People: Harrison Drury; Alliance Manchester Business School; Clough & Willis; TDC; Radius; Level
North West law firm Harrison Drury has appointed experienced associate solicitor Amy Leslie to its residential conveyancing team.
Amy joins after seven years as a solicitor and team leader of the residential conveyancing team at Napthens in Kendal, preceded by nine years working as a solicitor at Clarkson Hirst in Lancaster.
Based at the firm’s Lancaster office, Amy will advise clients across the North West on all aspects of conveyancing, including property sales and purchases, re-mortgages, purchases of freehold and leasehold properties, and transfer of equity.
Duncan Rawlinson, head of the firm’s Home and Family Division, said: “Amy’s experience dealing with a diverse range of property transactions, as well as her time leading a team, will only strengthen our offering and allow us to continue providing a high-quality service to our clients in the region.”
Amy said: “I’m excited to be joining such a highly regarded firm and look forward to guiding our clients through their property transactions.”
::
Paul Ormerod
A senior British economist has been appointed Honorary Professor at Alliance Manchester Business School.
Paul Ormerod, who takes up his role immediately, is chair of the Atom Valley Greater Manchester Mayoral Development Zone and Rochdale Development Agency.
He has worked extensively in the areas of complexity, agent-based modelling and the application of machine learning techniques to both macro-economic data and the creation of macro-level emotions from text data. His research includes the boom-and-bust cycle of businesses and economic competition.
Uniquely, Paul uses a multi-disciplinary approach combining biology, physics, maths, statistics and psychology as sources of approaches that can be applied to economics. Widely published in top academic journals, Paul has also written four best-selling books on economics.
He was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in 2006 and has been awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Durham for “the distinction of your contribution to the discipline of economics”.
He said: “The work I am involved with in terms of regional development is of significant importance to the city region.”
Head of Alliance Manchester Business School, Prof Ken McPhail, said: “We are hugely excited to have someone of Paul’s calibre join us. He brings a wealth of knowledge, experience and insight that will augment our work here and provide a broader connection to regional initiatives, too.”
::
Darren Rich
Bolton and Bury-based law firm, Clough & Willis, has named Darren Rich as its newest residential property conveyancer. He will be primarily based at the company’s Little Lever office.
Darren qualified in 2002 and joins from a national conveyancing company dealing with more complex conveyancing transactions. He has also worked at Shammah Nicholls, Trowers & Hamlins Solicitors and Cobbetts.
His specialisms include freehold and leasehold sales and purchases, new builds, shared ownership, transfers of equity and remortgages. Darren’s appointment brings the property team’s total headcount to six.
Lorraine Stratton-Webb, partner and head of property, said: “Darren is an experienced conveyancer so it’s fantastic to welcome him to the firm – especially as demand for the property team’s services is growing month on month. I am confident he will become a much-valued colleague.”
Darren said: “This is fantastic step in my career, and I am excited to see what the next few months will bring.”
::
Jon Petty, left, and Rob Hanley
Manchester-based private credit investor, TDC, has appointed Jon Petty as its new investment director to bolster its growing team.
With 15 years of experience in debt markets, Jon brings a wealth of expertise to his new role, encompassing advisory, banking, and private debt. Prior to joining TDC, Jon spent six years leading the Manchester office of private debt fund, Beechbrook Capital.
In his new position, Jon will be responsible for identifying growing mid-market businesses for investments of £10-40m from TDC’s latest Fund IV, nurturing key relationships with private equity firms and management teams. Jon will also support the investment of TDC’s Impact Fund, aimed at supporting SMEs across the North of England with investments of £2-7m with a focus on growth and job creation.
To further strengthen the team, Rob Hanley has been promoted to head of portfolio and risk. Having joined as an investment director in January 2022, Rob has worked across TDC’s portfolio companies, supporting management teams and sponsors in delivering their plans through the investment lifecycle.
In his new role, Rob will actively build and expand the team to support TDC’s growth with new hires expected later this year.
Jon Petty said: “I am really excited to join TDC at a time of such strong growth and investment in the team. TDC has cemented itself as one of the UK’s leading private credit investors whilst maintaining its Manchester roots and I look forward to building on the strong deal activity over the summer to help the business in achieving its ambitious targeted growth from £1bn in total available capital to a £3bn platform over the next five years.”
Rob Hanley said: “As we grow, there’s so much opportunity to support the excellent businesses within the UK’s lower mid-market, and we want to ensure that, from our Manchester base, we become the employer of choice for the top calibre of finance professionals offering a variety of opportunities.”
::
Lee Everett, left, and Bill Holmes
Crewe-based global mobility and connectivity group, Radius, has confirmed that group COO Lee Everett has stepped up to become the new Radius CEO.
Lee joined the group in 2010 and since then has had many roles across the business and has been a critical part of developing the new strategy and business units that will be key to future growth.
Since CEO, Bill Holmes, started the company above a hairdressing salon in Holmes Chapel nearly 34 years ago, it has grown to become a global business that now operates in 18 countries across five continents.
From its original fuel card roots, Radius has now expanded to become a wider mobility and communications company that includes telematics, telecoms, insurance, vehicle solutions and EV and energy. It employs more than 2,800 people at 53 offices and in the past 12 months, turnover grew to a record level of more than £4.6 bn.
Bill Holmes has stepped up to executive chairman where he will be supporting Lee to help deliver the group’s ambitious plans for the future.
::
Sam Harris, left, and Joe Averill
Workspace advisory company Level has appointed its first member of staff and a non-executive director.
Sam Harris, 25, has joined Manchester-based Level as flexible workspace advisor and John Shinnick has become non-executive director.
Level founder, Joe Averill, said more hires will follow over the coming 12 months as the company looks to further establish itself in the Manchester office market.
Joe said: “We have enjoyed a strong period of growth over the past year. Bringing Sam in, who has all the attributes we look for, will strengthen Level’s position and open up new opportunities in what is a competitive marketplace.
“John becoming non-exec director is equally crucial as we look to enhance our operational efficiencies and drive growth.”
Level launched in the first quarter of 2022 with the aim of providing advice solely to tenants, as opposed to landlords. The workspace advisory company solely represents tenants, finding workspaces fit for their people at the best value for their business.
Sam Harris, who joins from We Have a Meeting, said: “Level is a company with a clear difference in the workspace market. It doesn’t represent any landlords or sell their office space which really appeals to me and I’m very much looking forward to working with Joe, Level’s current clients and with businesses that will undoubtedly benefit from our expertise going forward.”
Level, while primarily operating in Manchester, also has presence in Leeds and London.
