People: Grant Thornton; Studio LWD; Irwin Mitchell; Equity Release Supermarket; NPG; Kings Chambers; Sync
Business and financial advisory firm Grant Thornton UK has appointed Carolyn Hicks as partner and head of transformation in the North West, to catalyse business transformation.
Carolyn will work alongside the 350-strong Manchester team, based at Grant Thornton’s Landmark office at St Peter’s Square in Manchester city centre.
In her new role Carolyn will be responsible for leading transformation within the firm, and developing practices that will help clients on their journeys through transformational change, whether driven by growth opportunities, cost challenges, technical change, operating model transformation or talent acquisition and retention issues.
With more than 13 years’ advisory experience and a decade working in the retail sector, Carolyn brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise that will help her grow and develop the transformation team in the North West, as well as nationally.
Carolyn Hicks said: “It’s a really exciting time to join the firm and be a part of the North West team – Grant Thornton has a brilliant culture and I am delighted to have joined. The North West is a region I’m hugely passionate about, having lived here my whole life.
“With a range of business disrupters and market opportunities at play, including digital and the war for talent, which continue to challenge many business sectors, my team and I have a clear vision and ambition to support the long term growth of our clients through a people-centric transformation strategy.”
Carl Williams, partner and practice leader at Grant Thornton in the North West, said: “Carolyn is a fantastic addition to our firm – she’ll help design, implement, and shape Grant Thornton’s business transformation strategy that will help both our business and our clients.
“Her experience in this particular service line is outstanding and we look forward to watching Carolyn support our clients to deliver new business models, capabilities and services, not just in the North West, but on a national scale, too.”
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Branding and design agency Studio LWD has appointed Laura Badley as a graphic designer as part of its ongoing expansion.
With a first class MA from University of Edinburgh, Clitheroe-based Laura retrained in graphic design in 2021 and has since worked in-house, agency side and as a freelancer for a wide variety of clients before joining Poulton-le-Fylde-based Studio LWD full time in April this year.
Laura Badley
With experience working with some of the world’s most iconic brands, including Virgin, Nike, Tesco, Aldi and the British Council, Studio LWD specialises in full service branding solutions for tech and pharma businesses and SMEs in a wide variety of sectors.
Badley said: “I’m really pleased to join Studio LWD and it’s great to be part of a growing agency that demonstrates such passion for the power of brands to transform businesses. I’m looking forwards to working for clients from across the county and in specialist sectors across the UK.”
Studio LWD creative director, Laura Weldon, said: “We’re very happy to welcome Laura into our growing team. As a full service branding agency, we’re very much a people business and our designers, copywriters, strategists and creatives work closely together to deliver solutions for clients that help take businesses to the next level.”
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Legal and financial services business, Irwin Mitchell, has announced the promotion of nine colleagues to partner as the firm continues to invest and develop its people at all levels.
The newly appointed partners are Louisa Chadwick (Court of Protection), Fiona McGhie (public law and human rights), Carmel Brown (family law) and Gurminder Kaur Nijjar (general counsel team). Four experts in complex personal injury law and medical negligence are also promoted to partner: Jatinder Paul, Richard Biggs, Tom Fletcher and Ross McWilliams. Chartered financial planner Bronwen Lancaster from IM Asset Management (IMAML) is also promoted to associate director (partner level).
The promotions encompass the firm’s offices around the UK, including Manchester, where Richard Biggs is based.
News about the new partners follows an earlier announcement that Irwin Mitchell had promoted 23 senior associates and 51 associates in 2023.
Richard Biggs
Andrew Tucker, group CEO at Irwin Mitchell, said: “I’m immensely proud to announce nine new partners and I’m delighted to congratulate them on their success. Promotion to partner is a great achievement which not only recognises the role they play currently, but also their ability to drive and shape our future growth and success.
“These promotions follow on from our announcement about our new associates and senior associates and are another clear sign of the emphasis we place on investing and developing our people.”
In addition to the nine new promoted partners, Irwin Mitchell has recruited 17 new partners during the 2022/23 financial year across teams including corporate, commercial, property, estate planning, tax and IP. New partners have also arrived to head up sector groups, such as consumer goods and services lead, Charlotte Rees-John, and head of French desk, Catherine Palmer.
The firm recently opened two new offices in Cardiff and Liverpool.
All promotions take effect from May 1, 2022 and the partner appointments are subject to SRA approval.
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Warrington-based independent equity release advisory service, Equity Release Supermarket (ERS), continues to expand its UK operations with the appointment of three new advisers and an addition to their head office operations.
Amy Payne
The latest appointments – Jon Styles, Adam Lombardo, Kelly Hodgkiss and Amy Payne – bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise from within the general financial services sector.
Mark Gregory, founder & CEO, said: “We are thrilled to welcome Jon, Kelly, Adam and Amy to our expansive and well established team. Their respective expertise will help us to further strengthen our position and reach throughout the UK. It is always our aim to provide the best possible service to our customers, which is why we invest so heavily in our people, expertise and technology.
“We are also very proud to still be creating new career opportunities at a difficult time for the industry.”
Newcomers, Jon, Adam and Kelly, will cover all areas of the UK offering either telephone, video or livechat services to support consumers nationwide.
Jon Styles
Jon began his career in financial services in 2014 at Nationwide Building Society before becoming an equity release specialist in 2018, while Adam also held many esteemed roles at Nationwide Building Society.
Kelly joins ERS as a well qualified and experienced adviser bringing more than 20 years’ experience to the team. She said: “It’s a privilege to join Equity Release Supermarket. Working for organisations that have a strong reputation is of key importance to me and it’s why I wanted to become part of Equity Release Supermarket.”
Holding previous marketing roles at TMA Club and Sesame Bankhall, Amy Payne is highly experienced within the financial services industry. She joins ERS as senior marketing executive to assist with the accelerated growth and awareness of the platform, as well as providing added support to advisers and lenders. She has a wealth of experience working within this arena and will fuel the operational strength of the company.
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Sam Philip has been appointed as new sales director with North Property Group.
With more than 15 years of experience in the real estate industry, Sam brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the company.
He joins having previously held the position as global sales director for Beech Holdings. He was also formerly the global head of sales (UK, EU, MENA & US) at Salboy more than five years, overseeing and leading the sales process of notable landmark schemes such as Local Crescent, Viadux and Victoria House.
Oli Banks, NPG managing director, said: “We have an expansive business plan for this coming year, which will include several key hires, and we are thrilled to have delivered a major statement with the hire of Sam Philip as our sales director.
Sam Philip
“Sam not only has huge amounts of experience, but he also reflects the personality, standards, and attitude we set throughout the company. Our goal is to become the most widely recognised agent for new-build property sales in the UK and Sam will play a crucial part in achieving this. We aim to make another 20 hires during 2023 across our team during an exciting growth period for the company.”
Co-founder, Tim Coen, said: “I’m a big believer of reinvesting in the business to enable expansion and improve the company infrastructure. The appointment of Sam Philip as sales director will ultimately enable North Property Group to provide a better service to both developers and buy-to-let investors. Currently, we are transacting on around £150m-worth of property per annum, and with Sam at the helm, we are forecasting to hit £250m during the 2023/2024 financial year.”
He added: “With our latest hire it means the total headcount will reach 38. We’ve experienced rapid expansion over the past few years, I couldn’t be more excited about what the future holds for NPG.”
Sam will work between NPG’s Manchester and Leeds offices.
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Two highly respected barristers from Manchester-based Kings Chambers have recently been appointed as King’s Counsel following a ceremony at Westminster Hall.
Both Jonathan Easton KC and Helen Mulholland KC were sworn in at The Palace of Westminster, taking the number of silks at Kings Chambers to 22.
This follows a rigorous process for selection in demonstrating excellence in advocacy in the higher courts.
Jonathan Easton, who was called to the bar in 1996, is an expert in Administrative & Public Law, Environment, Local Government and Planning. Having represented both developers and local authorities in several Development Plan examinations, Jonathan is also well known for his work on residential and logistics schemes.
Jonathan Easton KC, and Helen Mulholland KC
Called to the bar in 1999, Helen Mulholland is a specialist medical barrister with particular expertise in cases of neurological and neurosurgical injury and is widely respected for her exceptional trail advocacy. She has also appeared in several high profile treatment decision cases.
Head of Chambers, Andrew Singer KC, said: “Jonathan and Helen’s appointments to silk are testament to their skills, dedication and hard work which has seen them both become leading lights in their areas of expertise. Everyone at Kings Chambers congratulates them both for their respective achievements which are thoroughly merited.
“Throughout his career as a specialist Planning Barrister, Jonathan has delivered a consistent standard of excellence and his appointment to KC is not a surprise to anyone here at Kings Chambers.
“Helen has long been revered as part of the Clinical Negligence and Healthcare bar. Her appointment is well deserved and reflects her determination, talent and work ethic.”
Kings Chambers is based in Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds.
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Manchester based, accredited IT specialist Sync has appointed three new directors as part of a new, senior leadership team following a period of expansion for the business and a plethora of new client wins.
The announcement comes as a result of exponential growth for Sync and will allow for the continuation of ‘best in class’ solutions to serve its tech customers in Manchester, the North west and across the country.
All three appointments come from within the business. The new directors include: Scott Bordoni, chief operations officer; Tom Crump, chief sales officer; and Liam Cashmore, chief commercial officer.
Before his appointment Scott Bordoni worked in multiple roles across the company, most recently as head of operations. He said: “I look forward to further supporting the business on a strategic level, as well as pushing the company forward across every department.”
From left: Scott Bordoni, Tom Crump, Liam Cashmore
Tom Crump begun his career at Sync as an area account manager, progressing to head of sales before the announcement of his new role. He said: “Working so closely with our sales teams over the years has given me a unique perspective into the company. I’m excited to contribute to Sync’s continued growth as we look to the future.”
After more than 10 years with Sync, Liam Cashmore’s new role will allow him to focus on aligning and expanding the company’s business strategy. Liam said: “I’ve seen Sync progress from strength to strength during my time with the company, and to know that my efforts and hard work throughout the years have been valued to this extent is an incredible feeling.”
Sync has also made a number of appointments across the education arm of the business, recently onboarding six new members to its dedicated education team over the past 12 months. The appointments will support Sync’s mission in connecting with more schools and aiding each by helping to realise digital strategy goals.
CEO, Chris Costello, said: “We’re thrilled to welcome Scott, Tom and Liam as the newest directors of Sync, as well as number of new appointments to our education team. All of the appointed staff bring so much experience from within the company to their new roles and we can’t wait to see where their appointment takes us.”
