People: Northern Gritstone; Clarke Willmott; Morecrofts Solicitors; HBV Group; Aaron & Partners; N Brown Group
Northern Gritstone, the investment business focused on science and technology-enabled businesses in the North of England, has appointed Jess McCreadie as Investment Director.
Jess joins from Octopus Ventures where she worked as Principal specialising in Health Tech and B2B SaaS. Prior to Octopus, she was Investment Director at L&G, investing in Health Tech, Clean Tech and Infrastructure scale Clean Energy.
She will be based primarily at Northern Gritstone’s office in Manchester having relocated from London for her new role. Her remit will include Health Tech and Clean Tech, areas in which Northern Gritstone specialises, demonstrated through its investments in Imperagen and C-Capture.
Launched in July 2021, and chaired by Lord Jim O’Neill, Northern Gritstone’s investment philosophy is ‘profit with purpose’, combining strong returns for investors with wider positive, societal and economic impact.
Duncan Johnson, CEO of Northern Gritstone, welcomed Jess to the team, saying: “Her Health Tech and Clean Tech investment experience and understanding of the innovation ecosystem will be invaluable to Northern Gritstone as we continue our investment activities in these exciting areas.”
Jess McCreadie said: “Northern Gritstone has quickly built a reputation as a leading investor and innovation ecosystem pioneer. The past decades in venture capital demonstrate that the most successful and ambitious companies are borne out of highly collaborative local economies, thinking globally. I see the opportunity we have in the North of England to scale a high-performing technology ecosystem, to be incredibly exciting.”
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Rachel Barnes
National law firm, Clarke Willmott, has added a new role to its senior management team with the appointment of a Director of Transformation.
Rachel Barnes joins the firm with a remit to establish a Project Management Office, identify and run transformation initiatives and build change management. Rachel will leverage her experience gained not only from the legal sector, but also in investment banking and early stage start-ups, and joins as part of Clarke Willmott’s developing firm mission.
Clarke Willmott CEO, Peter Swinburn, said: “To fulfill our firm mission, it is the right time for Clarke Willmott to be putting in place the process and governance to underpin the delivery of excellent outcomes for our clients, provide the best possible career experiences for our people and positively impact our communities and the environment around us.
“As such, we are delighted to welcome Rachel Barnes to the team in a brand new role of Director of Transformation. Rachel brings extensive experience in transformation and innovation, both within law firms and corporate and investment banking, and is a true ‘change agent’.
“In this new role, which sits on the Senior Management Team, Rachel will help us structure, develop and operationalise our strategy and support our digitisation journey.”
Rachel Barnes, said: “Aside from being excited to visit the offices and meet the people at Clarke Willmott, I am really looking forward to looking under the bonnet and getting a better understanding of how things work and how I can flex my skills to support the firm’s strategy from a projects and change perspective.”
Clarke Willmott has seven regional offices in Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, London, Manchester, Southampton and Taunton.
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Michael Lamb
Liverpool-based Morecrofts Solicitors has promoted five of its senior team to partner.
Senior associates Carly Philp, Michael Lamb, Eleanor Cockrell, Rhea Munro and Peter Pownall will all become partners in the firm from January 1, 2024.
Eleanor Cockrell and Rhea Munro are members of the firm’s award-winning family law team, which has a higher number of solicitors on the Law Society Children Law accreditation scheme than any law firm in the North West.
Carly Philp leads the firm’s personal injury and clinical negligence team, while Peter Pownall is head of the firm’s residential and commercial property department and Michael Lamb is a senior private client solicitor specialising in wills, trust and probate. Both Eleanor Cockrell and Carly Philp began their careers at Morecrofts as paralegals before becoming trainee solicitors and qualifying within the business.
Morecrofts has created a bespoke management development programme providing a pathway to partnership for its senior team members in the past 12 months. All fee-earning staff are able to choose hybrid working and two of the new partners have developed their careers while working part-time.
Carly Philp
This latest series of promotions takes Morecrofts’ partnership, including members and non-members of the LLP, up to 15, led by managing partner Alison Lobb.
She said: “Our five new partners are all specialists in their chosen fields and each has added so much to the firm and to our clients during their time here. Becoming a partner is the next natural step on their journey and I have no doubt they will continue to grow as both excellent lawyers and leaders of the firm.
“We are proud of the pathways we give to our young lawyers at Morecrofts, so we are understandably delighted to see two former trainees reach partner level. I congratulate all five of our new partners and I am excited to see how they will positively impact our firm in years to come.”
Morecrofts is headquartered in the city centre has five further offices across the city region in Woolton, Crosby, Wirral, Prescot and Allerton, which recently celebrated its 10th anniversary. The five new partners will join as non-member partners of the LLP.
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Daniel Keane
HBV Group, the Knutsford-based supported living developer, has revealed the return of Daniel Keane to the company as Development Director.
With extensive experience in the supported living and Extra Care sector and most recently within the Delivery and Core Investment Teams at Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), Dan will help spearhead development initiatives, primarily focusing on Extra Care and Retirement Living schemes across the UK.
Dan is no stranger to HBV Group, having previously contributed significantly to the company’s success during his initial tenure.
After a period of working with other developers in the Extra Care market and GMCA he returns with a wealth of knowledge and a fresh perspective to play a key role in HBV Group’s development strategy.
Jonathan Wrigley, Group Chief Executive of HBV Group, said: “We are thrilled to welcome Dan back to HBV Group. His in-depth understanding of our sector, coupled with his passion for delivering exceptional projects, aligns with our commitment to creating thriving communities and special places to live in the Extra Care and Retirement Living market.”
Daniel Keane said: “It’s a great privilege to return to HBV Group. I’m excited about the opportunity to contribute to the development of Extra Care and Retirement Living schemes that positively impact the lives of families and communities.”
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Helen Johnson
Helen Johnson has become a Partner as part of Chester-based las firm Aaron &Partners’ commitment to the future growth of the firm, which has offices in Chester, Shrewsbury and Manchester .
The firm has invited Helen to join the partnership after four years heading up its Marketing and Business Development team, becoming the firm’s second non-lawyer Partner.
Helen, who joined the firm in April 2019, said: “It’s certainly not the norm within the legal sector for non-lawyers to become Partners, so I’d like to thank the business for recognising my contribution and encouraging me in my personal development over the past four years.
“Becoming a partner really gives me the mandate to continue the work my team has been delivering, enhancing the reputation of the firm and working with the senior team to develop the direction for the business.
“This move is not only a professional milestone for me, it’s a testament to the firm’s forward thinking approach and commitment to doing things differently.”
Helen’s background brings a wealth of expertise to the role and she has a wide ranging experience of working across multiple sectors and sizes of business from multinationals to SMEs, including holding senior marketing roles in fashion, retail and the travel industry as well as establishing and running her own fashion business – Verity Plum – for a decade.
She added: “I’ve enjoyed becoming an ambassador for the firm over the past four years and look forward to continuing to play my part in our ongoing journey.”
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Clare Empson
N Brown Group, the Manchester-based inclusive fashion and homeware digital retailer, has appointed Clare Empson as the new Director of Supply Chain.
The appointment is in line with existing succession plans for the group’s current Director of Supply Chain, Phil Barnes, who confirmed last year that he will retire in the spring.
Clare will join the N Brown Executive Board, holding responsibility for Operations, Distribution, Workplace, Engineering and Facilities, Health and Safety, Supply Chain MI, Solutions and Logistics Transformation. Clare’s appointment further strengthens N Brown’s team as it continues its group-wide transformation to create a customer-first experience with technology at its core.
Clare has an extensive range of experience across the retail sector over the past 25-years, and in leading global retail operations. She was most recently Director of Operations at Ted Baker, where she also held senior roles within its Retail and Transformation areas during her time there. She will start her new role on January 15, 2024, and will report directly to N Brown’s Group CEO, Steve Johnson.
Steve Johnson said: “Clare joins at an exciting time in our transformation and her expertise will help us further deliver a first-class customer service proposition.”
Clare said: “I’m excited to be joining such an inclusive business with a portfolio of well-loved brands. As the Director of Supply Chain, I’m looking forward to playing a part in ensuring that N Brown’s customers receive an outstanding end-to-end shopping experience.”
