People: Merrick; Integras Property Group; Northern Trust Land; Hydes; University of Salford Business School; FW Capital
Solicitor Sophie Hughes has returned to Manchester-based family law firm Merrick where she started her legal career.
Sophie rejoined after successfully completing her training contract with Glaisyers ETL. She gained a Distinction in her LLM Master of Laws at BPP Manchester.
Sophie was initially a legal assistant and then paralegal with Merrick. She says it was the double draw of working in family law again and helping the firm develop its unique service levels that enticed her back.
She said: “Family law has always been my true passion, perhaps because being from a divorced household and blended family I understand some of the pressures involved.
“I hope that as well as applying my legal knowledge I can use that personal experience to help our clients.”
Merrick principal, Amanda Merrick, said: “We always knew that Sophie had a passion and talent for family law and she now has all-round experience as well. She’ll be an asset for our clients and the business.”
Merrick has a reputation for representing high net worth clients. However, in recent years it has also developed different service levels – Prestige, Benchmark and Access Us. The latter is designed to meet the demise of legal aid in most family law cases and delivers advice where there are limited resources.
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Ross Fleming
North West property developer, Integritas Property Group (IPG), has made another senior hire, with the appointment of Ross Fleming as Global Sales Director.
This follows last month’s announcement of Luke Gribben as Business Development Manager.
In his new role, Ross will oversee IPG’s international sales operations, spearheading initiatives to expand the firm’s global footprint and enhance its market presence.
He said: “After spending many years working throughout Asia and Europe within the real estate, investment and development sectors, I am particularly excited to be joining Integritas at such a significant time for the business, as it looks to firmly establish itself on a global scale.”
Starting his career in a leadership role as an officer in the Royal Air Force, Ross later moved into the real estate and investment industry, working for a central London agency. From there, he entered the development side of the sector, broadening his experience globally, including three years based in Hong Kong and China. Ross spent a further year in Austria, with a focus on the property markets in European and UK cities, including London, Berlin, Porto, Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool.
Mitchell Walsh, CEO at IPG, said: “Ross is known for setting extremely high standards, and developing new and exciting projects to help realise organisational ambitions. Our aspirational plans for IPG required someone with international experience, who could help drive our global ambitions. His expertise and leadership will undoubtedly play a pivotal role in achieving our ambitious growth objectives and further solidifying Integritas Property Group as a leader in the industry.”
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John Tootell
Northern Trust Land has promoted John Tootell to the position of Director, recognising exceptional contributions and leadership within the company and coming on the back of Northern Trust’s recent announcement on the rebranding of its land business, Metacre Ltd, to Northern Trust Land.
John has been an integral part of Chorley-based Northern Trust Land since joining the company 14 years ago. His expertise in land acquisition, planning, and development has been instrumental in enhancing the company’s portfolio and market presence. The current land portfolio extends to more than 60 active promotion sites, covering in excess of 3,000 acres with a further 2,000 acres owned outright, that has the potential to deliver more than 10,000 new homes in the next five years.
John said: “I am honoured and privileged to take on this new challenge and look forward to building on our excellent track record as we enter this exciting phase in the company’s evolution. I am a firm believer that people make any organisation, and you are nothing without a strong team. I am very fortunate to work with an exceptional team at Northern Trust Land and I am excited to see what the future holds as we continue to expand our strategic land operations, build and maintain strong relationships with all our landowner partners and help deliver sustainable communities throughout the country.”
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Ryan Littler
Four young trainees at Salford-based brewer and pub retailer, Hydes, are toasting success after completing apprenticeships and landing permanent positions.
The quartet of apprentices including Ryan Littler, James Stevenson, William King and Jack Brickles have all recently completed their in-house apprenticeships with the family-owned independent brewery.
Ryan Littler is Hydes’ youngest deputy manager and works at The Golden Lion in Wrexham having achieved Hospitality Supervisor Level 3. He is joined by James Stevenson, duty manager at The Golden Lion who also studied Hospitality Supervisor Level 3.
William King is commis chef at Hornsmill in Chester having achieved Production Chef Level 2 and Jack Brickles, is duty manager at The Horse and Farrier in Gatley who completed Hospitality Team Member Level. All completed their apprenticeship training this year.
Laura Miller, training manager at Hydes, said: “Apprenticeships are a great way for us to attract people to come and work with us. We mainly focus on hospitality and catering apprenticeships but we’ve also offered apprenticeships for our head office and brewery teams and had two candidates already complete the Brewing Level 4 qualification with one apprentice just coming up to the end point assessment. We also currently have a Health & Safety apprentice nearing successful completion.”
Ryan Littler said: “I haven’t looked back since completing my apprenticeship with Hydes. I really enjoyed earning whilst I learned on the job, gaining valuable insight from my experienced colleagues. Hydes were very supportive of me throughout the entire programme and I was always made to feel like a valued team member.”
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Dr Silvia Tedesco
Dr Silvia Tedesco has been appointed by the University of Salford Business School’s Centre for Sustainable Innovation to the role of Associate Professor for Sustainability, aimed at supporting businesses on their journeys towards decarbonisation and meeting net zero targets.
Joining the centre, which helps strengthen collaboration between academia, industry and policymakers to empower innovation in an ever-evolving business landscape, Silvia brings a wealth of experience with her from her career to-date which spans more than a decade. Silvia’s career includes an eight year stint at MMU (Manchester Metropolitan University) and almost six years at Dublin City University.
Silvia completes the team of senior researchers at the centre and will be the driving force behind its sustainability workstream, joining Dr Angel Jimenez-Aranda, who leads the centre’s digital transformation division, and Dr Ann Mulhaney, who leads on the change management vertical.
She said: “Seeing first-hand the work the team is doing at the Centre for Sustainable Innovation was a real draw for me. I’m excited to be able to continue my career in academia, while working with businesses to make a real difference in the short term, ensuring sustainability remains front of mind when it comes to driving innovation.”
Sara Boswell, Director of the Centre for Sustainable Innovation at Salford Business School, said: “Silvia has secured grants from several bodies in the UK and Ireland to further advance the art in biomass and waste conversion, validating the use of circular and decarbonising approaches, and she’s really hit the ground running to continue this essential work to further drive innovation in this space. Her work has been instrumental in reducing carbon emissions across various communities and she will play an essential role in the interdisciplinary work we’re doing at the centre, across our three core workstreams.”
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From left: Loz O’Connor, Joe O’Conner, Gary Guest, Barry Wilson
FW Capital has expanded its North West team following its appointment to deliver investment to local businesses through the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II.
Joe O’Connor and Barry Wilson join as Assistant Investment Executive and Investment Executive, respectively. Both will focus on providing funding to regional businesses from the new £75m NPIF II-FW Capital Debt Finance, which is part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II (NPIF II).
An experienced banker, Joe O’Connor has more than 10 years’ experience of working with businesses in relationship manager roles at HSBC across Retail and Commercial Banking. In his new role Joe will be based in FW Capital’s Preston office and is focused on identifying and supporting ambitious businesses in Lancashire and Cumbria with funding to assist their growth goals.
Barry Wilson also has an extensive banking background having worked for NatWest for more than 42 years delivering financial solutions for businesses across many sectors. Based in FW Capital’s Liverpool office, he is responsible for providing NPIF II funding to businesses across Merseyside.
Gary Guest, Fund Director at FW Capital said: “Joe and Barry are valuable additions to our team, bringing a wealth of experience which will help businesses across the region. Both understand the obstacles faced by many businesses and in their new roles will seek opportunities to use the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II to back the next generation of high-potential businesses in the North West.”
Joe O’Connor said: “I’m looking forward to getting back on the road to meet and support businesses across Lancashire and Cumbria. I was born and raised in Cumbria and live in Lancashire so it’s great to be able to give back to these areas and help drive growth using the NPIF II Fund.”
Barry Wilson said: “The addition of Joe and I to the team at FW Capital demonstrates their commitment to bringing in people with different skills to complement the existing team. This is an exciting new challenge for me using my experience in a different way to directly interact with businesses and provide vital finance to assist innovation and create local opportunities for new and growing businesses across the Merseyside area. I’m born and bred in Liverpool and keen to use my new role to assist the growth of the local economy.”
Simon Cunnington, Director at the British Business Bank, said: “Experienced fund managers play a big part in providing businesses with access to finance and the addition of team members with the right mix of skills and experience will enable NPIF II to have a lasting impact on the business community in the North.”
