People: Banc; UCLan; Moynan Smith; Dow Schofield Watts; Farleys Solicitors
Manchester-based digital marketing agency, BANC, has expanded its team with the appointment of a new CRM and email marketing specialist, Rita Sofiane, to its existing line-up of digital marketing professionals.
Having previously worked both client- and agency-side across B2B and B2C industries such as travel, healthcare, wellness and food & beverage, Rita brings more than five years of CRM and email marketing experience to Banc.
Head of digital, Kate Woods, said: “Rita’s career has seen her create CRM infrastructures from the ground up, lead email marketing strategies and implementation, and innovate technologies to capture and qualify leads ahead of sales interaction. We couldn’t be happier to have someone who will truly allow us to create inroads into such an important element of the digital marketing makeup.”
Banc’s marketing director, Martin Cozens, said: “We can now offer the full end-to-end digital marketing solution, matching marketing activity to our clients’ end objectives, so we can better understand how activity directly relates to revenue. We’re really excited to have Rita on board, especially at what’s been such a thrilling time for the business as a whole.”
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Dame Sue Ion
The Pro Chancellor and Chair of the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) board, David Taylor, is retiring from his role at the university after almost 10 years of service and will be succeeded by his Deputy Chair, Dame Sue Ion.
UCLan Vice-Chancellor, Prof Graham Baldwin, said: “On behalf of the university, I want to thank David for the fantastic contribution he has made in helping UCLan to be the best we can be and to ensure we continue to improve the student experience.”
David said: “UCLan is a close knit community where everyone has a vital role to play in providing opportunities to people from all backgrounds, to support local communities and deliver research that has real world impact.
“I’m proud to have been Chair of the University board for almost a decade and play a supportive role in helping UCLan to strengthen its reputation and grow into a truly international institution. I wish my successor, Dame Sue Ion, every success in her new role.”
Proud Prestonian Dame Sue said: “I’m immensely proud to have the opportunity to lead an institution with such a long and successful history as it heads towards its 200th year in 2028. I’m inheriting an extremely ambitious and optimistic team at UCLan.
“Everyone connected with the university has an unwavering focus on transforming lives, innovating our approach to teaching, and increasing our reputation in research and its effect on wider society.”
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Abbie Hetherington and Richard Moffatt
MoynanSmith has invested in both the accountancy and payroll sides of its operations as it continues to attract new clients.
Richard Moffatt has joined the Carlisle-based firm as a Chartered Accountant while Abbie Hetherington has come in as payroll advisor, with both areas of the business on an upward curve.
Partner, Darren Moynan, said word of mouth recommendations was fuelling the company’s organic growth. He said: “Payroll services is definitely an increasing area and somewhere we can support clients. We needed someone of Abbie’s experience to further develop that offer and manage the service.”
Abbie has previously worked in practice after discovering a passion for payroll. She said: “I began my career unbeknown of the passion I’d find by providing a service which is such a crucial part of any business. Payroll is constantly evolving so you have to be driven and able to adapt with the role as, ultimately, we need to be able to retain the level of service we provide.”
Partner, Jamie Smith, said Richard’s experience in helping large businesses in construction, retail and hospitality would further strengthen the team, which is based in Clifford Court on Carlisle’s Parkhouse estate. He said: “We’ve grown our business through continuing to offer a proactive service which many clients appreciate, Richard will help us deliver that across our bigger clients.”
Richard said: “I’m looking forward to using my experience and knowledge to help clients achieve their goals.”
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Will Beckley and Declan Littler
Dow Schofield Watts has expanded its Transaction Services team in the North West with the appointment of Will Beckley as an executive.
Will joins Daresbury-based DSW from RSM UK where he has worked for the past three years, more recently as an assistant audit manager. A qualified Chartered Accountant, he will be working closely with partners Catriona Lang, Ed Brentnall and Ros Jones who provide financial due diligence to acquisitive businesses and private equity firms.
His appointment comes at an increasingly busy time for the team and follows the recent appointment of Declan Littler as an executive. Declan was a senior audit associate with PwC having also worked at Bank of America.
Ed Brentnall, partner with DSW Transaction Services, said: “We are seeing deals activity increasing and having additional capacity will support our deal pipeline.”
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From left: Molly Greenwood, Angela Riley, Bridgette Hibbert, Rachel Harrison, Neil Howard, Angharad Bentley, Reta Rose, Barry Bunyan, Graeme Booth
North West law firm, Farleys Solicitors, has marking a record number of partner and associate partner level promotions.
Six people have been appointed partners at the firm, alongside another four who have been appointed as associate partners.
The partner promotions include solicitors Angharad Bentley (Family), Bridgette Hibbert (Fraud & Business Crime), and Rachel Harrison (Commercial Litigation). In addition, and for the first time at Farleys, Reta Rose (Marketing & People) and Steve Garbett (IT) have become the first partners at the firm to come from a background in non-legal roles.
Barry Bunyan, the firm’s business manager, formally a Family Law solicitor, is the last of the six to receive recognition through these latest partner appointments.
The associate partner promotions include accounts manager Angela Riley, and solicitors Graeme Booth (Residential Property), Molly Greenwood (Commercial Property), and Neil Howard (Crime).
Farleys’ managing partner, Ian Liddle, said: “The fact that this is our largest round of promotions is testament to the hard work of many individuals at the firm over the past 12 months and add to the five partner promotions made in January.
“Our firm is in an exciting period of growth, fuelled by joining the Lawfront Group in 2022 and the acquisition of Mulderrigs in April 2023, and we’re keen to follow on from that by recognising some of the team members who have been instrumental in this growth.”
