People: Riverside; Eventus Recruitment; Ascend; Redwood Bank; Houlihan Lokey; TLT; Anwyl Homes; Freeths; QBS

Liverpool housing association, Riverside, has appointed Liz Fairburn as chief customer officer from Tuesday, April 22, 2025, following the retirement of former executive director, Patrick New.

Ms Fairburn joins Riverside from the Department for Work and Pensions, where she served as director of customer experience and has 25 years’ experience leading operational and customer experience teams across the private and public sectors.

She was previously head of household claims for insurer, Direct Line Group.

Within the executive role for the national housing provider, Ms Fairburn will focus on shaping and implementing customer strategy, enhancing customer experience and ensuring the delivery of quality services.

Paul Dolan, Riverside’s group chief executive, said: “We are thrilled to welcome Liz as our new chief customer officer and look forward to working with her.

“Having merged with One Housing Group three years ago, Liz joins us at a critical time as we roll-out our new operating model for the delivery of customer services following an intensive period of transition and integration.

“Liz is a passionate, energetic and inspiring leader. Her wealth of experience and commitment to customer service will be instrumental in supporting our new teams to provide excellent services for our customers and enhancing the communities we serve.”

Liz Fairburn said: “t’s clear to me that, at Riverside, our customers are at the heart of everything we do and I’m keen to carry on the strong foundations laid by the senior team.”

Other senior changes at Riverside have seen Ian Gregg move to a new role as chief property officer, now responsible for all property-related functions alongside development including London and growth.

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Richard Hatchett

The Eventus Recruitment Group has welcomed experienced legal recruiter Richard Hatchett to its team.

Richard will be based in the recruitment group’s Lancaster office on a hybrid basis and has more than 20 years’ experience of successfully supporting professionals with their job search, and businesses with their recruitment within the professional services sector.

More recently, Richard has been specialising in legal recruitment and has joined the Eventus Recruitment Group as a senior legal recruiter. At Eventus R Richard is looking forward to concentrating on all legal roles in Surrey and Kent.

Managing director, Siobhan Courtney, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Richard to the Eventus Recruitment Group. His extensive experience in professional services recruitment, combined with his passion for connecting top talent with the right opportunities, makes him a fantastic addition to our team.”

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Clair Barry

Ascend, the UK’s largest third-party operator of single-family rental (SFR) homes, overseeing two thirds of the entire asset class, has recruited Clair Barry to the role of head of mobilisation.

Clair will be heading up Manchester-based Ascend’s mobilisation team, working closely with investor partners to develop tailored delivery and leasing strategies for new homes and schemes being onboarded.

Ascend has a significant pipeline through its existing management mandates, with more than 1,500 new homes due to be onboarded by the end of 2025.

Clair joins from JLL, where she was an asset manager working on the firm’s BTR portfolio, operating units on behalf of clients including ABRDN and Schroders.

Prior to this, she was mobilisation and consultancy lead at UrbanBubble, developing bespoke mobilisation strategies for its BTR holdings, incorporating building design to leasing plans and resident services propositions. Clair brings more than 25 years of expertise in residential property lettings, including eight years of specific experience with BTR assets.

Lee Hill, commercial director at Ascend, said: “As the portfolio of homes under our management grows, with a significant pipeline being onboarded consistently over the next 12 months, mobilisation is a vital part of what Ascend has to offer.

“By putting in place the right strategies as early as possible, better outcomes can be secured for investors and residents alike, driving value across platforms. Clair’s experience in this area is unrivalled, and she will play a vital role in delivering even better performance for our clients and their portfolios.”

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Tina Kokkinos

Redwood Bank’s newest non-executive director has vowed to support the bank to grow in her new role as incoming chair of its risk committee, following recent official FCA approval.

With more than 20 years of experience across leading financial institutions, Tina Kokkinos brings a wealth of knowledge in strategy, operations, risk and governance.

Her background includes senior leadership roles at JPMorgan, HSBC and fintech start-up Siege FX, as well as current board positions at Harpenden Building Society and Onward Group.

She said: “Redwood has established itself as a specialist business bank, and in particular supporting property investors and landlords with finance to grow their businesses. I look forward to working with the board and executive team to help Redwood continue growing profitably.”

Mark Winlow, chairman, said: “Tina is a strong non-executive with a broad range of experience; we are proud to welcome her to the board. Her expertise in risk and operational strategy will further strengthen our governance framework as we continue to grow the bank.”

Gary Wilkinson, CEO and co-founder of Redwood, which has bases in Warrington and Letchworth, said: “We are thrilled to welcome Tina to the board. Her extensive experience across banks, fintech and not-for-profit organisations will be hugely valuable as we enter our next phase of growth. Tina’s passion for governance, risk, diversity and social impact aligns perfectly with our values.”

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Paul Keohane

Law firm, TLT, has continued to expand its footprint in Manchester with the appointment of Paul Keohane as a partner in the corporate team.

Joining TLT from Addleshaw Goddard, Paul brings with him more than 15 years of experience working with many of the UK’s largest privately-owned and listed companies on their most strategically important transactions.

He specialises in advising clients on M&A – including cross-border matters – and on UK public company transactions.

Paul’s appointment will support the continued growth of TLT’s Manchester team. His appointment follows the arrival of fellow corporate partner, Victoria Zivkovic in May 2024 and Alexander Murdie in the PIC team in September 2024. In August 2024, the firm moved into the new Eden office in Salford, demonstrating the firm’s ambition in the North West and advancing its growth.

Paul said: “TLT’s corporate team has an impressive track record of undertaking outstanding work for its clients, and I’m very excited to join such an impressive team of innovative and focused individuals.  I’m looking forward to helping the team continue to deliver first class results and preparing our clients for what comes next.”

James Chadwick, partner and head of location for Manchester, said: “Paul’s appointment is another declaration of our intent to continue growing our presence in Manchester. His experience working with many of the UK’s largest privately owned and listed companies on their most strategically important transactions is well suited to the needs of our Manchester clients, and his broad corporate expertise will make him a major asset to our national corporate team as well.”

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Gareth Owen

Two Manchester executives at Houlihan Lokey have been promoted.

Gareth Owen has been named as a managing director in the Capital Solutions team and Mark Smith as a managing director in the global Technology Group.

The investment bank said the promotions follow a “standout year” for the Manchester office of Houlihan Lokey, which advised on numerous high-profile transactions in 2024 and continues to build momentum in 2025.

Mark Smith

Houlihan Lokey has 35 global offices with a major presence in the North West with the Manchester office, and alongside Managing Directors Adrian Reed, Dominic Orsini and Adam Sivner, Gareth Owen and Mark Smith worked on complex M&A transactions and capital raises.

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Duncan Hambley, Daniel Cunliffe, Kerry Heaton

Three new faces have joined the technical team at Anwyl Homes Lancashire to support the growth of the business.

The new recruits are architectural technician, Duncan Hambley, assistant architectural technician, Kerry Heaton and development engineer, Daniel Cunliffe, all based at the homebuilder’s regional head office at Buckshaw Village, Chorley.

They bring a diverse set of experience and skills to the business.

Duncan Hambley, from Leyland, has had a varied career including 12 years in private architectural practices and three years working with housebuilders. He’s also worked as a supply chain coordinator.

He said: “My role with Anwyl includes creating working drawings for different stages of a development; co-ordinating supplier and consultant information and ensuring all drawings comply with NHBC Standards and Building Regulations.”

Kerry Heaton studied interior design, construction and property at the University of Salford. Her experience includes working for architects on city centre apartments and bespoke housing designs, retail fit-outs for major high street brands and, more recently, utility layouts for housing developments including Anwyl schemes.

She said: “Working directly for a developer is new to me – each day is different and I’m learning new things. I work with the architectural technicians, creating working drawings for different stages, tender and construction drawings. It’s an exciting time to join the team as a number of new sites are starting and I’m looking forward to seeing how the process works from the start.”

Daniel Cunliffe completed a HNC in civil engineering before starting work with a groundwork contractor as a site engineer. He’s worked for several contractors over the last 10 years.

He said: “I’m used to being out on site and had always wanted to work for a housebuilder.”

Anwyl’s Lancashire business recently acquired sites in Haydock, Ingol and Warrington, across which the company plans to deliver 435 new homes.

Managing director, John Grime, said: “Job creation is just one of the economic benefits of housebuilding – we also invest in communities to support the growth of neighbourhoods. We’ve expanded our technical team to ensure we have a skilled workforce to help navigate new sites through the planning process and beyond.”

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New joiners to employment team

National law firm, Freeths, has continued to bolster its national employment team with a number of new hires.

Led by partner and national head of employment, pensions and immigration, Rena Magdani, the team has announced eight new lawyers across seven of its 13 offices.

Joining at an exciting time, the new team members have stepped into their roles as Freeths continues to go from strength-to-strength as it continues its trend of double-digit growth. More specifically, the employment team has grown by 43% in the past four years.

The team has welcomed Fergus Currie (employment barrister, Bristol), Mitchell Roberts (senior associate, Leicester), Lisa Aitken (senior associate, Birmingham), Stephanie Clarke (senior associate, Milton Keynes), Jainika Patel (senior associate, Manchester), Sophie Lloyd (associate, Nottingham), Claudia Booth (associate, Sheffield) and Ellie Wise (qualifying as associate, Milton Keynes).

Rena Magdani said: “This expansion is a direct response to our unprecedented growth and the increased demand for employment law advice, particularly driven by the Employment Rights Bill. This strategic growth ensures we continue to provide first class, commercially astute, and pragmatic advice to our national client base.”

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QBS Software integration team

QBS Software has expanded its integration function, doubling the size of its dedicated team to enhance post-acquisition performance and accelerate value creation across the group.

The newly scaled team comprises a blend of full-time specialists and highly experienced consultants—several of whom have participated in integration programmes on one of the UK’s most complex and high-profile mergers. QBS’s enhanced integration function now spans core areas including functional integration, cultural alignment, process harmonisation, and IT systems consolidation.

The functional integration team now comprises of Matt Lee, ex PWC and Alantra, Jon Rawnsley, ex Lloyds Banking Group, Purple Bricks and MBNA. Systems integration manager Chris Grunwell from K3 Syspro and a new head of process harmonisation joining in early May. Adam Whitfield is project managing the integration programme and the team is supported by William Geens, the founder of Prianto, who owns the cultural integration workstream.

“Post-acquisition integration is where the real value is won or lost in M&A, and too many companies underestimate its importance,” said Dave Stevinson, CEO of QBS Software. “We’re doubling down on this area because I 100% believe in getting it right. Our expanded team brings deep domain expertise across all aspects of integration, and I’m confident they will deliver significant uplift as we continue to
execute on our M&A strategy.”

QBS has completed fourteen acquisitions over the past seven years and has a “bulging M&A pipeline”.

The expanded integration team will operate as a centre of excellence across the group, supporting new acquisitions while embedding scalable best practices across all regions. This move reflects QBS’s commitment to operational excellence and to building the structural backbone needed to support its long-term growth trajectory.