People: Cityheart; BCLP; RSM; Love Energy Savings; Open ECX; Assetz; FC United
Development company, Cityheart, has appointed Anika Day as assistant development director.
Anika previously worked at Moda Living where she was a senior project manager, prior to which she was at Select Property Group and has more than 12 years’ experience working in the property industry.
She will be predominantly focusing on the £135m Galleries redevelopment in Wigan as well as other key projects Cityheart is developing in partnership with other public sector bodies as the company looks to add to its £650m development pipeline.
Anika said: “Cityheart is evidently a very dynamic company with a lot of energy and ambition and a strong variety of schemes being undertaken, which will provide a breadth of exciting new challenges.”
Warren Taylor, development director at Cityheart, which has offices in Chester and Wilmslow, said: “Anika’s strong track record, particularly in the residential sector, will enhance our existing in-house resources and skills. We are delighted to welcome her to the team.”
::
Kristina Middleton
International law firm Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP) has appointed Kristina Middleton and Jessica Parry as partners at its Manchester office as it continues to strengthen its position in the real estate sector.
Kristina joins from CMS and focuses on leading large scale, multi-office and multi-practice teams to handle complex acquisitions, disposals, and project management.
Jessica joins from Brabners and previously worked as an associate at BCLP. She is a skilled litigator with experience in high-stakes, high-value contentious property matters. In addition, Jessica’s practice also includes leading complex asset management and real estate litigation for clients with large portfolios.
These moves also reflect the strategic growth of BCLP’s Manchester office, which is now home to three real estate sector partners and more than 100 professionals.
Jessica Parry
Late last year, Taslima Salam joined from Eversheds as the first real estate finance partner in the UK outside of London. Today, Taslima leads the real estate finance regional team with lawyers, professionals, and resources from the firm’s Manchester and Southampton offices.
Samant Narula, UK head of real estate for BCLP, welcomed the two latest appointment, saying: “They bring a proven track record of success and understand the advantages that the Manchester office brings to our integrated platform in handling large, complex real estate matters and disputes for our clients.”
Akhil Markanday, head of real estate disputes for BCLP, said: “Jess is a top flight real estate litigator and we’re excited to have her return to BCLP. She’s one of the industry’s go-to lawyers for high profile property disputes, and she will be a major asset to our clients.”
::
Julie Moore
Audit, tax and consulting firm RSM UK has made two partner promotions in the North West. Julie Moore in the tax team and Sam Dalziel in corporate finance are both based in RSM UK’s Manchester office and were promoted to partner as of April 1, 2023.
Julie is an employer solutions specialist, and leads the firm’s employment tax team in the North. Prior to joining RSM UK in February 2020, Julie worked in the big four for nearly 10 years.
Corporate finance specialist Sam has spent 12 years working in transaction services in the UK, South Africa and Brazil. She started her career at KPMG in Johannesburg, relocating permanently to Manchester and joining RSM UK in October 2020, where she now focuses on the middle market and mid-cap private equity clients.
Sam Dalziel
Kevin Duffy, RSM UK’s regional managing partner in the North West, said: “Since joining the firm in 2020, both Julie and Sam have played an integral role in delivering our regional growth plans – using their expertise and leadership skills to support the needs of our clients in the middle market. Their promotions reflect their hard work and talent.”
Julie Moore said: “I am proud to become a partner at RSM. Having a non-traditional route into my career in tax was something that I used to be conscious about – I am, therefore, hopeful that my journey to partner will encourage and inspire others.”
Sam Dalziel said: “I feel very privileged and excited to be accepted into the partnership at RSM – the firm has provided me with the platform to grow professionally while still being present for my family and achieving my personal ambitions.”
In addition to Julie and Sam, RSM has promoted a further 11 partners across its UK network. The new cohort of partners span a range of specialisms including tax, audit, corporate finance and restructuring advisory.
::
Alex Hughes
Bolton-based Love Energy Savings has appointed Alex Hughes as its new people director.
Alex joins the business utilities retailer from AO, where she was group head of talent acquisition. She helped grow AO’s business from 50 to more than 3,000 employees during her 15 years at the electrical retailer.
In her new role, Preston-born Alex will be responsible for driving employee relations and continuing to drive a culture of creativity, innovation and growth within the organisation.
Alex, 38, said: “CEO Phil Foster’s high energy, passion and entrepreneurial spirit really attracted me to the role. The business is a brilliant brand and has gone through a rapid period of growth.
“It’s fantastic to join the team and I’m excited to create an amazing experience for every employee.”
CEO, Phil Foster, said: “Alex has a great track record and we’re delighted to have her on board at Love Energy Savings. She will be an excellent addition to our team.”
Foster has built a 200-strong workforce which are helping firms tackle the cost of living crisis using its proprietary technology.
::
Nathan Ollier
Open ECX, the Manchester company involved in digital construction solutions, has appointed its new CEO, Nathan Ollier.
Nathan joins from enterprise software solutions provider Advanced, as the business looks to expand its remit beyond construction and into adjacent sectors in the supply chain.
He will be tasked with driving growth into those industries and bringing Open ECX’s product and services into new markets, while reinforcing and building the brand’s presence in the construction and manufacturing sectors.
Nathan’s previous experience includes leading the operations of Kirona Solutions, which was acquired by Advanced in 2019, where he was chief operating officer, before taking the lead as vice president, finance and spend management solutions at Advanced.
He said: “The work that Matthew and the team have done over the past few years, bringing cutting-edge technology and solutions to the construction industry, has helped shape the sector for the better. I look forward to working closely with Matthew as we further drive Open ECXs positive impact on the industry.”
Founder, Matthew Jones, said: “It’s a great honour to be welcoming Nathan into Open ECX, and I’ve no doubt he’ll be instrumental in our next chapter. As the digitisation of the construction industry has continued to evolve, so has Open ECX and Nathan’s appointment as CEO is the latest of many exciting evolutions to come for us.”
::
Andrew Fraser
Andrew Fraser has been appointed chief commercial officer at Manchester specialist marketplace lender Assetz Capital.
He said: “Our absolute focus is customer delivery with a common sense approach to lending. Assetz has a highly experienced origination team of regional relationship directors who have worked in the property sector, with some having also worked in-house with developers, allowing us to fully understand our customers’ needs. The team are hugely excited at our market opportunity with the ability to now fund larger deals all over the UK.”
Managing director, Andrew Charnley, said: “Andrew Fraser comes with 20+ years’ experience in the UK&I property lending sector and has gathered a strong team of experienced and development focused relationship directors covering all regions.
“Andrew brings the technical expertise that we need to drive forward and to ensure that Assetz becomes the preferred development lender of choice for both finance brokers, advisors, and developers alike.”
He added: “Our ambitions to increase our lending to SMEs, housebuilders and other key sectors remain unchanged, which means our focus this year and beyond will be continuing to work with institutional partners allowing Andrew Fraser and our origination team to drive continued loan book growth nationally.”
::
Danny Davis
Danny Davis has joined FC United of Manchester as commercial manager. He has been at his boyhood club Blackburn Rovers for eight years in commercial and management roles, latterly as event sales manager at Sodexo Prestige Venues & Events, which runs the events side of things at Ewood Park.
His job will be to build community and business relationships for the fan-owned club currently playing in the Northern Premier League.
