People: CG Professional; Salford City Council; Ascend Properties; Saturn Visual Solutions; Proof ID; River Capital
North West firm CG Professional has announced further senior appointments as it expands and opens another office in city centre Manchester.
Peter Williams is joining CG as a partner and Head of the Real Estate team, and Clare Naylor joins as a managing associate in the Real Estate team. Both have made the move from DAC Beachcroft where Peter was a partner for 16 years.
The appointments have been made to extend CG’s service offering to clients and to assist with an increased growth in demand as it opens its new city centre offices in the XYZ Building in Spinningfields.
Peter Williams
Peter’s specialism is property finance and investment, but he is experienced in all aspects of commercial real estate, including advising developers, property companies and corporate occupiers in relation to sales, acquisitions and asset management.
He said: “I’m incredibly excited to be taking on this new role. CG’s ethos and culture is like no other I know of within the industry and it’s so refreshing to see things being done in this way, where clients’ needs are placed front and centre. The old school hourly rate way of working has been thrown out of the window and we actually work in a way that totally benefits the clients. It frees us up as lawyers to focus on service and truly act as trusted partners to our clients.”
Managing partner, Benjamin Dredge, said: “Peter and Clare are a great fit for CG and having worked together for a number of years and have a strong reputation in the sector. We’ve seen demand for our services grow significantly over the last few years and we’ve recruited talent to keep up with this growth, which is also why we’ve opened a new office in Manchester and opened an office in Liverpool last year.”
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Miranda Cannon
Salford City Council has announced the appointment of Miranda Cannon to the post of Executive Director for Resources and Transformation.
Miranda is currently the Director of Delivery, Communications and Political Governance for Leicester City Council.
City Mayor Paul Dennett said: “I am looking forward to welcoming Miranda to Salford. She brings a breadth of leadership experience gained from working in both the public and private sectors.
“She also has experience working in a mayoral-led council within a diverse city context.”
Miranda said: “I am really pleased to be joining Salford City Council’s leadership team to work on delivering Salford’s priorities and driving forward a programme of transformation. The council is rightly ambitious plans for the city and its residents and is achieving great things through a dynamic, creative, and community focused approach, all of which really attracted me to the role.
“I will bring experience of leading a wide range of services and change. It will be a great privilege to be able to continue to support Salford City Council in working to deliver the best for local people, and in identifying and delivering further opportunities to work better, smarter and more innovatively for the city.”
In her new role at Salford, Miranda will be responsible for a remit which includes service transformation and legal, HR, finance and digital and data.
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Paul Borrman
Ascend Properties, the Manchester-based lettings and property manager of institutional single-family build-to-rent (SFR) homes, has appointed Paul Borrmann as its new managing director to spearhead its further growth.
Paul was previously Managing Director of Dandara Living, the BTR arm of Dandara Group, during which time he oversaw the development of an operational platform that designed, launched and stabilised a c.3,000 home multifamily portfolio while also working on a 5,000 home pipeline.
He has worked in the residential property sector for 16 years, specialising in institutional PRS and BTR since 2014. Prior to joining Dandara Living, Paul launched the Northern PRS and BTR operation for Grainger in his position as head of Northern Lettings.
Paul Stockwell, Group Managing Director of Gatehouse Build to Rent Group, said: “Paul’s experience of all aspects of build-to-rent makes him the ideal person to lead Ascend as it seeks to capitalise on the opportunities presented by SFR and its unique position as the manager of choice for the sector’s leading platforms. Ascend plays a pivotal role in Gatehouse’s full service investment management offer, and we look forward to the continued growth and success of the firm under Paul’s stewardship.”
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Paul Murphy
Digital signage consultancy, Saturn Visual Solutions, has made three new appointments in three different departments.
The MediaCity-based company, which works with clients like Mars, ODEON, and AO, has hired Katherine Robinson, a motion graphics designer who previously worked for the Scottish Government, to join its digital signage content services team.
Liam Hind has become part of the company’s installation team. He brings significant experience in electrical equipment servicing and sound system installation and engineering, strengthening the team’s technical capabilities.
Luke Hickman has also been appointed as commercial manager to do cost efficiency analysis and strengthen the now three-strong finance team.
Paul Murphy, operations director for Saturn Visual Solutions, said: “I think we’re as busy as we’ve ever been. We’re increasing our breadth of capabilities and strengthening the ones we already have to position the company well for growth. 2024 is going to be an exciting year for us.”
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Tom, Ben and John
Identity and Access Management (IAM) specialist, ProofID has created two new regional CEO roles to steer the organisation in the next phase of its growth.
The strategic move follows the Manchester-based company’s recent acquisition of US-based Regatta Solutions Group (a SailPoint Admiral delivery partner), and FY2023 organic revenue growth in excess of 25%.
The creation of three new standout roles will decentralise top management, while maintaining the global roles of HR, finance, technology, strategy, and marketing to continue to benefit from economies of scale. The new roles are: Tom Eggleston – formerly CEO, will now hold the position of Group CEO; John Iandolo – previously serving as Chief Revenue Officer (CRO), has been promoted to CEO, EMEA; Ben Sportel – former VP of US Operations and Global Professional Services, has been promoted to CEO, Americas.
The Regatta management team will remain unchanged, ensuring continuity and stability in operations.
Tom Eggleston said: “Enabling our teams across the regions to adapt to fast changing market conditions ensures we are providing the best possible solutions for customers across multiple time zones and differing regional requirements.
“Placing ownership of customer relations within the territories and tailoring services to meet their regional needs is core to building stronger customer relationships, tailoring our approach to market opportunities and creating a more scalable business – it’s simply a better fit for future growth.”
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Ben Gregory (Left) and Dave Furlong
Liverpool-based fund manager, River Capital, has appointed Dave Furlong and Ben Gregory to its Private Equity team.
Dave joins as an Investment Director and brings a 20-year track record of investing and lending into the SME, Mid-Market and leveraged finance markets across a wide range of sectors, sizes, and geographies. This includes senior positions within HSBC and Lloyds Banking Group.
Ben joins as an Investment Manager from CorpAcq, a buy-and-build group based in South Manchester. Ben, who initially trained as a Chartered Accountant, first moved into the investing world with a role at Maven where he worked with Dave and held both portfolio management and investment roles across a range of funds.
Both bring extensive North West networks that will create opportunities to connect with businesses seeking equity investment and who are ready to go on a growth journey.
The appointments significantly strengthen the PE arm of the business, and will see Dave and Ben manage the recently launched £10m North West Private Equity Fund, focusing on businesses looking for equity partners to help accelerate their development, explore a management buy out/in or personal de-risking, or who are keen to grow through acquisition.
River Capital CEO, Mark Borzomato, said: “They bring with them a wealth of experience and drive which will be invaluable as we continue to expand our private equity offering. Their appointments are a reflection of the progress the business has made in recent years, and will support delivery of our ambitious growth plans.”
Dave Furlong said: “I believe our team can add a huge amount of value and support in assisting our investee companies in delivering their growth plans.”
Ben Gregory said: “Initial conversations with businesses and advisors across the region reflect this demand and have been incredibly positive with regards the fund and what it is trying to achieve.”
