People: Northern Gritstone; Travel Counsellors; Agent; CSM Ingredients; Viva; Harrison Drury
Northern Gritstone, the investment business focused on science and technology-enabled businesses in the North of England, has appointed Joanne Hosker as Talent Director for NG Innovation Services, the business support services arm of Northern Gritstone.
Joanne joins from BGF’s Talent Network Team where she supported the creation of effective boards introducing BGF portfolio businesses to a network of non-executive board directors and chairs.
Her remit with NG Innovation Services includes connecting early stage businesses with sector-specific entrepreneurs, operating partners and c-suite expertise, to support these companies on the path to success. She will be based at Northern Gritstone’s office in Manchester.
Launched in July 2021 and chaired by Lord Jim O’Neill, Northern Gritstone invests in and supports early stage businesses. Its mission is ‘profit with purpose’, combining strong returns for investors with wider positive, societal and economic impact.
Duncan Johnson, CEO of Northern Gritstone welcomed Joanne, saying: “Her experience in building teams that drive growth and her ability to navigate networks and connect talented people will be invaluable to NG Innovation Services and the companies it supports.”
Joanne Hosker said: “Building effective senior teams with the right mix of scaling experience and know-how, sector-specific expertise and leadership capability, is vital to the success of fast growing, early stage companies. I am excited to be contributing to NG Innovation Services on its mission to build tomorrow’s world class companies in the North.”
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Dave Gash
Travel Counsellors, the Manchester-based fast-growing technology platform for travel entrepreneurs, has appointed Dave Gash to the new position of Knowledge Manager.
Dave brings a wealth of experience from roles in higher education and telecoms, with a focus on developing digital learning platforms and knowledge management in the years previous to joining the company.
He said: “I’m eager to support Travel Counsellors corporate and leisure travel business owners to grow their businesses through access to a global knowledge platform that features emerging technologies such as AI, where it has a natural fit, and retain the personal, human touch. After all, the wealth of knowledge housed within the TC community is built on real-life travel experiences and learned business success.”
Claire Hill, Customer Operations Director, said: “As we remain focussed on making the experiences of both our Travel Counsellor business owners, and their customers, the very best they can be, we are utilising Dave’s expertise to boost the performance of our knowledge bank, all while scaling with intimacy.
“This ensures it supports individual business growth, provides the most relevant answers quickly and efficiently, and further facilitates the opportunity to ‘Ask the community’, tapping into a global network of travel entrepreneurs who are eager to support each other to create highly personalised travel experiences for their customers.”
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Jeanette Gill
Agent, the Liverpool and Manchester-based communications agency, has promoted Jeanette Gill to the role of managing director.
Formerly operations director, Jeanette has played a pivotal role in the company’s year-on-year growth over the past 11 years.
Jeanette will work alongside Agent’s CEO and founder, Paul Corcoran, to co-develop and roll-out the firm’s new business plan, while solidifying its position as a leading integrated agency in the north.
As Agent approaches its 18th anniversary, Jeanette’s core focus will be ensuring the agency continues to attract and retain the best talent, while reflecting the needs of clients and sectors that align with its ‘good growth’ ethos.
The promotion comes at a crucial time, as Jeanette spearheads the organisation’s journey towards B Corp certification. Jeanette will continue to serve as a director of Agent’s social enterprise, Agent Academy.
She said: “Having the opportunity to help shape the future of Agent is something I feel so privileged to be able to do. We are dedicated to fostering an environment where our team can bring their best selves to work every day, creating not just a workplace – but a community driven by energy, commitment, culture, and ambition.”
Paul Corcoran said: “For every growing business, it is essential to have trusted, respected, and forward looking leaders who embody the core values of the organisation. Good business and sustained success really comes down to having great people on your team – Jeanette epitomises that for us.
“I have full confidence in her ability to take us to new heights, leading us through this exciting new growth chapter whilst putting her uniqiue stamp on what we do, and how we do it.”
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James Dedman
CSM Ingredients, based on the Wirral and with a production site in Manchester, has appointed James Dedman as the General Manager for the UK & Ireland business.
James is responsible for all aspects of CSM UK & Ireland and will be working alongside CSM Ingredients European team. He joins from Fazer, the largest Finnish food and beverage company, operating across Northern Europe where he was Vice-President of the Foodtech business.
James brings with him a wealth of experience and insights from across the food industry having held positions including Sales Director South and West Europe at Dupont Nutrition and Health and Head of Sales, France & Benelux and Managing Director at Doehler Group France and Benelux. James also spent three years in Asia working for Danisco, heading up the technical development for the region.
Welcoming James to the role, Christian Schwab, CSM Ingredients Group CCO Italy, France, Iberia, UK & Ireland and MEA, said: “James brings with him a wealth of experience from working across Europe and the UK, leading both commercial and business teams in some of Europe’s largest food ingredients companies and he will be working with the team to drive sustainable growth across the UK and Ireland as well as leading the teams through transformational projects.”
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From left: Lisa Woodhouse, Tony Garner, Lucie Rohani
Lisa Woodhouse and Lucie Rohani have been appointed Directors at Lancashire public relations agency, Viva.
Their promotion to the board means they will support managing director Tony Garner in delivering the company’s long term growth strategy.
Lisa will focus on operations ensuring and finding ways of consistently delivering better results for clients. Lucie’s prime focus will be on business development where she is growing Viva’s offer for B2B-focused firms.
Lisa joined Viva in 2016 following a decade in newspaper journalism. Since joining the Rawtenstall-based agency, Lisa has helped build the public sector team and specialises in local authority communications strategy.
She said: “I’m fortunate to have seen the growth story of Viva and the emphasis on delivering impactful results for clients. I’m looking forward to playing a key role in helping to shape Viva in the future, supporting the business growth objectives and continuing to support our team and clients.”
Lucie said: “Joining the board is particularly significant for me as Viva gave me my first PR job as a graduate intern. I’m delighted to be working alongside Tony and Lisa to continue Viva’s successful growth journey, supporting our incredible clients and nurturing the next generation of PR talent in Lancashire.”
Tony said: “These are incredibly exciting times for Viva. We have established firm foundations as one of the region’s fastest growing agencies and Lisa and Lucie have the talent, energy and focus to help us build on this. It’s great to be able to welcome them as Directors.”
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From left: Mark Traynor, Emma Butterworth, Richard Williams-Bulkeley, Rick Life
North West law firm Harrison Drury has made two further appointments as it continues to grow its team in Manchester.
The firm has recruited senior employment law specialist Emma Butterworth as a partner while corporate solicitor, Richard Williams-Bulkeley, joins the firm’s corporate team.
Emma, who joins from Gateley, will help to establish and grow the firm’s employment team in Manchester. She will also support clients on all employment law matters and has particular expertise in advising on large restructures, senior management exits and dealing with complex employment litigation involving discrimination and whistleblowing.
She said: “Harrison Drury is a firm already well known for its employment law offering across Lancashire and Cumbria. This as a great opportunity for me to help the firm grow a specialist employment and HR team in Manchester, supporting clients across the region and beyond.”
Richard, who joins from Butcher and Barlow, will support clients on mergers and acquisitions, private equity and venture capital transactions, as well as other areas of corporate law.
He said: “The opportunity to work with such a renowned corporate team, especially in establishing the firm in a new location, was a compelling one. I’m looking forward to supporting our clients and professional intermediaries in the region to help make deals happen.”
Rick Life, partner and head of Harrison Drury’s Manchester office, said: “It’s exciting to see our team in Manchester growing quickly and the positive response we have had from our clients and the professional market.
“Emma’s appointment enables us to add an experienced employment lawyer to our offering in Manchester. Meanwhile Richard brings further experience and capacity to our corporate team to support our transactional work.”
