People: Kings Chambers; One Heritage Group; Imperagen; Cowgills; Ward Hadaway; MHA Moore and Smalley
Manchester barristers set Kings Chambers is continuing to grow following the arrival of personal injury and clinical negligence barrister Victoria Heyworth.
Victoria joins the set after 20 years at Deans Court Chambers. A clinical negligence specialist, her experience includes cases involving midwives, surgeons, optometrists, dentists, general practitioners, nurses and care workers.
Ranked as a leading junior in Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners, Victoria acts for clients on both sides of the litigation process including private individuals, NHS Trusts, medical defence organisations and private medical and related institutions.
Head of Chambers, Andrew Singer KC, said: “Victoria is an excellent addition to our clinical negligence and personal injury teams, and we’re delighted to welcome her as a member of Kings Chambers. She has built up a wealth of experience in her areas of expertise, building a strong practice and earning a reputation for providing high quality advice and advocacy.”
Kings Chambers is a set of civil barristers operating out of Chambers in Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds. The set comprises more than 120 barristers including 22 King’s Counsel.
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Geoff Willis
One Heritage Group, the Manchester-based residential developer focused on the North of England, has appointed Geoff Willis as investment director, which is a new role. He will oversee the group’s development pipeline.
He has a wealth of residential property experience, risk management and an in-depth understanding of the property and regeneration marketplace.
Chief executive, Jason Upton, welcomed Geoff to the team, saying: “We are confident that his operational experience will help us to deliver valuable investment opportunities for our stakeholders.
“His residential property expertise complements our existing development team, and we are looking forward to seeing his influence at work as we seek to drive growth.”
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Dr Peter Seufur-Wasserthal
Imperagen, a Manchester company with a ground-breaking platform that brings together patented advances in enzyme simulation, AI, synthetic biology and automation, has appointed Dr Peter Seufer-Wasserthal as its non-executive chairman.
Dr Seufer-Wasserthal brings more than 30 years of industrial biotechnology and life sciences commercialisation experience, supporting biotechnology companies’ development and profitability and managing significant growth, working across areas including strategy, international expansion and planning.
Prior to joining Imperagen’s board, he was chairman of the board of Willow Biosciences, where he was responsible for supporting the executive team in building out the business and its fundraising.
Dr Andrew Almond, Imperagen founder and chief executive, said: “The appointment of Peter comes at an important time for Imperagen, as we advance our technology to speed up the process of developing optimised enzymes for pharmaceutical companies, enabling them to rapidly establish more efficient and environmentally-friendly manufacturing at industrial scale.
“Peter’s deep understanding of biotechnology commercialisation and his extensive international experience in the life sciences industry will be invaluable in supporting our product strategy and international development.”
Dr Seufer-Wasserthal, said: “Imperagen’s proprietary technology has enormous potential across many application areas, from complex drug molecules manufacturing to laboratory tools, enzyme replacement therapies and drug delivery systems. I am excited and honoured to be joining the company and I look forward to working closely with Andy and his team to help advance Imperagen’s strategy.”
The appointment of Dr Seufer-Wasserthal follows Imperagen’s £3.5m seed investment round led by IQ Capital and Northern Gritstone in 2022, which the company is using to support the development and validation of its ultra-fast enzyme engineering platform.
The IP-rich firm is a spin-out from the University of Manchester, led by serial entrepreneur Dr Almond, who co-founded Conformetrix, now listed on AIM as C4X Discovery.
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Ian Johnson and Jane Rash
North West accountancy and business advisory firm Cowgills, has promoted Jane Rash to partner in its rapidly growing deal advisory team, heading up strategic support.
Jane joined Cowgills as a newly qualified accountant in 2001 before moving into deal advisory in 2002. She was promoted to manager in 2008 and director in 2015. Under her leadership the strategic support services team provides clients with guidance, support and advice pre, during and post transaction to achieve the best value and outcome, delivering strategy workshops, MI development, financial forecasts and company valuations.
She said: “I’m extremely proud to be made a partner having worked at Cowgills since the very start of my career. The business has always been so supportive and flexible, enabling me to develop my skills, grow the strategic support services business and have time to raise my family. Cowgills is a genuine family firm, offering flexibility and enhanced employment benefits long before it became an expected norm in the industry.”
Head of corporate finance, Ian Johnson, said: “Jane is a great example of how you can mould your career and develop a unique role within Cowgills if you have talent, ambition and drive, there really are no limits.”
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Liz Bottrill and Alistair McDonald
Alistair McDonald has been promoted to the position of business development director at Manchester law firm Ward Hadaway following a competitive recruitment process.
The appointment marks a key milestone for business development across the firm. One of Alistair’s first priorities is to support everyone at the firm, from trainee to partner, to develop the necessary skills and knowledge that help them to more effectively grow their client base.
Liz Bottrill, executive partner in Ward Hadaway’s Manchester office, said: “Alistair’s appointment is great news for Ward Hadaway as we continue our rapid growth trajectory. We’re keen to continue expanding our business development skills and Alistair’s expertise will enable us to better identify and seize new opportunities, allowing us to grow our client base and further strengthen our existing relationships.”
The appointment follows the recent announcement of 19 firm-wide promotions. Four of these were made within the rapidly expanding Manchester team which has grown by 12% in the past 12 months.
Alistair McDonald said: “The firm is well respected, forward thinking and filled with talent, and is already seeing solid growth across all its offices. Its ambitious plans for the future are what makes this role so exciting.”
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Lee Van Houplines and Graham Gordon
North West chartered accountancy and business advisory firm MHA Moore and Smalley has strengthened its audit team with the appointment of a new Manchester-based partner.
Lee Van Houplines joins the firm from Azets, where he started as a graduate trainee in 2004 and progressed to become audit partner in January 2021. His new role at MHA Moore and Smalley involves leading a growing portfolio of business clients across the North West and further developing the firm’s audit team. His appointment brings the number of partners across the firm to 26.
Graham Gordon, managing partner, MHA Moore and Smalley, said: “As our North West audit team continues to grow, recruiting experienced leaders who share our company values and can help us achieve our ambitions is a real priority.
“Lee has decades of experience advising businesses of all sizes, from fast-growing start-ups and established owner-managed businesses to private equity-backed companies and subsidiaries of multinational PLCs. He knows the Manchester market well and will strengthen our team so we can continue to deliver a high quality service to all clients.”
Lee said: “After meeting with various partners over the past few months, I’ve been blown away by the ambition and vision for the future of the firm.”
