People: Manchester Metropolitan University; Together; BGEN; PwC; Glaisyers ETL; Strategic Land Group; DLA Piper
Manchester Metropolitan University has appointed Bridget Lea as Pro-Chancellor and Chair of its Board of Governors.
Lea is a Manchester Met alumna, a proud Mancunian, and an active supporter of the university and has been a member of the Board of Governors since August 2022. She will take over from current Pro-Chancellor and Chair, Simon Duffy, on January 1, 2025.
An accomplished business leader with more than 25 years of experience, Lea is currently the Vice-President and General Manager, UK for Snap Inc, a technology company with three core products, the visual messaging app Snapchat, AR platform Lens Studio and its AR glasses, Spectacles.
Prof Malcolm Press, Vice-Chancellor of Manchester Met, said: “Bridget has been a supporter of our university for many years and her business insight has been invaluable. In addition, her career journey is an inspiration for all of us. I look forward to working with her to deliver our ambitious plans for the future.”
Bridget Lea said: “As both a Mancunian and an alumna, it is a great privilege to be appointed as the next Pro-Chancellor of Manchester Metropolitan University and Chair of its Board of Governors.
“Since first joining the board, I have been greatly impressed by the leadership, staff and students of the university. I am proud that Manchester Met is not only one of the most applied to universities in the UK, but that it is also one of the most diverse and inclusive.
“A third of our full time home undergraduate students identify as Black, Asian or minority ethnic and almost half of our undergraduate students are the first in their family to progress to higher education. As someone who was also the first from my family to go to university, I recognise the value of an education and the opportunities it can bring. Studying at Manchester Met was a transformational experience for me, as I know it is for many of our students.
“I am immensely grateful to Simon for his guidance and encouragement, and I greatly look forward to working with Malcolm, his team and my fellow board members in the months and years to come. Manchester Met is an exceptional university with a very bright future ahead.”
Lea was previously Managing Director of the Commercial Division at BT EE, responsible for commercial trading and strategy for the three customer-facing consumer brands (BT, EE and PlusNet), with a team of more than 10,000 people. She has worked across a number of high profile organisations.
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Alex Bodie
Cheadle-based property lender, Together, has appointed experienced finance expert Alex Bodie to head up its combined Corporate and Community Housing team.
Alex will lead a team focusing on providing commercial mortgages of up to £10m and bridging finance of up to £15m, by building strong relationships with corporates and SMEs, social housing and healthcare clients.
A former corporate banker with more than 25 years’ experience, Alex joined Together five years ago as a corporate relationship director in the North West.
Over the past two-and-a-half years, he has led the lender’s community housing and healthcare team, providing loans to for-profit housing associations, investors, developers and High Net Worth (HNW) individuals building affordable housing across mainland UK.
As Director of Community Housing and Healthcare, he has worked in partnership with specialist lawyers, debt advisers and property valuers to create a strong proposition for property professionals seeking to provide housing for vulnerable people.
In line with goals set as part of Together’s sustainability strategy, since the creation of the channel in 2022, the lender’s finance has supported the development of almost 1,000 affordable homes for more than 5,000 tenants such as key workers, formerly homeless people, elderly care home residents, disadvantaged children and adults with additional needs.
Now as Director of Corporate and Community Housing, Alex will oversee a team of nine direct reports, who all have vast knowledge and experience of property finance in their regions, with teams covering Scotland, Yorkshire, the North West, the Midlands, London and the South.
He said: “I’m incredibly proud of what our Community Housing and Healthcare team has achieved in terms of providing homes for vulnerable people across the country and this knowledge and experience will be invaluable in my new role overseeing the corporate sector also.
“The expanded remit provides the opportunity to build on the strong fundamentals already in place in promoting our corporate proposition. However, the team will also seek opportunities where Together can continue to support the key sectors of community housing and healthcare, to improve and empower even more communities.”
Alex will report to Marc Goldberg, CEO of Sales and Distribution at Together, in his new role. Marc said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to integrate community housing and healthcare into our corporate sales team and build on the incredible work Alex has been doing for the past few years in the sector.
“The new role will encourage a joined-up approach, with direct links from the new team to valuation, credit and risk teams, allowing us to make quick decisions and provide the fast and flexible finance that we’re known for.”
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Amy Twist
Warrington-based BGEN, one of the UK’s largest engineering firms supporting the energy transition, has appointed Amy Twist in the newly-created role of head of sustainability.
Amy will be responsible for driving BGEN’s goal of achieving net zero status, which involves finalising the company’s science-based targets in line with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), as well as overseeing BGEN’s wider ESG strategy.
Robin Whitehead, BGEN CEO, said: “This senior appointment underlines our commitment to delivering against our net zero and wider ESG ambitions. On the sustainability front, we have already made great strides in reducing our emissions, already reaching our interim goal of achieving a 25% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 CO 2e emissions by 2025. However, we realise that there is still a long way to go, and Amy has been added to the team to focus on this important initiative.”
In her new role, Amy will be the Responsible Person and first point of contact for all sustainability matters, identifying and responding to current best practice requirements, and supporting across the company’s core mechanical, electrical, instrumentation, control and automation offering.
In the short term, Amy is working with Tunley Environmental to develop the company’s near term and net zero carbon reduction targets in line with the SBTi requirements.
Amy joins the company, which is based at Centre Park in Warrington, with a wealth of experience and has held environmental and sustainability roles at a number of construction and engineering companies including Vistry Group, Buckingham Group Contracting and Costain. In addition, Amy holds a number of qualifications and memberships including a first-class honours in Environmental Science and a Practitioner Member of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA).
Amy Twist said: “The opportunity to build on what BGEN has achieved already was very appealing. BGEN is a forward-thinking and ambitious organisation with the capacity and aspiration to make change, and in this newly-created role I will have the opportunity to make a real difference.”
Amy’s additional responsibility of overseeing BGEN’s wider ESG strategy will see her building on community and schools’ initiatives including the sponsorship of Barrow Raiders to encourage the next generation of female engineers and rugby players, and a STEM and sustainability partnership with St Vincent’s Primary School.
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Jamie Peel
PwC has invested further in its Deals practice with the appointment of Jamie Peel as Director in its Lead Advisory team.
Jamie will lead the special situations and restructuring M&A offering across the North of England, working as an integrated part of PwC’s national team in this area.
He joins PwC from Zeus Capital where, as corporate finance director, he was responsible for executing complex M&A transactions covering a range of sectors and transaction types. Jamie is a specialist in public company M&A and takeover code transactions advising boards, bidders and vendors on a variety of high profile takeover, reverse takeover and bolt on M&A. He brings more than 10 years of experience working in deals.
Jamie will be based in PwC’s Manchester office.
Lucy Stapleton, UK head of Deals at PwC, said: “Jamie brings a wealth of experience working on complex transactions across different industries which will add to our offering in the market.
“His appointment further reinforces our market-leading position as a result of our continued investment in our Lead Advisory practice, an integral part of our multidisciplinary deals business, where we deliver deep sector expertise, particularly across the regions.”
Jamie Peel, said: “I’m excited to be joining PwC’s Deals practice adding to its unique and distinct market offering. I look forward to working with clients on their most pressing business issues and helping them navigate their M&A needs.”
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Peter Pegasiou
National law firm, Glaisyers ETL, has appointed the professional musician and lawyer Peter Pegasiou as a solicitor in its Creative, Digital and Marketing team, based in the North West.
Mr Pegasiou, who studied law at Liverpool John Moores University and the University of Law, joins from Counterculture Partnership, where he qualified as a solicitor in early 2023.
At Glaisyers ETL, which has offices in Manchester, Liverpool and London, he will provide legal advice and assistance on intellectual property, privacy law and entertainment and media matters. He has a particular specialism in music law, which stems from his background in the music industry as a singer, songwriter and guitarist.
He has played in a variety of musical outfits, the most successful of which, Merseyside-based VYNCE, has achieved more than one million online streams and appeared live on the same bill as global stars Noel Gallagher, Echo and the Bunnymen, Blossoms, McFly, Kaiser Chiefs and the 1975.
He worked closely with Liverpool John Moores University to develop a clinic that provides free legal advice to aspiring musicians, and still takes time to work with this initiative and supervise the students who take part in it.
Mr Pegasiou is the latest entertainment professional-turned-lawyer to join Glaisyers ETL in recent years, following the appointment of Sara Shulman, a former script editor and producer with more than a decade’s experience in the British comedy industry as an entertainment, media and sport solicitor in 2022.
Peter Pegasiou, in VYNCE, centre
He said: “I look forward to continuing to use my experience in the creative industries to help Steve and Sara develop a truly unique legal offering for our clients.”
Steve Kuncewicz, partner and head of Creative, Digital and Marketing at Glaisyers ETL, said: “Pete is a great addition to our team, whose legal knowledge is backed up by real world experience of how the law affects musicians making their way in an industry that nobody could claim to be easy.
“This is a really exciting time for our growing department and Pete’s expertise adds a valuable string to our bow alongside Sara – we’re a team of genuine specialists with a unique skillset across entertainment, agencies and now the music industry, and we are genuinely excited about the work we do.
“I also now have someone else in the office to talk to about guitar-based rock, and while that’s an added bonus, he’s a far better guitar player than I am with better taste in music.”
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Manny Odunsi
The Strategic Land Group (SLG) has appointed Manny Odunsi as Land and Planning Assistant as its portfolio of sites continues to grow across the UK.
Manny joins SLG from Redrow, where he supported the housebuilder’s immediate land team. His new role will see him working alongside managing director, Paul Smith, to source new opportunities and promote landowners’ sites through the planning process before securing their sale on the open market.
Manchester-based SLG is a residential and renewable energy land promoter, currently working with a 19-site portfolio.
It is actively promoting sites with the potential to deliver more than 2,500 new homes and 40,000 sq m of commercial space with a gross development value of circa £800m.
Paul Smith, MD of The Strategic Land Group, said: “It’s fantastic to have Manny on board as our portfolio continues to grow – he brings a great deal of experience following his time with Redrow and I’ve no doubt he will be a real asset as we continue secure new sites and opportunities.
“It’s vital that suitable sites are being brought forward for residential development, ensuring an adequate supply of land to meet the ever-growing demand for homes across the UK.”
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Mark Beardwood
DLA Piper has announced 14 promotions across its North West offices, following Andrew Walker and David Booth’s promotions to partner.
Eight lawyers have been promoted to legal director and six to senior associate, effective July 1, 2024.
Legal Directors: Charlotte Leith – Litigation and Regulatory; Helen Tsang – Corporate; James Petts – Corporate; Jennifer Price-Thomas – Real Estate; Lauren Fisher – Projects; Lauren Turner – Real Estate; Sarah Parkin – Employment; Scott Rorke – Pensions.
Senior Associates: Claire Dyer – Finance; Clare Bayliss – Intellectual Property and Technology; Matthew Cliff – Intellectual Property and Technology; Matthew Maguire – Projects; Nicole Rourke – Real Estate; Rachel Dobson – Real Estate.
Mark Beardwood, DLA Piper’s North West Office Managing Partner, said: “These promotions recognise the quality and creative solutions our people here in the North West have provided to clients across all our geographies and sectors.
“Each person included in this promotion round has shown the ability to translate legal complexity into commercial clarity and I am confident that they will continue to do this as they develop and shape the future of DLA Piper.”
