People: Re-Volve Real Estate; Azets; Stonebond; arch.law; Steven Hunt Associates; Express; Grant Thornton
Newly-formed Re:Volve Real Estate has appointed a new Chartered Building Surveyor to its team.
Andy Heath, 27, has joined the 13-strong property and asset management business based in Wilmslow, as a senior surveyor, following a stint at CBRE.
Andy, who lives in Neston, Cheshire, will be responsible for the delivery of all building surveying duties for Re:Volve’s growing client base of 20+ clients.
The firm, launched in July 2023 by Anna Main, already manages assets valued in excess of £350m
Main said her new venture has “the sole purpose of transforming and evolving assets under management” and believed that being able to provide a first class building surveying offering was integral to delivering a transparent 360 service.
Heath said: “The team at Re:Volve are creating something very exciting and very different in property and asset management and I am excited to be part of this journey.”
Simon Davies, Re:Volve Real Estate’s director of building and project consultancy, joined Re:Volve from Peacock Steven & Co to oversee the quality and delivery of all building surveying services – as well as developing an unrivalled building surveying team. He said: “We are over the moon to have Andy on board as we again bolster our building surveying offering. He is already proving to be an outstanding addition to the team showcasing his skills and expertise on new and existing client portfolios.”
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Andy Reddington
Accountancy firm Azets has expanded its audit offering by appointing Andy Reddington as partner.
Andy joins Azets bringing a wealth of experience after 19 years at KPMG working with many SME businesses. Specialising in UK GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) and IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards), Andy has extensive experience across a wide range of sectors including retail, manufacturing, chemicals and business services. Andy will help businesses navigate the audit and be on hand to help businesses through the changing accounting and reporting landscape.
He will work with the firm’s expanding audit team across the North West, and said: “I am thrilled to be joining Azets as the company continues to grow. We have a brilliant team here in the North West region that is full of talent and I’m looking forward to working alongside colleagues in the area, as well as across the national Azets’ audit team.”
Susanna Cassey, regional managing director, said: “It’s fantastic to welcome Andy to Azets, as we continue to grow across the region. His extensive experience and skills will allow us to further support clients across a multitude of sectors, as well as expanding and developing the teams in line with our growth strategy.”
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Andrew Norman
Andrew Norman has joined premium partnerships developer Stonebond, as finance director for its Manchester and Solihull operations.
Norman, a Chartered Accountant who previously worked in corporate finance, joins Stonebond from Countryside Partnerships, where he served as finance director across the Manchester region.
At Stonebond he will work closely with the two regional management teams, as well as the group finance team, playing a key role in the growth of the two operations.
Stonebond opened its Manchester and Solihull regions in 2022. The regions are expected to deliver circa 350 and 300 homes, respectively, per annum within the next four years.
Andrew said: “Since pivoting to partnership-focused development, Stonebond has set out a clear and exciting growth strategy and I believe it’s a great time to join the business. There is a depth of exceptional leadership here and a well established reputation for delivering high quality, mixed-tenure homes.”
Andrew Cornelius, group chief executive, said: “Andrew will play an important role establishing a strong and consistent financial control environment for our businesses in Solihull and Manchester. We believe the two regions have excellent growth prospects, evidenced by Stonebond recently agreeing a new long term partnership with Great Places to initially deliver 600 homes across Greater Manchester.
“Andrew’s previous experience of partnership-focused development means he is aligned with our long term strategy and shares our passion for delivering more mixed-tenure homes across the UK.”
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Jonathan Patterson
Manchester-based distributed law firm, arch.law, has made a key strategic appointment with Jonathan Patterson joining as its inaugural chief operating officer.
Jonathan joins from DWF Group where he has worked for the past nine years in a number of roles including managing director of innovation and ventures. Prior to DWF, Jonathan was head of business development at Addleshaw Goddard.
Founded in 2021, arch.law now has more than 80 members and nine hubs across the UK in Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and London, together with Australia and Canada and has quickly become a key player in the fast-changing legal market place.
Jonathan specialises in the business side of law with particular expertise in strategy, innovation and management. He has a track record of providing strategic advice and business support to teams to help them grow standalone new products, solutions and businesses both organically and via acquisition.
Earlier this year arch.law bolstered its leadership team with Alistair Young joining as head of finance. It has also added to its operations function with six appointments including; Paige Costello, head of cashiering, Joanna Blackman, senior cashier, and Daniel Pollick, strategic advisor IT who work alongside Natasha Istanbul, practice manager UK, Terrina Logan, practice manager Australia, and Eve Cross, e-marketing manager Australia.
Andrew Leaitherland, founder and CEO, said: “Building our strategic leadership team has been a priority as we’ve increased our member and geographic base. Having someone of Jonathan’s calibre join arch.law will enable us to push ahead with our strategic goals, including increasing our footprint and international capabilities to meet our rapidly expanding client base.”
Jonathan Patterson said: “My priority will be to implement the business strategy focusing on creating and scaling legal solutions for clients and members. Creating a best in class experience whilst supporting members to build their businesses is the perfect role for me. I’m looking forward to working again with Andrew and the arch.law team, too.”
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From left: Dave Kelly, Anne King, Steve Hunt, Dominic Sibbring, Neil Baines
Liverpool-based mechanical and electrical engineering specialist, Steven Hunt Associates, has unveiled a leadership change as part of an ambitious vision for continued growth and innovation.
Steve Hunt has transitioned from the role of managing director to assume the position of CEO. Taking over the reins as the new managing director is Neil Baines, who has been at the firm for almost 25 years.
Supported by the board of directors Dave Kelly, Anne King and Dominic Sibbring, this decision comes as part of a strategic succession process, ensuring a seamless handover and business as usual.
Neil Baines said: “As we approach our 35th anniversary, Steven Hunt Associates has an incredible legacy in the mechanical and electrical engineering sector that I intend to build upon. Having been at the company since 1999, I am looking forward to leading the business with my fellow directors into an exciting new era while ensuring standards remain high as our clients have come to expect over the years.”
Steve Hunt said: “The company is in very good hands. Neil is a strong leader with real strategic vision, and alongside the board of directors, I am excited to see where they take the company next. Of course, I will be on hand in my new role as CEO to offer support and guidance where needed.”
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Express Solicitors promotions
Express Solicitors, the Manchester-based personal injury specialist, has made a round of promotions and new hires across different areas of the business.
Some 63 staff members have been progressed in some way thanks to two recent acquisitions and Express’s commitment to internal development.
These new appointments follow on from last year’s round of promotions when Express promoted nearly 10% of its entire workforce.
Managing Partner, James Maxey, said: “Our firm is always growing, and I am incredibly proud to say we now have around 620 fantastic employees working at Express Solicitors.
“We are committed to retaining and developing our people and this year’s batch of very worthy promotions serves to highlight that. Congratulations to each and every one of them.”
Among those promoted are nine partners who are all specialists in different fields of personal injury. A further five partners have joined Express as a result of the acquisitions.
Express has also promoted seven employees to senior associate, 11 to associate and eight to solicitor.
There were also 13 employees who became trainee solicitors, meaning the firm now has 74 trainees in total.
Earlier in the year Express announced it was to recruit Pupil Barristers and two have now been appointed. They’ll be joined by two more later in the year.
Alongside a senior litigation executive, other changes were made within the HR team, and at Ontime Reports, a medical agency, part of the Express Solicitors Group, there have been five additional promotions this year.
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Grant Thornton has appointed Philip Stephenson as Head of Restructuring in the North West. With more than 25 years’ experience in restructuring and insolvency, and currently a partner in the firm’s London Restructuring team, he previously worked in Manchester and has strong contacts there and across Cheshire, Liverpool City Region, Lancashire and Cumbria. He will continue to jointly lead the firm’s Accelerated M&A offering, which spans the restructuring and corporate finance teams.
Commenting on his new role, he said: “I am very excited to be asked to lead Grant Thornton’s Restructuring team in the North West. The team is vastly experienced and has been involved in some of the firm’s most high profile cases. I am particularly looking forward to working alongside directors Jason Bell and Nick Wilson to further develop the careers of our restructuring team and serving our clients when they face challenging business situations.”
Head of UK Restructuring and Debt Advisory, Shaun O’Callaghan, said: “It is always a pleasure to see our people progress into new roles and to be able to invest in our leading presence in our chosen restructuring and insolvency markets.”
