People: Banc; Edstart Schools; Cityheart; re-form Landscape Architecture; Hill Dickinson; Shawton Energy
Manchester-based digital marketing agency Banc has welcomed designer, Helen Swarbrick, who brings a wealth of experience.
Helen’s multi-disciplinary background – starting with a Graphic Design degree from Manchester’s School of Art – has seen her work for a number of award-winning brand agencies across global brands, most recently at Clear M&C Saatchi. There, Helen honed her skills alongside strategists and creatives across multiple repositioning and rebranding projects.
She joins Banc’s creative lead, Niki Lau, to make up their design team. Joining Banc during lockdown, Niki has led multiple client projects, all while defining and expanding the creative offering of the agency.
Niki said: “We strongly believe that collaboration and communication bring out the best results and outcomes in design. We have a great working relationship within the team and through that, we always strive to work together so we can produce the best work possible.”
Helen said: “We’ve already shown what we’re capable of with our own rebrand. We undertook a full discovery process which re-shaped the brand proposition and created an entirely new brand story.”
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Mickey Mellon, courtesy Oldham Athletic FC
Oldham Athletic FC manager and author, Micky Mellon, has joined EdStart Schools as director of leadership and culture, bringing his wealth of leadership experience in professional sport, research, and writing into the education sector.
Following his pioneering appointment at the special educational needs (SEN) and alternative provision (AP) school, Micky’s work has started with EdStart’s leaders to differentiate between management and leadership and, through core values, learn how a ‘team’ and ‘people’ focus will see development and progress in everyone within the organisation.
The philosophy Micky has developed is that while good management is based around following processes and maintaining high standards, great leadership is about thinking bigger picture, and supporting, motivating and inspiring every day.
He wants the school leaders to put themselves in the background and improve everyone else around them with the focus of following his ethos of ‘making brilliant 16-year-olds’ and the vision of rolling the programme out across the education sector to help improve other schools.
Micky Mellon said: “What I’m doing at EdStart is constantly evolving and the more I get to know the business, the more I love it. I love the kids because they are kids of character and kids of need, and we are working to develop them under my mantra of ‘making brilliant 16-year-olds’.
“Working alongside the Edstart CEO, James Lowe, we’ve just put together a year-long leadership course for 10 leaders of 10 SEN and alternative provision schools with the aim that they take the learnings back to their schools, put leadership into practice and find the next generation of leaders within the organisation.”
James Lowe said: “I didn’t know we needed a Micky Mellon, until I met Micky Mellon. We had an opportunity at EdStart to increase leadership within the organisation, but we are not about just employing new people to tick a box, we are about developing the skills and qualities of our amazing existing team members.”
EdStart aims to offer educational provision with the opportunities to gain recognised qualifications to young people with special educational needs or who are unable to maintain regular attendance at a mainstream school, identify issues which underlie non-attendance and disengagement from education and to support young people in addressing and resolving these issues.
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Luke Piggin
Development company Cityheart has strengthened its in-house team with the appointment of Luke Piggin as the company’s new financial director.
Luke, a FCA and CFA Charterholder, joins the company, which has offices in Chester and Wilmslow, in the newly created position with more than a decade of experience in real estate.
He previously worked for KPMG, MAS Real Estate and One Heritage Group, the latter he listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Luke said: “I am excited to join Cityheart at a time where the company is on a huge growth trajectory. I was impressed with the vision the directors set out to me and the great culture within the business.”
Warren Taylor, chief operating officer at Cityheart, said: “Luke’s financial acumen and experience puts him at the top of his league, as the company is continuing to grow with a number of potential new projects in the pipeline.”
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Jonathan Miley
Jonathan Miley has joined re-form Landscape Architecture as director, marking the culmination of a transformative 12 months for the practice.
He will be based in the Manchester studio, working alongside director David Livesey, to harness the growing number of public realm investment opportunities in the region and UK-wide. He will work across the practice collaborating closely with re-form’s other directors and studios in Leeds and Edinburgh.
Jonathan, who was previously director of Exterior Architecture’s Manchester office having established the practice’s presence in the city in 2014, has worked in the North West region for almost two decades. He brings with him a wealth of regional knowledge, having led on a number of nationally significant landmark schemes including the Stretford Town Centre masterplan and Kampus, a £250m new neighbourhood in Manchester city centre.
Jonathan said: “It’s an exciting time for our industry. The pandemic fast tracked the value of landscape architecture – people appreciate green space and access to nature more than ever before. I look forward to working with the incredibly talented team here as the company continues to evolve and make the most of these emerging opportunities.”
The firm is working on a number of high profile projects in the North West including the Upper Brook Street masterplan, the landmark Piccadilly East neighbourhood in Manchester and Peel’s transformational Wirral Waters located on the River Mersey.
David Livesey, director at re-form, said: “Jonathan is a fantastic addition and joins us at a pivotal time for the company. Our industry is always changing, and as such, we are constantly challenging ourselves creatively as a practice, and an employer.”
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Maria Nicholls, Catherine Wheatley, Gareth Miller
Commercial law firm, Hill Dickinson, has announced the promotion of 18 associates to senior associate in the firm’s November promotions round, including eight in the North West.
The promotions span all three of the firm’s three core business groups: Business Services, Health and Marine, and six of the firm’s 10 UK and international offices, including in Singapore and Hong Kong.
Hill Dickinson chief executive Peter Jackson said he was proud of the firm’s commitment to nurturing talent from entry level up, saying: “We’ve seen a regular intake of incredibly bright and personable talent from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences in recent years. With each successive promotions round we are reaping the rewards from that as our junior lawyers begin to rise through the ranks.
“Having marked our sixth consecutive year of financial growth for the year ending April 2022, I am in no doubt about the role our people play in enabling us to achieve those results. I extend my warmest congratulations, and those of the board, to them all.”
Widely recognised for its efforts to remove barriers that traditionally prevent women from achieving promotion as rapidly as their male counterparts, the firm is seeing greater numbers of women coming through. Overall this year, 11 of the 18 lawyers promoted (just over 61%) are women.
Carolyn Morgan, director of HR, said: “We are pleased that so many of our junior lawyers are successfully advancing their careers with us, in particular the increasing numbers of women. A renewed focus on learning and development in the past 18 months is playing an important role in this, enabling everyone, regardless of gender, work patterns, team and location, to access the same opportunities to progress, firmwide.”
North West appointments include in Liverpool, Phil Styles, Kelly Monaghan and Carley Dhand, all in business services, and Kelly Miller and Laura Myles, in health. In Manchester, health appointments are Maria Nicholls, Catherine Wheatley and Gareth Miller.
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From left: Robert Wall, Daniel Stewart, John Creswell
Renewable technology provider Shawton Energy has strengthened its board of directors with senior executives from Lazard Asset Management following its new combined partnership.
Robert Wall, head of sustainable private infrastructure at Lazard Asset Management, and John Cresswell, an operating advisor, bring a wealth of expertise to the existing executive team of managing director Jamie Shaw and operations director Daniel Stewart.
The new appointments come after the Newton-Le-Willows-based organisation and a fund managed by Lazard Asset Management partnered on a 50% basis, aiming to deliver more than £65m of invested capital in high quality solar photovoltaic (PV) works over the next five years.
Jamie said: “Our time is now, and this is an exciting step for Shawton Energy. Appointing key figures from Lazard Asset Management will help us execute our group strategy to strengthen renewable technology solutions to industrial and commercial clients across the UK.”
Each board member has a deep knowledge of the global renewable, infrastructure and engineering industries, and will support the business’s transformation and long term growth strategy.
Leading the partnership with Lazard Asset Management, Robert Wall brings more than 20 years of experience growing private market investment portfolios, investing in infrastructure and renewable companies, and delivering major engineering projects.
He said: “By combining all of our expertise we can strengthen our client portfolio by helping businesses optimise their energy costs through our renewable energy generation.”
John Creswell adds 30 years of experience as a CEO and senior executive to the Shawton Energy board, after leading several companies in telecom infrastructure, media, and transport. John currently chairs boards of several infrastructure companies and provides board level support and engagement with portfolio investments.
He said: “Our fund’s investment in Shawton Energy is driven by our belief in the power of the company’s position in the energy sector and we are excited by the opportunity to chart a sustainable path forward.”
