People: AMBS; Altius Group; adi Group; H&H Group; GM Mayor’s Charity; Hurst
Alliance Manchester Business School (AMBS) has appointed Palatine’s Beth Houghton to the advisory board as of August 1, 2023.
Beth is managing partner of Palatine’s Impact Fund, the fund invests in companies that create social and environmental change as well as delivering market rate returns. Her role includes defining the strategy and process for selecting impact investments, engaging with portfolio companies to drive value creation initiatives and tracking and reporting results to our investors and other stakeholders.
Beth sits on the board of e-days, easyfundraising, Anthesis Group and Redmoor Health and holds an MBA with distinction from Manchester Business School.
Head of AMBS, Prof Fiona Devine, said: “Beth’s experience and portfolio is perfectly aligned with our own vision and focus on social responsibility. She will be a valuable addition as we navigate the challenges facing business and higher education over the coming years.”
Beth Houghton said: “As an alumna of AMBS, I’m delighted to be part of the future of the business school. During my MBA studies, I benefited from the broad and highly engaged teaching, learning and research that takes place at the school.”
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Anthony Moses
Altius, a group of business brokers based in Preston, has appointed Anthony Moses as the new head of Kings Corporate.
Kings Corporate is one of Altius Group’s boutique brands. Dealing in the acquisition and sale of SME and corporate businesses across multiple industries including transport, manufacturing and engineering, the King’s team operate UK-wide.
Anthony began his career working for Nike on a graduate scheme before completing a Master’s degree in business administration. He brings with him more than 0 years of experience in commercial sales and leadership across global corporate S&P 100, as well as both private equity-backed and privately owned SME companies. He joins from Flavour Warehouse where, for the past three years, he acted as group sales director and a board member.
He will be working closely with Altius Group’s COO, Kevin Allcock. Anthony said: “It is an exciting time to join the business. Altius Group has a strong, established brand within the corporate sector and great potential for growth.”
Kevin Allcock said: “Anthony’s senior management experience and his knowledge gained working within SME businesses and large corporates will be pivotal in growing the brand across the UK.”
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Darren Lewis
Following the launch by Birmingham-based multidisciplinary engineering firm adi Group’s new life sciences division in Ashton-under-Lyne, Darren Lewis has been appointed as managing director of the new entity.
He said: “I am incredibly excited to be at the helm of a highly expert team with the potential to do everything we set out to do from the start, and more.
“We are united by the same values and ethos, and most importantly, a passion to deliver. But crucially, we are able to provide a revolutionary new service offering that thoroughly covers the needs of the life sciences industry.”
Having previously led teams of more than 50 design professionals, Darren is focusing on empowering others and creating the right avenues to achieve success.
Paul Smith, chief operating officer at adi Group, said: ““The life sciences division has a simple yet compelling vision with enormous potential. Darren will be the leader of a very disruptive entity in the market, and I look forward to seeing just how impactful the outcome of their work will be.”
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Mark Panczak
H&H Group has appointed Mark Panczak as health, safety and welfare manager.
Based at the H&H head office in Carlisle, Mark will be tasked with delivering the next level of strategic health and safety management systems and processes across the group’s five businesses.
“This is a key appointment for the group’s continued development,” said group CEO, Richard Rankin, “and we’re confident that the positive impact Mark will make as our new health, safety and welfare manager will be enormous. He has an excellent track record of bringing a fresh, practical approach to what is often perceived simply as a regulatory duty.”
Mark brings a highly unusual combination of expertise and experience in two key areas of the group’s operations – agriculture and manufacturing. Born and educated near Annan, in Scotland, after leaving school Mark initially joined the police, but soon moved into agriculture on a self-employed basis. He then joined Arla Foods as an apprentice dairy technologist, while at the same time completing a degree in Dairy Technology. During his eight years, he worked his way up to become health and safety specialist for the company’s Lockerbie site. In this role he was responsible for the health and safety management of 250 employees.
He said: “My role is principally to develop the most effective systems and procedures to ensure compliance, and to deliver the best training and education to help everybody understand how they play their part in this process.”
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Fran Darlington-Pollock
The Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity – the organisation on a mission to end homelessness in the city region – has appointed its first chief executive. Fran Darlington-Pollock will lead the charity, which has gone from strength-to-strength since its inception in 2018.
Fran will be tasked with continuing to grow the charity, which has so far raised more than £3.1m to support people experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness. It’s done so through pioneering initiatives like the ‘A Bed Every Night’ scheme for people rough sleeping in Greater Manchester.
Fran, who joined last November as head of strategic development, will expand the number and type of fundraisers, as well as increasing the charity’s partnerships and reach in Greater Manchester.
Her background as an academic specialising in understanding inequality means she brings a new lease of life to the charity’s approach to advocating for change and an end to homelessness. She’s previously held positions at the University of Liverpool and Queen Mary University of London, as well as Save the Children UK, and is currently chair of The Equality Trust.
Fran Darlington-Pollock said: “So many people have donated their time, expertise and money to the charity to help in this mission in Greater Manchester and the work we’ve been able to do is all thanks to that incredible spirit here. But we’re not slowing down, we’ve got our biggest ever year of fundraisers ahead, which will ensure we can continue to make a difference for those in their hour of need.”
Tim Heatley, chair of Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity, said: “It’s awesome to see what Fran has achieved in such a short time with us. I’m blown away by her enthusiasm and energy every time we speak. Fran is the perfect person to take the charity into its next stage as our first ever CEO.”
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Jennifer Escott and Henry Misell
Accounting and business advisory firm Hurst has strengthened its tax advisory team with the arrival of Jennifer Escott and Henry Misell from EY and KPMG, respectively.
Jennifer, a tax senior, worked at EY from 2018 and is an experienced adviser on indirect taxes. At Hurst she is supporting the firm’s managers and partners on a wide range of projects to deliver tax advisory and compliance work to clients across numerous sectors.
Henry completed an initial apprenticeship with KPMG and most recently specialised in share valuations.
Liz Gallagher, partner and head of the tax team at Hurst, said: “It’s great to welcome bright young tax professionals who want to progress their careers at one of the North West’s leading independent firms, at the same time as expanding the tax services that we can provide to our clients.”
Jennifer said: “I am looking forward to broadening my experience across a variety of tax areas. Hurst’s positive culture and the quality of the people made it an easy decision to join the practice when the opportunity arose.”
