People: Clough and Willis; Caroola Group; Pareto Financial Planning; Travel Counsellors; Sales Geek; DMAC Media
Bury and Bolton-based law firm, Clough and Willis, has grown its Family department with the appointment of Chiara Ozuzu, who is its newest solicitor.
Chiara joins from Bromleys Solicitors where she worked for two years. She has also worked at Alfred Newton Solicitors and Nicholson Jones Solicitors.
Chiara graduated from York University in 2017 with a 2:1 (LLB), and obtained her LLM LPC from the University of Law in 2019.
Her new role will see her handle a broad caseload of family work including divorce, finance, child and negotiating property disputes between co-habitees and co-owners including conducting court proceedings.
Chiara will be working closely with Lee Marston, head of family and managing partner. Over the coming months she will also be looking at obtaining Resolution’s specialist accreditation which is a mark of excellence in practice, recognised by the public, fellow professionals, the judiciary and the Legal Aid Agency.
She said: “Clough and Willis is known for its expertise and its focus on client care so I knew it was the right move for me. I will be working with Lee to deliver excellence and grow our caseload.”
Lee Marston said: “Chiara is a talented family solicitor and has joined us at an exciting time. I am sure she will become an invaluable member of the firm and will play a pivotal role in our growth over the coming years.”
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Andrew Webster
North West-based employment and accountancy firm Caroola Group has appointed Andrew Webster as its new Commercial Director to accelerate its ambitious growth plans.
With more than20 years’ industry experience, Andrew previously spent nearly five years as Managing Director at Workwell Enterprise, transitioning over as part of the WORKR Group acquisition following six successful years as Group Commercial Director at Orange Genie.
Andrew – who officially joins on January 6, 2025 – is responsible for developing Caroola Group’s value proposition, increasing market share, and leading the business development team to achieve significant growth objectives.
Caroola Group is the parent company of Parasol, Caroola Accountancy, and BAA Accounting, formerly Brian Alfred.
Andrew said: “What attracted me to joining Caroola Group is the people, drive, and growth journey it is currently on. There are some significant business transformation projects happening in 2025, and I’m really looking forward to rolling my sleeves up and cracking on.”
Andrew is also joining the senior leadership team.
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Paul Stones
Pareto Financial Planning, the Manchester-based financial services business, recently added a number of new colleagues to its growing team.
Pareto FP also has moved offices to the newly ‘bespoke’ refurbished and iconic Old School House, in central Manchester.
Independent Financial Advisor, Joe Heaword, joins Pareto having started his career as an administrator at Vale Insurance Services and most recently with Camargue Chambers, where he was a financial adviser. Joe is bringing a holistic and comprehensive approach to financial advice and has a specific interest in pension advice.
“With a formidable presence in the heart of Manchester combined with an excellent reputation and strong cultural values, joining Pareto was a natural choice for me,” said Joe Heaword.
Nathan Clarke, Employee Benefits Consultant at Pareto, joins after starting his career as a trainee IFA at Canter Holland with more experience gained in banking and wealth management. Nathan will now apply his knowledge and experience to Pareto clients advising on corporate pensions and employee benefits.
He said: “Pareto FP is recognised as a well established and well thought after financial advice firm.”
Paul Stones, Managing Director, Pareto Financial Planning, said: “It’s an incredibly exciting time to join Pareto, and we welcome all of the new starters to the team. As we continue to grow, while keeping our core culture at the centre of everything we do, we are also settling into our new bespoke headquarters in the centre of Manchester.”
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Jon Hardcastle
Travel Counsellors, the fast growing Manchester-based technology platform for travel entrepreneurs, has made two new appointments to support the growth of its corporate and leisure travel business owners.
Premium leisure travel professional, Jon Hardcastle, has kick-started his role with the company as Business Performance Manager, a newly-created position that will see Hardcastle spend time both at Travel Counsellors’ support centre in Manchester, and on the road supporting the company’s top performing TCs.
With a 30-year tenure in leisure travel, including 15 years in luxury sales strategy and business development, Hardcastle’s previous roles include Marriott International, Elegant Resorts and ITC.
He said: “Travel Counsellors is renowned in the industry for providing the best customer care by handcrafting luxury travel experiences, and I’m really looking forward to bringing my experience to the role, and working alongside TCs to help fuel individual business growth.”
Global Sales Director, Jim Eastwood, said, “Our aim is always to support our TCs and their businesses with the best tools, technology, training and coaching possible. Jon’s skillset and highly relational approach makes him the perfect addition to the team.”
Karen Crick
Additionally, Travel Counsellors for Business has hired Corporate Account Manager, Karen Crick, who will be responsible for supporting the company’s top performing corporate business owners and their clients.
With more than two decades’ experience in corporate travel, with durations at CTM, GetThere and Radius Network, Crick will also support some of the top TCs in the UK.
She said: “It’s exciting to join Travel Counsellors for Business as the corporate travel wing grows from strength to strength. I’m looking forward to playing a part in the positive trajectory corporate travel is taking at Travel Counsellors, and the many individuals behind its ongoing success.”
Director of Corporate Travel, Mel Quinn, said: “We are so pleased to welcome Karen to our corporate support team. Karen brings a wealth of experience with her and we’re sure our corporate Travel Counsellors will take full advantage of her skillset to support their businesses, as well as the individual travel requirements of their clients.”
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Jay Williams
Blackburn-based Sales Geek, an international provider of part-time sales directors, has appointed Jay Williams as Head of Global Recruitment to lead its expansion across the UK and the rest of the world.
Sales Geek has experienced significant growth in 2024, launching in India and across the six Gulf Cooperation Countries, as well as adding Geeks across nine more states in the USA.
A Head Hunter specialist, Jay joins Sales Geek from Mercury Hampton, bringing more than 15 years of recruitment experience spent supporting a wide range of businesses from SMEs, to global corporations, with their strategic hires.
Based out of the Blackburn HQ, he will be responsible for recruiting the next generation of Sales Geek franchises. He will build out and manage the recruitment journey of all new franchisees, building a talent process that can support the growth of both Sales Geek UK and its Master Franchises across the globe.
Founder and Chief Geek, Richard Few, said: “It’s a pleasure to welcome Jay to Sales Geek. His wealth of experience recruiting strategic hires will further strengthen our ability to find the right people who can flourish owning a Sales Geek franchise. He will ensure we have a robust recruitment strategy to accelerate our growth efforts in the forthcoming years.”
Jay said: “I can’t wait to get stuck in.”
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Craig Thompson
Following a recent expansion into Manchester from Ireland, DMAC Media is putting its latest growth plans into action with the appointment of Craig Thompson as Head of UK Sales, following a doubling of UK revenue in the past six months.
The Manchester-based team has hired the former client relationship manager to support new business growth across its web development and digital marketing services.
Having worked for more than 10 years in senior sales roles, Craig joins the DMAC team during a record-breaking year where the company designed and developed 60 new websites for businesses in multiple sectors across the UK and Ireland over the past 12 months.
Craig said, “It’s a really exciting time to join DMAC and head up UK sales for the business.
“DMAC has grown a reputation as one of the leading digital agencies in Ireland. The business is now committed to delivering the same quality and service for companies across the UK through its growing Manchester team. To be a part of this journey is going to be really exciting.”
Craig joins a team of 16 at DMAC Media, which is split between Sligo in Ireland and Media City in Salford, Manchester.
Dave McEvoy, DMAC Media founder, said: “We are committed to investing in and growing our team in Manchester, with further recruitment planned for 2025 as the business expands.
“Craig was the perfect choice to head up this expansion and has already contributed to the growth we have seen in Q4 this year. His energy, passion, drive and understanding made him perfect for the role as he realises our vision for DMAC’s growth.”
