People: Farleys Solicitors; Veritas Solicitors; Novello Commercial; Harold Sharp; Harrison Drury; Ward Hadaway

North West law firm Farleys Solicitors has appointed solicitor Zoe Loo to its corporate law team in Manchester.

She has joined from the company and commercial department at a firm in Hertfordshire.

Zoe, a fluent Malay and Mandarin speaker, began her legal career in Malaysia before joining a firm in Singapore working in a family law department for three years. She moved to the UK in 2021 and passed the Qualified Lawyer Transfer Scheme on her first sitting.

She said: “I am thrilled to be here and have been made to feel so welcome by everyone at Farleys. I look forward to continuing to learn and working closely with my new colleagues.”

Zoe’s new team at Farleys in Manchester is headed up by Partner Richard Bell, who said: “Zoe is a fantastic addition to the Farleys corporate team. She brings good corporate and commercial law expertise and her down to earth approach fits the ethos of Farleys perfectly.”

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Back: Kimberley Gamez, Min Htae. Front L to R: Gabriella Marriot, Momil Malik, Elisse Roebuck

Manchester law firm, Veritas Solicitors, has awarded five training contracts to stand-out members of its paralegal team.

Among the newly appointed trainees is Gabriella Marriot, who joined last March after completing her Legal Practice Course (LPC) from Manchester Metropolitan University.

Another rising star at the firm is Momil Malik, who landed a paralegal job at Veritas after completing her LPC from the University of Law Manchester in 2021.

Kimberley Gamez’s journey into law took her around the world as she moved to the UK from the Philippines in 2014 for studies. With multiple degrees from universities including an LPC from the University of Law Birmingham, she also competed her Master’s in Law (LLM) from Tilburg, Netherlands, and a degree in International Contracts and Arbitration from Fribourg, Switzerland.

Prior to Veritas Solicitors she specialised in international construction law for Turkish firm, Cetinel, commuting from London to Istanbul once a month. Since joining the Manchester firm as a paralegal this year, Kimberley has made significant strides in the Housing Disrepair team.

Another trainee, Min Htae, has rapidly progressed from paralegal to trainee solicitor in the undisclosed commissions team, focusing on financial mis-selling. Since arriving in the UK from Burma in 2015, he completed his Law degree from Newcastle University before landing a senior associate role at Deloitte.

And Elisse Roebuck, started as a paralegal in August 2022 after graduating with her LLM from the University of Huddersfield. Securing her training contract in March this year, she is an integral part of the financial mis-selling team.

Managing partner, Faraz Fazal, said: “We recognise that our people are our greatest asset, and investing in their professional growth is fundamental to our success. These training contracts represent our unwavering dedication to nurturing internal talent and providing our team members with the tools and opportunities they need to excel in their legal careers.”

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From left: Jack Pye, James Bostock, James Brook

Novello Commercial, the commercial arm of chartered surveying company Novello Chartered Surveyors, has launched in Manchester, led by commercial Chartered Surveyor James Bostock.

James is an expert in commercial building surveying services having joined the company from OBI, where he worked as a Chartered Building Surveyor for five years. He’s also previously held roles at CBRE and Hive Projects.

He said “I have an exciting opportunity to lay the foundations within the North West’s commercial market to become the ‘go-to’ consultancy business for building surveying.”

Novello Chartered Surveyors was set up by co-founders James Brook and Jack Pye in 2019. Despite launching on the cusp of the pandemic, the business has grown exponentially.

James Brook said “The North West has always been an area we’ve been keen to expand into. We see the huge growth opportunities for businesses in the region.

“Based on the success of our general chartered surveying services, we decided it was time to take a leap and expand to commercial surveying. With James’s extensive experience at the helm, I am excited to see what the future holds for this new, exciting commercial department of the business.”

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From left: right: Emma Saxon-Pipe, Yusuf Laher, Rebecca Holloway

Sale-based accounting firm, Harold Sharp, part of the ETL Global network, has promoted three senior managers to associate director.

They are Rebecca Holloway, who leads the property team, Yusuf Laher, from the accounts department, and Emma Saxon-Pipe, who heads up the accounts and outsourcing team.

Director, Andrew Copping, said: “We are really pleased to promote these three talented individuals to the position of associate director. This is a really pivotal year for us and it’s great to see such a dynamic, young leadership team coming through.

“Rebecca, Yusuf and Emma have all demonstrated a commitment to our company and its values and have a passion for delivering excellence to our clients. They are a real asset to our team and we’re delighted to welcome all three of them to the leadership board.”

Fellow director, Charlotte Hinchcliffe, said: “These promotions come at a time of real growth for Harold Sharp. We have added several big ticket clients in recent months and are delivering more advisory services, particularly on the digital front.”

The promotions follow the promotion of Charlotte Hinchcliffe to director in January this year.

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Naomi Fell and Sam Jones

North West law firm Harrison Drury has strengthened its commercial property team with the appointment of senior associate solicitor Sam Jones.

Sam joins from Freeths, where he spent a year working as a senior associate in the real estate team. Before this, he worked for Knights in Manchester as a real estate associate solicitor for three years.

Based at the firm’s Preston office, Sam will support clients across the region with a wide range of commercial property services.

Naomi Fell, partner at Harrison Drury, said: “Sam’s appointment demonstrates our commitment to growing our team and attracting the best legal talent to support our clients. His experience in commercial, residential and mixed-use schemes, as well as renewable energy development schemes will help expand the knowledge of our commercial property division.”

Sam Jones said: “I’ve been aware of Harrison Drury’s work in the region for some time, and the focus on staff development and personal growth is what attracted me to the role.”

Sam previously spent time in Birmingham and Manchester where he graduated with a Diploma in Law at BPP Law School, with a strong focus on advanced commercial property, intellectual property and commercial law, and employment Law.

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Sonia Burgess and Bill Goodwin

Manchester-based law firm Ward Hadaway has announced a key strategic appointment to its intellectual property team.

Sonia Burgess, a highly experienced chartered trademark attorney, joins the team bringing with her considerable expertise in trademark law. She has a rich, specialist background, having trained with a national intellectual property firm.

Bill Goodwin, head of IT/IP at Ward Hadaway and also a qualified trademark attorney, said: “Sonia’s appointment represents a significant milestone for Ward Hadaway’s trademark legal services, building on a 20-year legacy.

“Bringing her into the fold will enable the firm to rapidly expand the scope and enhance the complexity of its offerings in this specialist area of law, especially in the North West.”

Liz Bottrill, executive partner at Ward Hadaway in Manchester, said: “Sonia’s addition to our team is an exciting development, reflective of Ward Hadaway’s commitment to continuous growth of our experience and expertise.”

Sonia Burgess said: “One of the key objectives of my new role is to expand the scope and diversity of our work both in the North West and nationally, which is an exciting challenge I’m looking forward to.”