People: Butcher & Barlow; Trustwell; IHLS; Altius Group; McBains; Claritas Tax

North West law firm Butcher & Barlow has appointed Alex Williams to Resolution’s Specialist Family Law Accreditation Scheme.

Resolution is an organisation dedicated to promoting constructive and non-confrontational approaches to family law matters. Its specialist Family Law Accreditation Scheme recognises legal professionals who demonstrate exceptional expertise and commitment to resolving family disputes in a sensitive and constructive manner, through a series of assessments and assignments.

Head of the Family Law Team, Kevan Hankinson, said: “As a firm, we are committed to supporting our team in ensuring they develop and expand their skills and expertise to ensure that all our clients get the very best possible service. Resolution members are lawyers committed to the highest ethical and professional standards, and so we are proud to see all Alex’s hard work and dedication recognised by them with this Accreditation.”

In addition to her role as Associate at Butcher & Barlow, Alex is the Deputy Chair for the Cheshire and North West Resolution committee. She said: “I am thrilled that I am now recognised as an Accredited Family Law Specialist with Resolution. This appointment evidences not only my ongoing commitment to taking a collaborative approach with other practitioners and finding amicable solutions for my clients, but also my expertise and knowledge of family law.”

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Katy Jones

Trustwell, the SaaS company specialising in food safety, supply chain management, and product development has announced the transition of Katy Jones, previous Chief Customer Officer, to the role of CEO of the organisation, owned by global private investment firm, The Riverside Company.

Alongside the news of Katy’s appointment the firm, which bases its UK arm in Manchester, is announcing an international expansion drive into Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

The Trustwell board of directors appointed Jones to the CEO position, citing her long history with the organisation, starting with her role as Chief Marketing Officer of FoodLogiQ, and steadily progressing to COO and eventually CEO.

Katy Jones said: “It is a great honour to serve the incredibly talented and knowledgeable team at Trustwell as their new CEO while we continue to lead the industry in software, services, and consulting across labeling and formulation, compliance and quality, and transparency and recall. I look forward to many more years of success as we focus on digitising the supply chain, improving food safety, and offering unmatched tech-enabled solutions.”

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Neil Smith

In-House Legal Solutions (IHLS), a Liverpool-based alternative legal services provider headed up by husband-and-wife team Brian Noon and Lauren Cannon, is accelerating the expansion of their offering with experienced Associate Solicitor, Neil Smith.

Neil is an accomplished legal professional with more than 15 years post-qualification experience and is the newest member of the IHLS team. Prior to commencing his role at IHLS, Neil was a Senior Solicitor at EY Riverview Law, where he specialised in providing legal advisory and legal managed services for a multinational financial institution and global consumer goods company.

At IHLS, Neil will be playing a key role in supporting various clients with commercial contract reviews, general in-house legal risk management and will also initially be acting as temporary remote General Counsel for a client.

Brian Noon said: “Neil joining the IHLS team is a great opportunity for both of us, given that he has perfect experience providing in-house legal support to businesses under an outsourced model. Neil has a clear dedication to delivering innovative and pragmatic solutions that make a significant impact on clients’ businesses, and will bolster our growing External Legal Team Solution for the benefit of our existing and new clients coming on board for this solution.”

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Martin Sloan

A group of boutique business brokers, Altius Group, has appointed Martin Sloan as its new head of healthcare. Martin and his team form part of Redwoods Dowling Kerr (RDK), Altius Group’s specialist healthcare and childcare & education brand.

Martin joins from one of the UK’s leading mortgage brokers, Professional Mortgage Services, where he worked as the head of equity release. His experience spans more than 15 years working in equity release and includes positions as a regional and a team manager with several businesses, including Key and Age Partnership.

Martin, who joins RDK as sales director, leads a team of specialist business brokers in healthcare and domiciliary care including Asif Musa, recently promoted to deputy manager, and James Doyle who recently moved into the team from a central operations role, and new arrival Brett Capstick.

The start of the year also saw the addition of Beki French who joins Preston-based Altius Group as team leader for the Kings Business and Bruce & Co brands.

Martin said: “RDK Healthcare is a well established, trusted brand in the UK, with plans for further growth. We have a team of experienced, talented people who understand the sector.”

Martin will be working closely with Altius Group Operations Director, Paul Sweeney, who said: “It’s great to welcome Martin to the business. RDK Healthcare is one of our most successful and prolific brands. With his extensive management experience and his drive to succeed, I’m excited to see where Martin will take our healthcare business in the future.”

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Giles Singleton

Property and construction consultancy, McBains, has appointed Giles Singleton as Director of Project Management in its Manchester team.

Giles joins from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) where he was the Senior Programme Sponsor responsible for the design, procurement and delivery of the £1.4bn Science Hubs, that were part of the £2.8bn programme of work to upgrade and redevelop the science and diagnostic facilities at an APHA campus for research into animal diseases and biosecurity.

Before joining DEFRA, Giles was at Boulting Environmental Services delivering full turnkey projects for major pharmaceutical companies including Indivior, Astra Zeneca, GSK, Teva and Ipsen.

McBains Managing Director, Clive Docwra, said: “Giles brings extensive skills and experience which will further strengthen our offering in the North West.”

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Matthew Hodgson, left, and Al Milne

Claritas Tax has strengthened its tax offering with the appointment of Associate Partner Al Milne as Head of Equity Reward for the firm, based in its Manchester office.

Al is a Chartered Tax Adviser and member of the Association of Taxation Technicians, with 16 years’ experience specialising in the tax aspects of management incentivisation and share schemes.

He joins Claritas from a Big Four firm and said: “I chose Claritas because as soon as I met the team, I could tell it would be a great place to work. On top of that, the performance Claritas has shown to date and the plans they have for the future meant the opportunity was one I couldn’t say no to.”

Matthew Hodgson, Partner and Head of Manchester Office, said: “We are very excited to have Al joining us, particularly with his particular deep specialism of equity reward which is in constant demand across our client base. Al will enhance our credibility as a full service tax offering to the mid-market and is a fantastic cultural fit in the team, which we place a great deal of emphasis on when recruiting. I have no doubt he will be a great success and have a very fulfilling career with Claritas.”