People: Seddon; Blueprint; AJ Bell; RSM; Browne Jacobson; Atlas Diagnostics
Four apprentices can now complete their apprenticeship thanks to a partnership between the Bolton-based Seddon Housing Partnerships and Magenta Living, a leader provider of affordable housing.
Callum Keith, Braden Laurie, Sam Parkin and Luke Turner had been working on their apprenticeships with Magenta Living.
But Seddon has now come onboard and has provided the men site-based opportunities on the Three Sails Point project, a 158-home development in Widnes, Cheshire, providing a mix of affordable rent, shared ownership and rent-to-buy options in two phases. As well as providing crucial places to live for people, the development will also create jobs and other opportunities for residents and the local community.
The apprentices will gain experience on the site in replacing skirting boards before putting their hands to property joists, roofs and stairs.
Seddon is well placed to help apprentices in the housing sector, having facilitated similar schemes before and organising an apprentice exchange initiative.
In 2023, it was awarded a platinum award after securing a 97 per cent rate for its own apprentices; it has recruited more than 450 in the last 23 years so knows how important they are.
Lewis Welsby, Contract Manager at Seddon, said: “At Seddon, we always want to go above and beyond to help the next generation interested in a career in housing, and through this and our other initiatives, such as being part of an apprentice exchange, we hope we’re going some way towards achieving that.”
Magenta Living are a not-for-profit housing provider, who own and manage 13,000 properties.
They are the largest housing provider in the Wirral, but also operate across north-west England. Their major plans include the construction of 1,000 new homes in the area.
Annette Dooley, Senior Project Manager at Magenta, added: “We do important work at Magenta and we are proud of the fact we take on as many apprentices as we can each year. Our apprenticeship programme truly is life-changing.
“Our thanks extend to Seddon for offering these enthusiastic apprentices the chance to complete their course and gain valuable work skills.
“We are always keen to work with others in all areas of housing and are grateful Seddon could assist.”
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Global digital transformation services provider, Bluprintx, has appointed Mark Humphries as Chair. Effective immediately, this cements Bluprintx’s leadership team as the company prepares to accelerate global growth following investment from funding partner, Palatine.
Mark Humphries is a specialist in fast-paced growth within private equity backed firms and an expert in strategy execution, accelerated transformation, M&A, and in leveraging technology and data to drive client solutions.
His career includes handling mergers and acquisitions for FTSE 100 groups, building a highly successful corporate finance advisory firm and serving as CEO of an award-winning B2B professional services firm advising the financial services and energy sectors.
He said: “The recent expansion into Commerce marks a pivotal point in Bluprintx’s journey and I’m looking forward to helping accelerate growth as we move to the next stage.”
“This is a strategic appointment for Bluprintx,” comments Lee Hackett, founder and CEO of Bluprintx. “Mark is a pace-setter and his career achievements are inspirational. Having just completed the acquisition of ITG Commerce, Mark joins as we prepare to drive forward Adobe- and Salesforce-aligned commerce strategies, and target further geographical expansion.”
A qualified Chartered Accountant and occupational psychologist, Mark is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales and holds executive education qualifications from the Harvard Business School, the University of Cambridge, and London Business School.
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AJ Bell has appointed Ryan Hughes as managing director of AJ Bell Investments, while Stephen Westgate joins the business as group corporate development director. Both Ryan and Stephen will report to CEO Michael Summersgill.
Having been made interim managing director in late 2023, Ryan has now been permanently appointed to the position and will join AJ Bell’s Executive Committee with immediate effect. As with all FCA Senior Management Function roles, the appointment is subject to regulatory approval.
AJ Bell Investments has seen Assets Under Management hitting £6.3bn at the end of June 2024, up 47% compared to a year earlier. AJ Bell Investments manages the business’ investment solutions, including its award-winning multi-asset fund range and Managed Portfolio Service.
Ryan joined AJ Bell in 2016 and has played a leading role in the development and growth of AJ Bell’s investment proposition.
Stephen’s previous role was at Deutsche Numis where he was managing director, head of financial institutions. The newly created role of group corporate development director at AJ Bell will see Stephen work closely with Michael Summersgill and members of the Executive Committee to drive new strategic initiatives with the focus on continuing the company’s organic growth trajectory.
Prior to joining Numis in 2017 Stephen was head of group strategy and treasury at Man Group and has previously held roles at Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse.
AJ Bell CEO, Michael Summersgill, said: “Since listing in 2018 AJ Bell has grown rapidly to become a business serving more than half a million platform customers, with assets under administration of £83.7bn. The remarkable growth of the business illustrates the success of our model, serving both the advised and D2C markets.
“Ryan and Stephen’s appointments add further depth to our leadership team, bringing new perspectives and thinking to help develop our strategy and identify further organic growth opportunities for the business.”
AJ Bell Investments managing director, Ryan Hughes, says: “I’m honoured to be given the opportunity to lead the investment business at AJ Bell. We are growing rapidly, with AUM hitting £6.3bn at the end of June, up 47% in the last year alone. Our focus is on delivering strong investment performance via low-cost investment solutions and we are seeing particularly strong demand for MPS partnership arrangements with financial adviser firms.”
AJ Bell group corporate development director, Stephen Westgate, says: “AJ Bell has delivered exceptional organic growth based on a sound strategy and commitment to making investing easy and low-cost for customers. I’m delighted to be joining the business and working with Michael and the rest of the AJ Bell team, with so many opportunities for the business to continue to develop its growth strategy.”
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Leading audit, tax and consulting firm RSM UK has announced six director promotions across the North West, demonstrating the firm’s ongoing commitment to growing and developing talent within its own ranks.
The six director promotions in the North West include Jake Hodgson (transactions tax), Anna Haworth (employer solutions tax), Kathy Hobbs (sustainability consulting) in Manchester, alongside Ellie Acton in Liverpool (corporate development), Jack Bentham in Preston (transactions tax) and Alex Hire in Stoke (governance, risk management and internal control).
RSM’s newly appointed directors in the North West are among 24 promotions to director across the national firm, with many based outside London, including 10 in the North of England.
Kevin Duffy, regional managing partner for RSM UK, said: “I want to congratulate our new directors on reaching this milestone in their careers. Their promotions reflect their hard work and talent, as well as RSM’s commitment to supporting our people and investing in their development.
“I am immensely proud of our North West directors and have found it very rewarding to be part of their careers so far, watching them develop in confidence and skill. I look forward to seeing them step into their new roles and help us shape the future of our firm.
He added: “With nearly 50% of our newly promoted directors based in the North of England, this shows our commitment to developing local talent across our UK-wide network of offices and deliver a premium service to our clients in the middle market locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.”
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Law firm Browne Jacobson has appointed Darren Ashworth and Tom Cressey as partners to the firm’s Manchester-based Real Estate team.
Together with existing partners Dominic Buckley and Victoria Thourgood they will lead and grow the 20-person Real Estate team based in Manchester, increasing the size of the overall Real Estate team to over 100+ people across the firm’s seven-office network.
Ashworth joins from Trowers & Hamlins and brings considerable experience of advising on a broad range of real estate matters, with key clients including property investors and developers, government bodies, local authorities, registered providers and other public sector organisations.
He acts on development and regeneration schemes, property acquisitions and disposals and landlord and tenant work. His career highlights include working on real estate aspects of the London 2012 Olympics project, assisting a top Premier League club with a stadium related development and acting for both public and private sector bodies on a number of major development and regeneration schemes.
Cressey, who joins from JMW Solicitors, has more than 20 years’ experience in the North West property market, with particular expertise in private sector development projects. His clients include notable regional and UK developers and investors (including in the Build to Rent space), as well as local authorities.
Sarah Parkinson, partner and head of Real Estate at Browne Jacobson, said: “Darren and Tom joining our team is a coup for our Real Estate practice and, in particular, our focus on growth in the North West real estate sector. Both are quality operators with a proven track record in the Manchester and National market. They will add energy and focus to our growing developer offering and we are really excited to start working and collaborating together.”
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Diagnostic imaging provider Atlas Diagnostics, based in MediaCity, has unveiled a new brand identity and website alongside the appointment of key senior executives.
Atlas supports NHS Hospital Trusts, Community Diagnostic Centres, and private healthcare organisations by addressing capacity challenges in radiology departments. It offers on-site staffing, remote reporting, and advanced teleradiology services, performing over 40,000 examinations each month. As Atlas expands beyond the North West, its new brand reflects its shift to a national presence.
Atlas worked with its design partner Holdens, to create the new brand.
To support its next phase of growth, Atlas has also strengthened its leadership team with the appointment of Richard Carrick as CFO and Matthew Beardsmore as commercial director.
In addition, Atlas is creating various clinical recruitment opportunities for roles such as Radiologists, Sonographers, Midwife Sonographers, Vascular Technologists, Senior MRI and CT Radiographers and support workers, further supporting its expanding operations across the UK.