People: BDO; Muse; Hydrogen Safe; Petal & Co; BTG Advisory; RBC; Zerum; Glaisyers ETL; Project Four
Accountancy and business advisory firm, BDO, has promoted 219 people across the North West region.
BDO has promoted 148 people in its Manchester office, with a further 71 in Liverpool. Nationwide, the firm has promoted more than 2,400 of its people, including 36 new partners.
Angela Cross, Regional Managing Partner at BDO in the North West, said: “This latest round of promotions reinforces our unwavering commitment to investing in our people, and their expertise and dedication are critical to our long term success. Their achievements not only reflect exceptional individual efforts, but also demonstrate the strength of our North West team overall.
“Congratulations to all 219 of our new promotees, who have each shown talent and hard work and richly deserve this recognition.”
BDO has further cemented its commitment to the North West region, after moving into 23,000 sq ft of office space over three floors at sustainable development, Eden.
The office is home to BDO’s Manchester team and forms part of a wider pledge by BDO to become a net zero firm.
Eden is a £36m, 115,000 sq ft, 12-storey office building, at New Bailey in Salford. It has the capability to run on 100% renewable electricity and has been designed using the UK Green Building Council’s 2035-2050 standards.
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Lawrence Myatt
Muse, the nationwide placemaker, has continued to grow in the North West with three senior hires joining the regeneration expert’s Salford-based team.
Vinny Rigby (Project Director), Steve Thomas (Senior Development Manager), and Lawrence Myatt (Senior Project Manager) have joined the business, building on significant growth in the North West over the past 12 months.
Vinny Rigby
Vinny, who joins Muse from Vinci where he worked on the Hospital Transformation Programme for The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust, and has previously worked at Bruntwood with experience delivering major mixed use regeneration – including offices, retail, a hotel, new homes and student accommodation at the first phase of Circle Square in Manchester – will support the regeneration of Wythenshawe Civic.
Steve Thomas
Steve, joining from Urban Splash where he supported with the delivery of Park Hill in Sheffield, and Lawrence – with experience delivering hospitality spaces, offices, and industrial for The Hut Group – will both support the delivery of the £2.5bn regeneration opportunity at Salford Crescent.
Phil Marsden, Managing Director – North West at Muse, said: “The appointment of Vinny, Steve, and Lawrence build on an already exceptional year, where we have grown our partnerships and continued to deliver long term regeneration and placemaking.
“We are only ever as good as our people and all three bring tremendous experience, knowledge, and positivity to our team – enhancing our already strong reputation as regeneration and placemaking experts.”
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Rachael Burns
Hydrogen Safe, the hydrogen safety training specialist working with industry and education, has appointed Rachael Burns as Managing Director.
With extensive experience of working in both the education and private sectors, Rachael will lead the team as it continues to work with colleges throughout the country and businesses that are focused on upskilling talent for the future.
Previously Head of Partnerships in Education for the company, Rachael has been intrinsic in establishing the business, which is now embarking on the next chapter as it evolves from start-up to scale-up.
She said: “This is a really exciting time for Hydrogen Safe. We have worked really hard to establish the brand and to get the foundations in place. We have a fantastic team, supported by industry-leading trainers delivering the first Ofqual registered qualifications in hydrogen safety, alongside bespoke courses and CPD sessions.
“As the UK works towards achieving net zero targets, we know that as an early adopter we are in a very strong position within the market.”
Rachael replaces the previous Managing Director, Andy Lord, who has left the business to pursue other opportunities.
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Lorna Bithell
Specialist corporate and B2B communications agency, Petal & Co, has strengthened its team with the appointment of a new senior consultant.
Lorna Bithell brings more than a decade’s in-house and agency experience to the agency, ranging from niche start-ups to global businesses across finance, property, education and technology sectors.
She joins from national education charity, Ambition Institute, where she was a corporate communications specialist. Prior to that, Bithell held senior roles in a number of comms agencies, including Be The Best Communications and Galibier PR.
A CIPR accredited practitioner, she also started lecturing in PR at Glasgow Caledonian University last academic year.
In her new role, Bithell will provide expert support and consultancy across Petal & Co’s growing portfolio, in addition to strengthening the agency’s client services function as it scales.
Jess Wilkinson, founder at Manchester-based Petal & Co, said: “Our model is based on providing high quality, experienced consultancy and delivery on every brief. To maintain that commitment, we are investing in our team and hiring Lorna reflects this ambition.
“Lorna impressed us with a strong track record of delivering great results, both in-house and agency side. Her passion shines through and we love the perspective she brings from her lecturing role – engaging and developing the next generation of PR professionals.”
Bithell said: “With several new client wins and the recent brand refresh, it’s an exciting time to join the team and to play my part in its continued growth.”
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David Hopkins
BTG Advisory, a division of Begbies Traynor Group, has strengthened its senior team with the appointment of experienced restructuring professional David Hopkins as a partner based in the Manchester office.
David joins from BDO bringing with him more than 20 years of senior level experience. In his new role he will play a lead role in business advisory, restructuring and turnaround work across a broad range of sectors.
Paul Stanley, North West regional managing partner at Begbies Traynor Group, said: “His tremendous wealth of experience and deep knowledge gained from many years of operating at a senior level will be invaluable to all our colleagues. We are committed to bringing on board senior level experienced professionals and David is a very good example of that as we grow, develop and shape our team ready for 2025.”
David Hopkins said: “I’m excited about helping to emphasise our capabilities and plans in the advisory and restructuring spaces during 2025.”
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From left:James Alderson, David Litherland, Russell Bolton, Ilyas Patel
Russell Bolton Consulting (RBC) has promoted Ilyas Patel and James Alderson as directors.
Ilyas Patel joined Manchester-based RBC following senior roles with Arcadis, Investar and RLB where he headed up the residential and commercial team, working with public, private and institutional clients.
With more than 30 years’ experience in the industry, James Alderson has held roles at Arcadis, Investar, Cityheart and Mulbury City and continues to work closely with private and institutional investors in the UK and overseas.
Russell Bolton, co-founder and firector, said: “It’s fantastic to be able to announce James and Ilyas’s promotions, further strengthening our management team. We remain focused on expanding our service line and pipeline, with James spearheading our development management offering and Ilyas consolidating and growing our commercial management capabilities.”
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From left:Owen Price, Niamh Macfarlane, Elliot Kelly, Milly McDermott, Jack Charnock
Manchester and Leeds-based multi-disciplinary property and construction consultancy, Zerum Group, has further strengthened its team with five new appointments.
The appointments have been made across the organisation’s cost management, planning and sustainable travel departments.
Jack Charnock joins as graduate quantity surveyor in Zerum’s cost management team alongside Milly McDemott and Niamh Macfarlane. Milly joins from Deloitte’s London office and has taken up the role of planner while Niamh also joins Zerum’s planning department as an assistant, as part of her studies at Leeds University.
In addition, Owen Price and Elliot Kelly have been appointed by partner organisation Mosodi as social media executive and sustainable travel advisor respectively.
Founded in 2013, Zerum Group began as a project management and planning division with a staff of five, based in Manchester.
Following 11 years of consistent growth and the opening of a Leeds office in 2018, it now boasts four divisions with a staff of 34, cross-discipline skill sets, and a broader service offering.
In 2018 highways and sustainable travel consultants, Mosodi, joined the business, adding additional services to the Zerum offering, and strengthening its cross-Pennine appeal.
Zerum Group partner, Anthony Kilbride, said: “As Zerum Group continues to go from strength to strength, and as the scope of our work grows, we are focused on finding the best talent in the market to help us deliver some of the most exciting schemes in Yorkshire and the North West.”
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Natasya Viknesh, Renee Neophytou, Natalya McPartland
The commercial law firm, Glaisyers ETL, has boosted its Liverpool operation with three new additions.
Solicitor Renee Neophytou has joined the corporate team, newly qualified solicitor Natalya McPartland has taken on a dual litigation and insolvency role, and Natasya Viknesh has joined as a paralegal in the Liverpool office’s corporate and litigation teams.
Glaisyers ETL, a national firm headquartered in Manchester, opened its Liverpool office at The Plaza on Old Hall Street in 2023.
Ms Neophytou, who trained with Liverpool-based Black Norman Solicitors, has returned to the city following a two-year stint with Pannone Corporate in Manchester. She joins a corporate team led by Liverpool office managing partner Adrian Rogers, who, himself, returned to Liverpool from Manchester to establish Glaisyers ETL’s presence in the city last year.
Ms McPartland, who trained at Glaisyers ETL, will split her time between Liverpool and Manchester after qualifying jointly into litigation and insolvency. A first-class law graduate from the University of Manchester, her new role in Liverpool includes working with a commercial litigation team that was ranked by the latest edition of the Legal 500 within a year of being established in the city.
Ms Viknesh, who studied law at the University of Liverpool, has joined the team as a paralegal working across the office’s commercial litigation and corporate practices. She has previously worked as a paralegal for Liverpool firm MSB, as well as spending time as a legal executive in Malaysia.
Mr Rogers said: “I would like to welcome Renee, Natalya and Natasya to the team. They join at a genuinely exciting time for our office, and I look forward to watching them grow with, and contribute to, our operation over the months and years ahead.”
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Max Meadows and Alan Robson
Project Four, the Liverpool-based construction multi-disciplinary, is celebrating a milestone period of sustainable growth with team changes, taking its headcount to 40.
Co-founders, Alan Robson and Max Meadows, have stepped into new roles, with Robson taking on a strategic role as Chairman, and Meadows overseeing service delivery as Managing Director.
As a result of its growing headcount, Project Four is in negotiations with landlord Avenue HQ to take a larger space in Mann Island, the company’s base for the past seven years.
Project Four has spent the past two years implementing a brand new structure and hierarchy, focusing on process, efficiency and delivering excellence for clients.
Alongside the role changes of the co-founders, Steve Rossiter has joined as Operations Director, and Paul Cope as a Non-executive Director. The company has also launched a base in London, which is set to reach a double-figure headcount by the end of 2024.
Alan Robson said: “We’ve been on this journey of growth for seven years now, and our expansion feels both sustainable and organic, as we continue to refine our services and broaden our footprint across the UK.”
