People: Your Housing Group; Manchester Law Society; Fieldfisher; Peel Ports; Delkia Aerospace; Hydrogen Safe; Apprentify

Your Housing Group (YHG) has promoted its Head of Risk & Assurance, Shabana Hameed, to a new role of Director of Risk, Assurance and Improvement.

Clare Oakley, executive director of Corporate Services from Warrington-based Your Housing Group, said: “We are delighted to see Shabana appointed in this role. This new position as part of our senior leadership team will give greater assurance regarding performance, ensuring that the wider organisation understand issues that are impacting on performance and that actions are in place to drive improvement, all of which will be linked to our wider assurance and risk framework.”

Shabana joined YHG in January 2018, as Risk & Assurance Manager before she was promoted to Head of Risk & Assurance in 2021.

Shabana said: “I am really thrilled to be moving into my new role and excited to get started. We have a great risk and assurance culture here at YHG – not just due to the activities delivered by my teams but wider across the business and over the next 12 months I will be building on all that great work as we increase our strategic focus.”

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David Anderson

David Anderson, Chief Operating Officer and Company Secretary of St John’s Buildings, has been appointed President of Manchester Law Society in a ceremony that took place at the Society’s Annual General Meeting.

David is the first President who is not also a practising solicitor, made possible by changes to the Society’s Articles in 2022.

He said “I hope to encourage a year of collaboration and engagement between the region’s lawyers, ensuring the city builds on its reputation as the second legal city of the United Kingdom.”

During his year as President the Society plans to launch a new website and app as well as announcing the first recipients of support through its ‘Future Stars’ programme, which encourages social mobility and new entrants into the legal profession.

David said: “2024 is set to be an important year for Manchester Law Society and one in which it enhances its position at the centre of the legal profession in the city. Having a role in this ongoing transformation and improvement is very exciting and sure to be rewarding. I am grateful to the work undertaken by Nick Johnson, the outgoing President, my fellow council members and the exceptional Fran Eccles-Bech and Carla Jones, who really are the heart of the Society.”

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Chris Keane

European law firm Fieldfisher has appointed Chris Keane as an insolvency litigation partner in its Manchester office, fortifying the firm’s national practice and position in the North of England market. Chris joins from Clarke Willmott and starts on January 2, 2024.

With a wealth of experience in contentious personal and corporate insolvency, Chris is a seasoned advisor to banks, financiers, insolvency practitioners, directors, and stakeholders. His skillset and network in the North of England region will give Fieldfisher a highly desirable edge in the industry.

Chris will also be joined by solicitor, Keir Merrick.

Chris’s addition will boost Fieldfisher’s current restructuring and insolvency offering which consists of partners Stewart Perry, Kit Jarvis, Robin Spender and Carly Schiff in London and Michelle Shean in Manchester.

Manchester serves as a pivotal strategic location for the firm, exemplified by the recent appointments of real estate transactional expert Claire Hamilton, construction specialist Jahanara Hussein and Beth Thompson, a health & safety and regulatory lawyer.

Restructuring & Insolvency Partner at Fieldfisher and chair of the R3 General Technical Committee, Stewart Perry, said: “Chris joins the firm at a time where the rise in the levels of insolvency is reminiscent of the global financial crisis. With the market expecting an increased need for people with his skill set, his reputation, wealth of knowledge and calm yet strategic approach to litigation will be valued by clients.”

Head of Dispute Resolution Manchester, James Lappin, added: “Manchester and the wider North West region are a key strategic hub for disputes work. Chris’s appointment reflects our commitment to expanding our capabilities in Manchester and we’re pleased to be able to provide this offering to clients.”

Chris Keane said: “This is a really exciting opportunity to further develop my practice and work with leading experts in insolvency and other sectors.”

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Jerome Widsmith

The former head of supply chain for national retailer B&M has joined Peel Ports Group to further strengthen its relationships with importers.

Jerome Wildsmith has more than 30 years of logistics experience working with cargo owners, including time with retailers Matalan, Mamas & Papas and Regatta. Based within the Port of Liverpool’s container division, his new role will be to drive container volumes and leverage the port’s proximity to major distribution centres north of Birmingham.

Jerome started his role in September and brings with him extensive knowledge of port-centric solutions and container management within retail, as well as strong relationships with shipping industry leaders.

David Huck, Chief Operating Officer at Peel Ports Group, said: “Jerome’s huge success at improving supply chain efficiency from the retail side is expertise that we can now offer our customers and will go a long way towards streamlining supply chain processes.”

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Aneesa Jan

Preston-based Delkia Aerospace and Delkia Maritime, both part of Delkia, a specialist systems integrator operating throughout the UK and internationally for mission critical and highly regulated sectors, has taken on three new team members: Aneesa Jan, Dale Hollinshead and Kevin Hawes.

Two of these new hires – Aneesa Jan and Dale Hollinshead – are Avionics engineers to serve Delkia Aerospace’s arm.

Aneesa studied Aerospace Engineering at the University of Salford and completed her Masters degree at the University of Glasgow, which included a placement at Airbus Defence and Space. After she graduated, Aneesa joined Frazer-Nash Consultancy Technology Management department where she provided systems engineering support to clients within the defence, transport, and energy sectors.

Dale Hollinshead

Anessa said: “I applied for Delkia, as I wanted to grow as a systems engineer while gaining valuable experience in the aerospace industry.  Since becoming a part of the team, I’ve been inspired by the remarkable talent of my colleagues. My goal is to learn from them and elevate my skills, ultimately excelling in my role as a professional engineer.”

Dale Hollinshead’s background is in systems engineering in aerospace, maritime, nuclear and rail industries. He said: “I wanted to work at Delkia as it was recommended by some long-standing colleagues. Now that Delkia is launching into the Aerospace Domain as well as Maritime, I felt it was the right time to submit an application to join. I am very happy that I am now part of the team.”

Kevin Hawes

Kevin Hawes joins as Maritime Business Development Manager having spent the first part of his career in the Royal Navy submarine operations department. Later on he became a business development manager in logistics and supply chain decision support tools, primarily in the global oil & gas sectors.

He said: “I chose to work at Delkia because the company has the same values I have built my career on, which are innovation, teamwork, being customer focused, delivering the required customer results, profitability of our efforts and respect in the marketplace.”

CEO, Kurt Canfield, said: “Delkia is going from strength to strength and as our business grows, this creates more vacancies for talented individuals to work on a wide range of exciting projects in clean energy, aerospace and defence.”

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Brandon Lo

Hydrogen Safe, the Manchester-based specialist training organisation educating people to work safely with hydrogen, has appointed Hannah Pittick as a Specialist Training Instructor and Brandon Lo as Executive Assistant as the business continues to expand.

Previously working as a Construction Trainer and Assessor, Hannah has always had a passion for the green energy sector and can bring this, along with the wealth of relevant experience she has to the role.

Hannah said: “Having the chance to put my passion for green energy into practice, and to teach people how to work confidently and safely with hydrogen, is just the challenge I was looking for.”

Hannah Pittick

With a degree in Neuroscience and previous experience as a support worker in a residential care home for adults with autism and learning disabilities, Brandon is most looking forward to being a part of a business with big ambitions. He said: “I’m really looking forward to bringing my enthusiasm to this role and to being a part of a business that is expanding so quickly. Knowing that my contribution will support the growth of the business, it gives me a focus and shared ambitions to work towards.”

Founder, Andy Lord, said: “Their input and experience is exactly what we need as we continue to support the growth of the business. What was really important to us was that we found people that would fit the culture at Hydrogen Safe. While we know we need people with ambition, commitment and enthusiasm, we also want people that could have fun, too.

“We look forward to supporting their career progression as we take the next step in what has become a very exciting journey for us all.”

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Paul Freeman

North West-based national apprenticeship provider, Apprentify Group, has expanded its presence in the tech, software and data space after bringing onboard Paul Freeman, former Managing Director from Global Knowledge Apprenticeships (GKA), as Commercial Director.

Apprentify Group CRO, Sam Field, said: “It’s great to bring Paul into our group. Our focus on quality and compliance, together with an ever-growing roster of skilled trainers, puts us in a strong position as we enter our fifth year of operations.

“Paul will only strengthen our ability to compete and become the natural partner of choice in this sector, and we are pleased to offer the market a safe and robust environment for new and continuous learning.”

He added: “The apprenticeship model is fulfilling a vital role in mitigating the current UK productivity crisis, caused in part by the lack of talent in key areas such as software data analytics and AI. Together with government, we can accelerate the development of a skilled workforce at minimal cost to the employer.”