People: Ward Hadaway; Fanatics; JMW; Alexander and Co; Freeths; Woodbank; Holiday Inn Blackpool
Seven new law professionals, including four partners have joined Ward Hadaway, which has seen the headcount at its Manchester office grow by a third in the past year.
The experienced partners include Margaret Evans in the corporate team and Nick Wells who joins the commercial litigation and dispute resolution department. Grahame Love becomes a partner in the insolvency division, whilst Sarah Ellam will lead Ward Hadaway’s private residential conveyancing services.
Ward Hadaway’s Manchester office now boasts 70 people, up from just over 50 the previous year.
Additionally, the team welcomes Phil Parker, a director in the real estate litigation team, a new paralegal, Lucy Evans, who joins the corporate team and Laura Hartley-Williams, an insolvency associate.
Liz Bottrill, executive partner in Ward Hadaway’s Manchester office, said: “Our North West team has experienced remarkable growth, and these appointments are a testament to our firm’s robust strategy and vision for the future. With a growing team that combines deep regional knowledge and broad legal expertise, Ward Hadaway is well positioned to navigate the evolving legal landscape and to support the diverse needs of our clients. We’re excited about the specialist skills and fresh perspectives our new team members bring, further cementing Ward Hadaway’s position as a leading law firm in Northern England.”
Ward Hadaway, which has offices in Leeds, Newcastle and Manchester and employs approximately 480 people, recently announced revenue of over £45m for the 2022-2023 financial year. It marks the firm’s eighth consecutive year of growth.
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Stephen Dowling
Fanatics Commerce, the designer, manufacturer, and seller of fan gear and part of Fanatics, a global digital sports platform, has appointed Stephen Dowling to the newly created role of President of International.
He will be based out of Fanatics’ Manchester, UK office, joins from Adidas, where he spent six years leading and growing its direct-to-consumer digital business. Prior to this, Stephen spent ten years at Unilever, where he set up and led its direct-to-consumer eCommerce offering.
He will be responsible for continuing the growth of the Fanatics Commerce business outside of North America and will report into Fanatics Commerce CEO, Andrew Low Ah Kee.
Fanatics Commerce also announced two further appointments to strengthen its Senior Leadership Team. Valerie Love has joined from The Coca-Cola Company and will become Fanatics Commerce Chief People Officer, where she will be responsible for all strategic human resources initiatives for the business. Justin Tsai has joined the company from Silver Lake in the newly created role of Chief Product Officer and will lead Fanatics Commerce’s overall approach to consumer product management. Both Valerie and Justin will report into Fanatics Commerce CEO, Andrew Low Ah Kee.
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Left to right David Easdown, Neil Armstrong and John Burns of JMW
Law firm JMW has made a hat trick of heavyweight hires designed to expand the firm’s legal offering.
John Burns joins as partner and Head of Brands in the Commercial team: he brings with him significant experience in non-contentious Intellectual Property matters and is widely regarded as one of the UK’s leading legal experts in the brand licensing industry. He also works extensively in the sports world, including advising on high value sponsorship, and naming rights agreements, as well as acting for a wide range of franchisors and franchisees in relation to non-contentious matters.
David Easdown, partner in the Corporate team, has worked with many of the region’s best-known businesses. He has particular focus on high growth, often technology-focused businesses and the funders of them. His client base is wide, and includes development capital funders, family offices, owner-managed businesses and David has expertise in advising management teams receiving private equity investment ahead of executing buy-and-build strategies.
Neil Armstrong comes to the firm as partner and Head of Construction. With a background in Mechanical Engineering he brings unparalleled insight and expertise to JMW’s construction practice, his advisory scope spanning transactional and procurement arrangements, and engineering and development projects within the construction industry.
Marc Yaffe, managing partner, said of the three new hires: “I am extremely pleased to welcome John, David and Neil. They bring with them the rare combination of expertise and human perspective that is the key to the success of JMW. I know they will make a significant contribution to our programme of strategic growth as well as further developing our reputation as one the UK’s leading full-service law firms.”
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Michael Rigby
Alexander & Co has recruited Michael Rigby to the firm’s Audit and Accounts division as Partner, having previously held the position of Partner in an independent regional practice for over six years.
Michael has over 20 years’ experience in the profession providing audit and accounting services to clients as well as working closely with entrepreneurial businesses, providing advisory services, understanding their strategic aims and ambitions, to help them achieve their goals.
Stephen Verber, Partner at Alexander & Co commented: “It is great to welcome Michael as Partner to Alexander & Co. His appointment further strengthens our offering to clients and reaffirms our commitment to add real value to our client services.”
Michael Rigby said: “It is an exciting time for the firm as it continues to achieve substantial year on year organic growth. As Partner, I will be building on the firm’s excellent levels of client service and I aim to make a real difference to the entrepreneurial businesses we work with.”
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Natalie Dickson
Law firm Freeths has recruited two lawyers to set up a new family law specialist team in Liverpool. Partner Natalie Dickson and Senior Associate Antonia Williamson have joined from Brabners.
The team brings a combined 20 years’ experience specialising in divorce, financial settlements on divorce, child arrangements, relocation, wealth protection agreements (including pre-nuptial and cohabitation agreements), as well as disputes arising from cohabiting relationships and financial provision for children.
Natalie has a particular focus on cases with high-net-worth individuals such as sports and media personalities, owners of landed estates with inherited and dynastic wealth, business owners, trusts, directors, lottery winners and members of the judiciary.
The newly established team will bolster Freeths’ well-established national family offering and help continue to grow the practice regionally.
Andy Nichol, Managing Partner of Freeths Liverpool, said: “I’m hugely proud of our team here in Liverpool and Natalie and Antonia are the perfect addition
Antonia Williamson
to our Freeths offering here in the City. I look forward to seeing our new service line flourish.”
Mark Keely, Partner and Joint Head of Private Client Services at Freeths, continued:“Our national family team are renowned for the outstanding work it undertakes for clients across the UK and this strategic hiring will only strengthen our services with further, comprehensive capabilities.”
Natalie Dickson said: “Freeths is such a prestigious and well-respected firm celebrating continued record year-on-year growth and I’m excited to be part of its future. Being Liverpool born and bred, it’s great to have the chance to establish this family law offering across the North West and continue the incredible growth of the office.”
Antonia Williamson added: “Freeths is an esteemed national firm which is known for its impressive client base and innovative culture. The Liverpool office has a well-established and thriving Real Estate team, in addition to a growing Environmental practice. It is really exciting to be part of the firm’s expanding family law offering. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to be part of Freeths’ development in this wonderful city.”
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Carl Tomlinson
Woodbank, office print and document technology company has appointed former Sales Director, Business by Technology (BBT) Carl Tomlinson, who’s come back into the industry to head up their Sales and Account Management operation.
Working closely with Managing Director, Janet Bowden and Operations Director, Jason Morris, Carl will be responsible for overseeing the sales strategy, account management and continued growth of the business across the UK.
Janet Bowden said: “Carl’s 39 years of experience and reputation is well known throughout our industry. He knows our technology partners well and the benefit both our Account Management team and our customers will get from his guidance and vast experience will be huge. It’s exciting times.”
Woodbank acquired Datatech Systems and added Sharp to their partner portfolio in 2022, the business also brought their marketing and communications in-house to support the Customer
Service team and planned growth within Sales and Account Management.
Carl Tomlinson said. “I like Janet and have a great amount of respect for her success in the business she has built. Woodbank and the people have. The moment you step into Woodbank’s offices, you get a great culture, so coming back into this industry to work for Janet was an easy decision. I knew what needed to be done and more importantly I wanted to do it.”
James Evans has also joined Woodbank as Corporate Account Manager for the Cheshire, Wirral and North Wales region.
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Paul Powell – Holiday Inn
RBH Hospitality Management has appointed Paul Powell as its Operations Manager ahead of the opening of its Holiday Inn hotel in Blackpool this Spring.
Responsible for the operational management of the 144-bedroom hotel – which includes a Marco’s New York Italian restaurant – he will support General Manager, Mark Winter, to ensure the successful launch and running of the exciting new destination this year.
Theta are currently recruiting for 70 positions at the new build hotel, with visits to local job platform centres to spread awareness amongst potential applicants from the area.
Paul Powell, said: “I was born here in Blackpool and it’s where my passion for hospitality began, so this new role couldn’t be a better fit. Having spent over 20 years in the industry, I’m looking forward to bringing my expertise to ensure the success of the Holiday Inn Blackpool with the support of our growing team.”
Mark Winter, General Manager of the Holiday Inn Blackpool, said: “Paul’s natural flair and passion for the industry makes him the perfect addition to our growing Holiday Inn Blackpool team and his keen eye for detail as well as his strive for excellence will ensure our hotel is running at its absolute optimum.
“Paul’s already been intrinsic in the rollout of our ‘Be More You’ campaign, which aims to attract local talented people who can express their personality within their role. The response so far has been amazing, and we can’t wait to announce more new team members soon, so stay tuned.”
The Holiday Inn Blackpool is council owned and is part of the town’s wider regeneration project, Talbot Gateway. The development is conveniently placed off the side of the train station, offering a central hub for both business and leisure guests arriving in Blackpool.
