People: SpaMedica; Express Solicitors; KPMG; Eddisons; Livv; Together; CG; Counter
Bolton-based SpaMedica, an independent provider of NHS cataract surgery and ophthalmology services, has appointed Lisa Jordan as its new chief commercial officer.
Lisa joined SpaMedica from Diaverum, where, as managing director for the UK and Sweden, she was instrumental in enhancing patient outcomes and experiences across a network of treatment centres.
She said: “SpaMedica is clearly a very purpose-driven organisation, and what we are achieving together is inspiring.”
SpaMedica currently runs a network of 62 eye hospitals across the UK, and all of its hospitals inspected by the Care Quality Commission to date have been rated as ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’.
CEO Richard Woodward said: “Lisa’s wealth of experience, strategic mindset, and passion for delivering outstanding patient care make her the perfect fit for SpaMedica as we continue to grow and diversify our services.”
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Tanzeela Aslam
Express Solicitors has strengthened its clinical negligence team with the appointment of Tanzeela Aslam as partner and deputy head of the department.
Qualified as both a solicitor and a barrister, Tanzeela joins Express from fellow Manchester-based personal injury firm, Thompsons Solicitors.
Tanzeela said: “I’m really excited to be joining Express at such an exciting time for the firm. I see my role, not just about achieving justice for individuals, but also educating society about clinical negligence.”
She has been a member of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) since 2011 and has been an accredited senior litigator since 2012.
Tanzeela will be working alongside head of clinical negligence, Carlos Lopez. He said: “We’re thrilled to welcome Tanzeela into our busy team, she brings a real positive energy alongside a wealth of experience. I can’t wait to see what she’ll achieve for our clients.”
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Amanda Kelly
Professional services firm, KPMG UK, has appointed Amanda Kelly as its new UK head of local and regional government.
Based in the firm’s Manchester office, Amanda’s role will strengthen the nationwide support KPMG provides to leaders of local and regional government, leveraging the firm’s deep understanding of regional economies and expertise from across its practice areas, including tax, audit, consulting and deal advisory.
In a consulting career spanning more than two decades, Amanda has led the delivery on a range of high profile transformation programmes across the public sector, supporting both central and local government to deliver high-impact change.
Amanda said: “The opportunity to support regional economic growth, give more power to places and support thriving communities is why I’m excited to be working with the sector to make change happen.”
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Tom Tawn
Tom Tawn has joined property consultancy Eddisons’ growing valuation team in the North West as a director, working out of the firm’s Manchester office.
Tom, an RICS-registered valuer, joins Eddisons with more than 15 years’ property industry experience, including more than a decade in Lambert Smith Hampton’s NW valuation division as associate director and then director.
He returns to the UK to take up his new Manchester-based role after spending six months as a senior valuer in Western Australia for Cygnet West.
Phil Deakin, who heads Eddisons’ 100+-strong valuation team, said: “We have an enviable client list and are seeing really strong growth in demand for high quality valuation advice, which spans everything from loan security, company accounts, regulated services, and charities act reports, as a well as RICS Red Book compliant valuation reports for lenders, individuals and businesses.”
He added: “Eddisons continues to go from strength to strength as a business and senior appointments like these are key to driving that growth and continually striving to improve our service to clients.”
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Tom Howden
Liverpool-based Livv Housing Group is celebrating a major milestone as Tom Howden, its first-ever graduate trainee, secures a permanent position as net zero carbon officer, a new role for the organisation.
Tom joined Livv in January 2023 as part of the Livv Graduate Programme. Over the past two years, he gained invaluable experience across customer insight, property and safety, health and environment, equipping him with the skills and knowledge to step into his new role.
Tom said: “I really enjoyed my time on the graduate programme. It gave me the chance to work with different teams, gain a broad understanding of the business and the sector, and access opportunities I never imagined.
“With net zero high on the social housing agenda, I’ve developed a strong interest in the topic and am excited to contribute to Livv’s efforts in achieving this goal while building my career in this field.”
Jude Wilkinson, director of people services at Livv Housing Group, said: “We’re extremely proud to see Tom secure a permanent role with us. His hard work, adaptability, and enthusiasm for learning and embracing every opportunity make him a true credit to our graduate programme.”
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Liz Hooley and Dave Rowlinson
Cheadle-based specialist lender, Together, has promoted Liz Hooley to head of corporate operations in a key restructure of its corporate lending division.
Liz, who has a 20-year career in corporate banking, lending and risk, will provide strategic and operational direction for the team, and will work alongside Dave Rowlinson, the group’s head of group valuations and corporate lending.
A plan by Together to double the size of its corporate lending includes the addition of three new senior corporate underwriters, Ben Eckersley, a commercial real estate expert who joins from Aldermore, Niz Rajakulendran, previously a commercial real estate underwriter for Yorkshire Building, and Jordan Green who joins the new Together team after working for relationship-driven lender Handelsbanken for a decade.
Together has also appointed two new completion managers in Dave Taberner, who has worked in banking for more than three decades, and Raza-Ali Vasi, a Masters degree law graduate who has previously worked in private practice, specialising in asset management and real estate with Manchester-based global law firm DWF.
Chartered surveyor and RICS-Registered valuer, Dan Sidlow, has also joined the team as valuation manager and Layton McCarthy as operations manager, to drive process efficiencies, people training and performance.
Liz said: “Insights from our valued customers has proved invaluable in helping identify opportunities to improve our processes leading to an investment in additional headcount to broaden capacity.
“With the team already doubled in size we are committed to continuing to make meaningful changes to improve the experience for clients in order to achieve their property ambitions through Together’s fast and flexible commercial finance products.”
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Andy Halpin and Heather Aust
North West law firm, CG, has strengthened its employment law team with the appointment of Andy Halpin as partner.
Andy joins CG with nearly two decades of experience in employment law, bringing a wealth of expertise gained from both private practice and in-house roles.
Previously a partner at Forbes Solicitors, Andy led a successful team of legal professionals and built a reputation for delivering exceptional client service.
Andy said: “This is the most exciting role and opportunity I have had to date.
“The growth of CG since its inception has been phenomenal, and my goal is to continue that trajectory by delivering high quality work, supporting the team, and reinforcing the firm’s reputation for excellence.”
Heather Aust, partner and head of employment at CG, said: “Andy is a fantastic addition to the team, and we are thrilled to have him on board. His expertise, leadership, and commercial mindset align perfectly with CG’s ethos. As we continue to grow, having someone of Andy’s calibre will be instrumental in taking our employment practice to the next level.”
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L-R: Andrew Saich, Amul Batra, Harriet Howell-Black, Matt Ward
Counter, the consultancy brand from Manchester-based coding specialist, Northcoders, has made three new appointments to its senior strategic team.
The first new starter is Harriet Howell-Black who has joined as engagement lead. Harriet has previously worked at AND Digital where she was a managing consultant. She has also worked at Sopra Steria, and she was a management consultant at KPMG for three and a half years.
She said: “This is an incredibly exciting time to be joining Counter. As well as building on our existing client relationships – and introducing metrics to better track performance through engagements – I will be cultivating processes and ways of working that are scalable.”
Joining as client growth lead is Andrew Saich. For the past 10 years, Andrew has worked in tech across various industries helping business leaders with flexible resourcing solutions.
Andrew said: “I am very excited to be joining Counter at such an exciting time in its trajectory.”
The final new starter is Matt Ward who is Counter’s new growth adviser. Matt has moree than 30 years’ experience in innovation across multiple sectors and geographies. He has worked with global corporates as well as small agencies and start-ups, including Virtual Sport Group,
Market Gravity, XCD Partners, Deloitte, NatWest Group and Aegon.
Amul Batra, MD of Counter, said: “2025 is set to be a big year for the business and the arrivals of Harriet, Andrew and Matt come at just the right time. They each bring with them a raft of experience and talent and I am confident they help take us to the next level as we continue our mission of being the very best tech problem solvers.”
