
He added: “2023 is going to be a really challenging year for the small business community. The cost of doing business crisis remains a massive challenge, we have lingering supply chain issues, urgent need of tax reform especially around business rates and VAT thresholds, and unfortunately in the Clean Air Zone here in GM keeps coming back like a bad penny. As the organisation that fought tooth and nail against the original plans, FSB will again lead the charge if charging is put back on the table, especially if the data suggests otherwise.”
David has been an FSB member for six years, and joined the organisation after starting his business in 2016 as a one-man band. He’s grown the business to four staff and has plans for another two later this year.
