People: Myerson Solicitors; Kroll; Savills; Forvis Mazars; Freedom Fibre; Hurst
Altrincham-based Myerson Solicitors is gearing up for continued growth, announcing a series of key promotions and a new cohort of apprentices and trainees.
A total of 16 employees have been promoted across the various departments of the firm. Amongst the senior promotions, Jordanna Reynolds, People Director, has been appointed to the board. Sarah Cowen has been appointed Partner in the Commercial Property team. Sarah, who joined Myerson in December 2022, has 17 years of experience in commercial property matters, including commercial, acquisitions and sales, leases, asset management, and secured lending.
Another significant promotion is Karen Taylor, now Legal Director in the Property Litigation team. Karen, who has been with Myerson since 2021, specialises in commercial property management and lease disputes, and property development issues.
The firm has also promoted four lawyers to Senior Associate, six to Associate, and three colleagues within its Business Services Team to Senior Executive roles.
Myerson has also retained three newly qualified solicitors in the Commercial Litigation and Employment departments. At the beginning of September, the firm welcomed two new apprentices and four trainee solicitors.
James Birch, Talent Manager at Myerson, said: “It’s exciting to see so many people developing their careers here at Myerson. We truly believe that we offer a supportive, friendly and meritocratic environment where our junior colleagues can learn and gain valuable experience across our various departments. The addition of our new apprentices, trainees and NQ solicitors ensures we are well positioned to meet our growth ambitions.”
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David Riley
Kroll, the independent provider of global risk and financial advisory solutions, has appointed David Riley as Managing Director in the Manchester office.
David brings more than 30 years of experience in M&A transactions, debt advisory, financial due diligence, restructuring and formal insolvency cases. His addition to the team will enhance Kroll’s capabilities in the North West.
Sarah Rayment, Managing Director and co-Head of Restructuring, Kroll, said: “We are committed to supporting our clients in the North West and are thrilled to welcome David on board. His expertise will be invaluable as we expand our restructuring and advisory solutions across the UK. His appointment is a part of our ongoing efforts to strengthen our regional presence and our team of restructuring professionals worldwide to support our evolution for enhancing client service.”
David’s extensive background includes his role as an Advisory Partner at Crowe UK, where he worked with a diverse range of clients across corporates, financial institutions, private equity, asset-based lenders and law firms. He has held key positions at Bibby Financial Services, Grant Thornton UK and Ernst & Young.
He said, “Kroll is a strong brand with a long history of delivering exceptional results for its clients in the UK. Bringing my background in transactions, debt advisory, financial due diligence, restructuring, and formal insolvency cases, I am excited to be joining a well respected team in Manchester. I look forward to working with local leadership to enhance Kroll’s services and offering to our clients.”
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Rob Wiggans
Savills has enhanced its residential development sales team with the appointment of Rob Wiggans as Operations Director to its Investor Hub.
Rob, who will be based in the firm’s Manchester office, is a residential buy-to-let specialist and joins after spending eight years at Property Hub Group where he was Investment Manager. Prior to Property Hub Group, he worked at Taylor Wimpey working within strategic land.
Rob will be leading a dedicated team of specialists who will work with residential developers to identify opportunities in the new build buy to let sector. Investor Hub is an offline, invitation-only platform tailored specifically for residential developers to sell to investors.
It is currently headed up by three Savills directors – Rob Wiggans, Jamie Adam and Toby Greenhow – and forms part of Savills wider Residential Development Sales division with a team situated in Manchester.
Rob said: “I am joining an experienced and successful team, and I’m excited by the opportunities the Savills Investor Hub can provide. In a time of restructuring for the buy to let sector, expert advice is more important than ever and I look forward to working closely with colleagues across the wider Savills business to deliver for our clients.”
George Cardale, Head of Residential Development Sales at Savills, said: “It is fantastic to welcome Rob to Savills, who brings a wealth of experience to his role. This appointment underlines the importance we place on growing our business and investing where there are opportunities that will ultimately benefit our clients.”
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David Hilton
Forvis Mazars, the global professional services network, has announced 16 promotions within its Manchester office. The promotions are effective from September 1, 2024.
The firm has promoted two new partners – Daniel Watson and Adam Cooper – in Manchester. Daniel has more than a decade’s experience working in audit in Manchester. He specialises in audit work for public sector organisations across Local Government and NHS.
Adam leads the firm’s Tax Valuation specialism, which advises on the value of businesses, securities and intangible assets for UK and international tax purposes. He advises clients across a range of sectors, from owner-managed businesses to Venture Capital and Private Equity investors and large multinational corporations.
A further 14 promotions have been made across the team in Manchester at director and manager levels. The mix of skills and expertise represented across the new promotions reflect the range of services and solutions the Forvis Mazars team in Manchester delivers to its clients.
The newly-promoted team members work across Advisory & Consulting, Audit, Accounting and Outsourcing Solutions, Private Client, Business Services and Tax. In the last year, the team also promoted Elizabeth Pennington to Healthcare director and David Burke to Corporate Tax director, while Helen Knowles joined the Manchester office as a Public Sector Audit partner.
Dave Hilton, Manchester Office Managing Partner at Forvis Mazars, said: “These promotions are testament to the individuals’ expertise and commitment to their clients and to the firm, and we look forward to seeing their contribution in their new roles.”
Meanwhile, the firm has also expanded its team in Manchester by welcoming 48 early career hires this September. The intake consists of graduates, school leavers, returning placements and industrial placements.
Dave Hilton added: “We’re also pleased to have strengthened our team for the future by welcoming 48 new joiners at the early stages of their career. It’s fantastic to see so much fresh talent coming into the industry and we are committed to developing their knowledge and skills across our service lines.”
Across its UK offices, Forvis Mazars has announced more than 200 promotions across the firm this September. The firm has also welcomed a total of 357 new trainees in the UK.
In June this year, Forvis Mazars, the newest top 10 global professional services network, was launched. Formed of Mazars, the international audit, tax, and advisory firm, and Forvis, a top ranked firm in the United States, it operates from Manchester with the existing team and services.
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Nathan Vautier
Freedom Fibre, a UK alternative fibre network provider, has appointed Nathan Vautier as its new Chief Executive.
Nathan succeeds founder Neil McArthur, who will transition into a strategic role while continuing to serve on the company’s board, ensuring his ongoing involvement in Freedom Fibre’s growth and vision.
Neil said: “After nearly 30 years in the telecoms sector it’s time I stepped down from the front line. I want to welcome Nathan Vautier to Freedom Fibre and wish him every success driving the company forward.”
With more than 25 years of industry experience incoming CEO Nathan has held various senior leadership roles in the telecoms sector, starting in infrastructure with Ericsson, then Sony Ericsson, EE, and Brightstar Corporation before moving into PE backed businesses.
Most recently in his career, following Community Fibre’s acquisition of Box Broadband, Nathan was appointed CEO of Box Broadband with a mandate to lead the company’s business transformation, increasing customer penetration, operational efficiency, and ultimately the integration into Community Fibre, completed successfully earlier this year.
Nathan said: “I am honoured to be joining Freedom Fibre at such an important stage of its journey. It is an important time in the industry and for the continued development of this critical UK infrastructure and Neil’s vision has laid a strong foundation.”
Backed by infrastructure investors InfraBridge (a division of DigitalBridge), Equitix and national ISP TalkTalk, Freedom Fibre is well positioned for future growth following its recent merger with VX Fiber’s UK operations.
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From left: Jennifer Escott, Tim Potter, Matthew Taylor
Corporate finance and tax specialists who play key roles in helping companies successfully complete transactions and navigate post-Brexit trading challenges are the latest staff members to gain promotion at Stockport-based independent accounting and business advisory firm Hurst.
Jennifer Escott has been promoted in the tax team and Matthew Taylor has been promoted at Hurst Corporate Finance.
Matthew joined the firm as an intern in 2021 after gaining a Master’s Degree in mathematics at the University of Leeds, and then earned a full time job as a corporate finance analyst. He also spent time with Hurst’s business services team during his training. He has now passed exams to become a Chartered Accountant and has been promoted to corporate finance executive.
He said: “I’m thrilled to be promoted and am grateful for the support I’ve received from my colleagues.”
Jennifer has been promoted to associate tax manager. Since joining Hurst from EY early last year, she has been involved in projects ranging from corporation tax and personal tax compliance to advising shareholders on the tax implications of selling and exiting businesses, as well as mergers and acquisitions.
Jennifer said: “I’m extremely grateful to have had plenty of opportunities and challenges to develop my technical and managerial skills to enable me to step up.”
Managing Partner, Tim Potter, said: “Both Matthew and Jennifer fully deserve their promotions.
“Jennifer has broadened her knowledge in the short time she has been with us, and uses her expertise to help businesses navigate the taxation landscape as well as Brexit-related international trade issues.
“Matthew recently achieved first-time passes in all of his professional examinations and is currently taking a lead role in our corporate finance team on a number of exciting live assignments that are expected to close in the coming months.”
