People: The City Recruiter; Clarke Willmott; Cedarwood Digital; First Bus; University of Manchester; RPG Chartered Accountants
A Manchester recruitment firm has announced two female additions to its senior management team.
The City Recruiter, which is hoping to quadruple its headcount by year end, has appointed Melissa Smart as the new head of operations and Danielle Finney as head of recruitment.
The duo, who are based at the company’s new HQ in Cardinal House, are experienced professionals. Melissa assumed her role in July and brings with her an impressive track record in recruitment spanning over 12 years.
Melissa’s extensive experience in managing recruitment firms and executing large-scale programs has positioned her as a vital figure in The City Recruiter’s growth trajectory. She said: “I’m really looking forward to helping the company in its next phase of growth.”
Newly promoted, Danielle Finney, has stepped up from her previous talent acquisition manager role at the company and brings 14 years of recruitment experience to the table. Danielle, who started with the business in November 2021, will now play more of a strategic role and determine new processes, systems and KPIs for the business’s ambitious goals.
She said: “I am proud to see more women in leadership positions. Recruitment has historically been a male-dominated industry, but my stance has always been getting the right person for the job, regardless of gender.”
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Louise Rogers
Experienced employment lawyer, Louise Rogers, has joined national law firm Clarke Willmott as a partner in its Manchester office.
Louise acts for employers and senior executives on an array of employment issues, with particular specialisms in the banking and financial services, technology and media sectors. She joins after 10 years at a commercial firm in London.
Marc Long, partner and head of the employment team at Clarke Willmott, said: “We are very pleased that Louise has joined us. As well as helping us build our employment offering in Manchester, Louise will play an important role in helping us to continue to grow our employment team nationally.”
Clarke Willmott has offices in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, London, Manchester, Southampton, and Taunton.
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Matt Thompson
Cedarwood Digital has appointed Matt Thompson as its head of digital PR, as the Manchester-based performance marketing agency seeks to build out its offering.
Matt brings more than a decade of experience to the role, having previously worked at iProspect, Open Partners and THG.
The appointment comes at a time of growth for Cedarwood Digital, which was recently named Digital PR Agency of the Year at the UK Digital PR Awards, as well as Best Small Integrated Agency at the European Search Awards.
Matt said: “It’s an exciting time to be joining Cedarwood. The team are already producing some fantastic work, with a whole host of recent award wins under their belt. I’m looking forward to driving things forward, helping grow the team as well as our clients’ businesses.”
Amanda Walls, director of Cedarwood Digital, said: “The past 12 months have seen our digital PR team go from strength to strength, and we’ve got big plans for the future. Matt’s experience in launching new products, as well as growing existing channels, will play a key role as we look to further expand our offering to be truly market leading.”
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Zoe Hands
First Bus has appointed Zoe Hands as managing director of its Manchester, Midlands and South Yorkshire business.
She boasts a strong career in the transport industry having spent the past 10 years in the rail sector, most recently as chief operating officer for Merseyrail and prior to this held various directorships including in safety and sustainability, operations and engineering.
Zoe comes to First Bus with an enviable track record from Merseyrail, a joint venture between Transport UK and Serco, where she was accountable for all train service delivery and led the function as it broke numerous industry punctuality records. In January it was named the best rail company for customer service and second best in transport by the Institute of Customer Service in a survey of close to 300 companies.
She said: “I’m joining First Bus as we drive the business forward for our customers in Manchester, the Midlands and South Yorkshire. We’ve much to build on with new developments in the Greater Manchester bus market, Leicester electrification well under way and good commercial progress in South Yorkshire.”
In Greater Manchester the company is engaged in bidding for the final Tranche 3 round of franchise contracts from Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) which concludes in November. While preparations are under way in Rochdale to take responsibility of bus services in March 2024 after First Bus was successful in securing the franchise from TfGM in a previous round of contract awards announced by the authority in June.
She will be supported by two senior directors in helping to secure the ambitions of First Bus in Greater Manchester. Mike Watson leaves his interim role as managing director of Midlands and South Yorkshire to lead on the mobilisation of Rochdale operations and exploring new contract opportunities. Ian Humphreys will step back from day-to-day management of Manchester operations and continue his role in the Tranche 3 bid process and discussions with TfGM.
Zoe leads a business employing around 1,800 people with five depots operating a fleet of more than 850 buses.
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Prof Olga Onuch
The University of Manchester has appointed the first ever Professor of Comparative and Ukrainian Politics in the UK and the wider English-speaking world, in a move that demonstrates the leading role of the University when it comes to the study of contemporary Ukraine.
Olga Onuch is an academic whose expertise on Ukrainian politics and society has led her to become one of the leading Ukraine experts both in the UK and internationally.
Since the 2004 Orange Revolution Olga has focused her research on political engagement in the country, and since 2014 she was a member of an advisory group to the Ukrainian government and has worked with diverse policy makers from Ukraine, the UK, USA, EU and Canada.
However, since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Olga has dedicated herself to recording and understanding the war, as well as releasing a highly-regarded book, The Zelensky Effect, about the role of civic national identity in Ukraine and how it influenced President Zelensky and directed his leadership.
In her new role, Prof Onuch will contribute to the multiple prize-winning community of senior scholars and professors in the University’s Politics Department by developing teaching curricula, mentoring early career researchers and developing policy-focused research agendas. The Professorship will raise the profile of Ukrainian scholarship and studies at the university and in the UK more widely, making Manchester a leader in the field.
She will launch the ‘Ukraine Rises’ course in September which will focus on contemporary Ukrainian Politics in comparative perspective, and will continue to teach courses on Mass Protest and on Democratisation in eastern Europe and Latin America in which Ukraine will be a central reference case. These courses will also help to develop a pipeline for those interested in future doctoral study focused on Ukrainian politics in comparative perspective.
Prof Onuch said: “I am very proud of the University of Manchester’s leadership in supporting Ukrainian students and scholars. This Professorship will help to raise the profile of the comparative political science analysis of Ukraine as well as further raising the international profile of The University of Manchester, which is already a major leader in social science research and teaching.”
Anna Dezyk, deputy chair of the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain, said: “The appointment of the first Professor of Comparative and Ukrainian Politics is long overdue in the English speaking world and is a major milestone, not only for the Ukrainian community in the UK but also globally. Prof Onuch’s enthusiasm and extensive expertise in this area provides a fantastic platform for the study of Ukrainian Politics to finally move out of the shadows and take its rightful place in academia.”
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From left: Maria Khan, Ben Kershaw, Naomi Chan
RPG Chartered Accountants has strengthened its audit team with the addition of three new auditors.
Maria Khan joined the team earlier in the year and has recently been joined by Naomi Chan and Ben Kershaw, all in the position of audit lead.
Maria, Naomi and Ben are based in Manchester, working within a team of 20, which includes 14 dedicated auditors with audit support from the accountancy team as required.
There are more than 75 people based at RPG’s Manchester office.
Martin Chatten, group board director and head of audit at RPG Chartered Accountants, said: “We are seeing a huge demand for our audit services and coupled with our overall desire to continue to grow and develop the firm, it is essential that we continue to expand our team.
“However it is important that we recruit the best so we are very pleased to welcome Maria, Naomi and Ben who demonstrate excellent technical skills, team work and people skills, and will be invaluable additions to our team. We will also be welcoming three new trainees at the start of September.
“In addition I am very pleased to announce that Phil Houghton has been promoted to the position of assistant audit manager. Phil joined the RPG audit team in 2018 and during that time has completed his professional qualifications and made a massive contribution the team, fully meriting this promotion.”
