People: Mills & Reeve; GMI Construction; BNI; NMS Recruit; Beswicks Legal; V7 Recruitment

National law firm, Mills & Reeve, has appointed senior practitioner Nicola Holmes to its growing competition team.

Nicola has joined the Manchester office as a principal associate from Eversheds Sutherland.

Mills & Reeve launched the competition law team last December with the arrival of partner Kate Newman in a move to develop its offering, meet client demand for competition law services and help corporate clients pursue their growth strategies. In May, Dr Sara Warner joined as a senior associate from Sky UK, where she was legal counsel in the competition and regulatory team.

Nicola, who has a postgraduate diploma in EC Competition Law from King’s College London, is the latest in several planned hires for the team and will work closely with Kate in the Leeds office and Sara in Birmingham to service national clients and grow the competition practice.

She said: “I am excited to join this ambitious, growing team, and working with Kate and Sara to develop our offering.”

Kate said: “Nicola’s expertise has added further strength to our rapidly expanding full service competition team. She is highly experienced in all areas of competition law. In only a few months we have built a formidable team and Nicola will be a key player in further developing our practice to meet growing demand from clients.”

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Anthony Judge

GMI Construction Group has made two appointments in its North West team.

Construction director, Anthony Judge, construction director, and commercial director, Chris Tittle, will assume the regional director and regional commercial governance roles, respectively, following the departure of divisional managing director, Marc Banks.

He is leaving the business after 21 years to seek a fresh challenge within the development sector with a long-standing GMI client, and will continue to maintain a connection with the company he joined at the age of 16.

Lee Powell, chief executive of the North East-based group, and Chris Weathers, group commercial director, will also be on hand to support the running of the North West business unit.

Marc Banks said: “I’ve enjoyed an incredibly rewarding time with GMI, and I’m proud of the accomplishments we’ve achieved together. My decision to leave after 21 years is driven by my own desire to take on fresh challenges within the development sector.”

CEO, Lee Powell, said: “He leaves behind a strong team in the North West, which is why Anthony Judge and Chris Tittle, who have both worked closely with Marc, will be jointly taking over to continue the growth and success in the region.

“Both will be familiar to many of our clients and bring a wealth of experience and a deep understanding of the region’s construction sector.”

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Louise Eccles

Louise Eccles has been appointed as executive director for BNI Lancashire, Greater Manchester East, Kirklees and Calderdale, following regional predecessor Mike Holman’s move to the role of national director for BNI UK earlier this year.

Louise previously worked alongside Holman as managing area director for Greater Manchester East, Kirklees and Calderdale since 2015, and was named Area Director of The Year by BNI UK in 2019.

All three regions now managed by Louise have featured prominently in BNI’s list of top performing regions over the past 10 years, with Greater Manchester East being named region of the year in 2020 and East Lancashire the same in 2018. She said: “A study undertaken in Lancashire in 2017 showed BNI to have a significant positive impact on the economies of the areas in which it operates, bringing together the SMEs that form the backbone of UK Plc, and helping them grow together.”

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Lisa and Alex (extreme right) with Danny, Louis and Jayden

NMS Recruit has grown its sales team with the addition of recruitment consultants Jayden Crimp, Danny Mongan and Louis Frost at its Burton Manor base in Wirral.

The expansion is based on growth in the UK telecoms industry. Already, the sales team has doubled in size over the past 12 months and, headed by divisional manager specialist Alex Drury, the business is expecting this move will greatly contribute to its turnover tripling within the coming year.

Operations director Lisa Carew said: “Ongoing plans for new installations of full-fibre networks and high-speed cable broadband throughout the UK – and operators’ commercial recruitment campaigns – have taken us to high levels of activity.”

Alex Drury said: “Jayden, Danny and Louis have become vital members of our expanding division at NMS as our focus is firmly fixed on the growing demand for sales roles in the telecoms and IT industry.

“The delivery of the right people to fill sales roles is crucial to the successful operation of clients such as internet service providers, many of the smaller ones now beginning to take a bigger share of the marketplace.”

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From left: Rebekah Jones, David Morgan, Sarah Abbotts

Beswicks Legal has made three new promotions across the firm.

Experienced corporate lawyer Rebekah Jones has been promoted to senior associate, while family solicitor, Sarah Abbotts, and corporate solicitor, David Morgan, become associates.

Ryan Yates, group operations director with Altrincham-based Beswicks Legal, said: “Congratulations to Rebekah, Sarah and David. All three are extremely talented and highly rated lawyers whose promotions are richly deserved.”

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From left: Jake, Steve, Mark and Daisy

Manchester-based V7 Recruitment has announced a series of promotions.

Mark Taylor, Daisy Drysdale, and Jake Dunwell have all been recognised for their work.
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Mark elevates to senior delivery consultant, his third promotion in under 12 months. Divisional manager, Alex Waterhouse, said: “Mark is an integral part of the Aviation team and has already achieved over 100 contact placements. I’m looking forward to watching Mark develop further as he moves into a senior position and begins to grow his own desk within our department.”

Daisy Drysdale is now a delivery consultant. Divisional manager, Claire Hodgson, said: “It is great to see Daisy get her second promotion after only 18 months with V7 Recruitment.”

Jake Dunwell has been promoted to principle consultant, his third promotion in two years. Managing recruitment consultant, Reece Waters, said: “Jake has shown good work ethic and great account management skills over recent months. He technically understands his market very well which allows him to resource good and suitable candidates for his market, this is proved due to most of the interviews he books turning into placements.”

Steve Whiston, CEO and founder, said: “V7 Recruitment takes immense pride in recognising and rewarding exceptional talent within our organisation. Mark Taylor, Daisy Drysdale, and Jake Dunwell have demonstrated the embodiment of our values and dedication to excellence.”