People: Urban Chain; Cullimore Dutton; Shield Safety; Focus-Trust; Sedulo Funding; Claritas Tax

Manchester energy market disruptor, UrbanChain, has added six members of staff to its workforce.

Derek Colley and Nicholas Boswell have joined the ranks as tech lead and strategic partnership manager, respectively. Amber Shabbir, pricing analyst, Elvis Kara, account manager, Viktor Borovskyi, front-end developer and Huma Hussain, management accountant, have also been recruited.

Founder and CEO, Somayeh Taheri, described UrbanChain’s aim to achieve ‘seamless operational efficiency and customer-focused excellence’ as the driving factor behind the hires: “With our expansion very much progressing it is great to welcome so many talented people into the UrbanChain fold,” she said.

“We are currently recruiting for positions including office manager, lead generator, operations analysts, operations assistant, finance assistant, TPI account manager and customer service executive, which will see our headcount increase to 30 by the end of 2023.”

UrbanChain is based at Enterprise House, Manchester Science Park, and is backed by leading global investment firm Eurazeo.

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Georgina Roberts

Chester legal and financial services firm, Cullimore Dutton, has grown its wills, trusts and estates team with the appointment of a new solicitor.

Georgina Roberts, who specialises in all aspects of private client work, has joined the firm. Georgina is also a full member of Solicitors for the Elderly, which means she has trained to work with older and more vulnerable clients.

She said: “I’m really excited to join Cullimore Dutton and I’m enjoying getting to know the rest of the team and the clients.

“Private client is an interesting area of the law and I enjoy helping people at what can sometimes be a difficult and stressful time of their lives.”

Georgina’s expertise includes the creation of wills, trusts and inheritance tax planning, Powers of Attorney, the administration of estates and Court of Protection work.

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Graeme Snell

Manchester-based, Shield Safety, a provider of professional services and software solutions across food safety, health and safety and fire safety, has announced four appointments to bolster its already 123-strong team.

Graeme Snell, Gill Tomaselli, Chris Goodman and Christine Appleby will add considerable value to their respective departments.

Graeme Snell has been appointed as the head of consultancy. He joins from one of the leading health and social care charities and is a highly experienced Chartered Senior HSE and Wellbeing Management professional.

Gill Tomaselli joins as the new product marketing manager. She is a highly accomplished marketing professional with more than 30 years of experience in partner and international marketing.

Chris Goodman joins as fire safety manager. He is an enthusiastic and successful Level 4 and Tier 2 Fire Safety consultant with The Institute of Fire Safety Managers, and joins from an end-to-end, fire and security solutions company.

Christine Appleby joins as the HR assistant. With her strong organisational skills and passion for employee development, Christine will contribute to the smooth operation of human resources functions.

Mark Flanagan, CEO of Shield Safety, said: “Their expertise and dedication will be instrumental in driving growth, and strengthening our proposition as the leading operator in food safety, health and safety and fire safety.”

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Andrew Chadwick

Focus-Trust, a charitable, multi-academy trust with 15 primary schools based in the North West of England and West Yorkshire has appointed Andrew Chadwick as its new safeguarding, ambition and inclusion lead.

Formerly the head of school, safeguarding lead and SENDCo at Wilsden Primary School, Andrew will ensure that each school within the trust has a true ethos of inclusion, safeguarding, and an ambition that all children will achieve and excel in all aspects of life.

Welcoming him to his new position, Helen Rowland, said: “Andrew’s passion and commitment to inclusion and safeguarding during his time at Wilsden Primary School, and making sure every child is safe, happy, and successful, has been so admirable.”

Andrew said: “This role is my dream role and I’m so excited to be helping to improve lives across 15 primary schools. This important role allows me to focus on my passions, and support our 15 schools to improve the lives of all our children children.”

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Carl Finlayson

Sedulo Funding Solutions has appointed Carl Finlayson as commercial finance director out of the Manchester headquarters.

Carl will be responsible for spearheading the growth of the Manchester office, working alongside the already established leadership team and other recent high profile senior appointments in other regions as the business looks to continue its trajectory of having in excess of 30% growth in each of its seven years since inception.

Carl’s arrival brings almost 20 years of experience of working in the financial services industry, where he has held senior positions with the likes of Praetura, Aldermore and Royal Bank of Scotland.

Carl Finlayson said: “I look forward to leading the Manchester team through this period of continued growth. I’m especially looking forward to having whole of market capability for my clients to give them the very best advice possible. Having worked with some of the Sedulo team over the years, I am looking forward to leading the Manchester business to greater successes.”

Leyton Jeffs, group chief revenue officer, said: “Bringing in Carl is a real coup for Sedulo and is a strong indicator of just how far the commercial finance business has come since its inception seven years ago. The mix of Carl’s obsession for excellence and consultative attitude to helping entrepreneurs makes him an excellent role model and leader of our Manchester office.”

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From left: Matt Hodgson, Danny Orr, Robin Greenwood

Claritas Tax, with offices in Manchester, Birmingham, and Nottingham, has strengthened the team with the appointment of Robin Greenwood and Danny Orr, both of whom will be working primarily in the firm’s corporate and international service line.

Robin joins the team as a senior manager. He brings more than 18 years of experience, with expertise in mid-market clients, and owner-managed and private equity-backed businesses. He said: “I can’t wait to help grow our capabilities in what is quickly becoming a business-critical area for companies across a broad spectrum of sectors. I look forward to working with our clients to enable them to benefit wherever possible.”

Danny is the team’s latest manager appointment. He specialises in UK corporate and international tax, and prior to joining Claritas, had nearly 10 years of experience working in big four and top 10 firms. He said: “I am hugely excited to be joining the Claritas team especially as we embark on highly ambitious growth and expansion plans.”

Both will be based in Manchester, but their roles will also see them working closely with Claritas Tax’s teams in Birmingham and Nottingham to strengthen their corporate and international proposition across the Midlands, North West and the UK.

Matt Hodgson, partner and head of Claritas’s Manchester office, said: “Our senior team just gets stronger and stronger. The ongoing growth of all our offices continues to establish our impressive offerings and I look forward to seeing this forward momentum sustained into 2024.”