People: United Living Group; Howes Percival; Shaw & Co; Roxtec; Freeths; Bermans
United Living Group, the Warrington-based provider of infrastructure, affordable housing, property services, and telecoms, has appointed Claire Kershaw as CEO of its subsidiary, United Living Property Services.
Claire is an accomplished leader with more than 20 years of experience in the social housing sector, covering property maintenance, refurbishment, and regeneration. She has held a variety of leadership roles in companies such as Mitie, Willmott Dixon, and Kier where she led business strategy and delivered operational, customer experience, work winning and procurement improvement programmes.
Vlad Nedelcu
Luke Anderson, chief operating officer of United Living Group, said: “Her professional credibility and strong leadership will be instrumental in driving our successful property services business forward.
“We are also pleased to announce that Vlad Nedelcu will be joining Claire’s senior leadership team as COO of United Living Property Services. Vlad has played a pivotal role in PiLON’s journey, which United Living Group acquired in 2024, growing the business from the ground up into the successful and respected organisation it is today.”
Both Claire and Vlad are members of the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIHM) and the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB).
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Bilal Eshan
Regional law firm, Howes Percival, has announced two senior promotions at its Manchester office.
Bilal Ehsan, a specialist in immigration law has been promoted to partner. Bilal provides operational and strategic advice to start-ups, SME’s and major multi-national organisations on all aspects of business immigration including sponsor licence applications, work related visa sponsorship, permanent residence and right to work considerations.
Meanwhile, insolvency and corporate recovery expert, Deborah Wilson, has been made a senior associate.
Geraint Davies, Howes Percival’s chairman, said: “Huge congratulations to Bilal and Deborah on their promotions. I think the whole team at Howes Percival has made an enormous contribution over the last 12 months, so while we celebrate the specific landmark of a promotion, we also recognise the hard work, dedication, and invaluable contribution everyone has made.”
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Jake Naylor
Shaw & Co, the specialist corporate finance advisory firm, has appointed Jake Naylor as a deal origination executive.
Jake is the first addition to the company’s recently formed deal origination team which oversees all of Shaw & Co’s business development activities across the UK.
Based in the North West, Jake joins Shaw & Co from Justteachers, a specialist supplier of teachers, nursery nurses and support staff for schools, colleges and nurseries, where he was an education recruitment consultant.
Jake has a Bachelor’s Degree with First Class Honours in International Events/Business Management from the University of Salford.
During his time at university he took part in an international competition run by the charity Young Enterprise that saw him lead a team representing the UK to Estonia, where they won the main prize for Junior Achievement Innovation of the Year.
Dan Martin, partner head of deal origination at Shaw & Co, said: “The new deal origination team has an integral role to play in fulfilling Shaw & Co’s plans to grow the company to over 90 people across the UK within the next decade.
“Jake will play a key role in supercharging our growth nationally as we look to support more customers with the buying, selling or funding of a business.”
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Jacob Barratt
Bury-based cable and pipe seal manufacturer, Roxtec, is raising its profile in Central and South West England with the appointment of Jacob Barratt as technical sales manager, power and process industries.
In his new role, Cardiff-based Jacob will further Roxtec’s regional growth strategy across various areas, including substations, energy storage, power transmission and distribution, onshore oil, gas and chemical processing plants.
Jacob has a strong background in sales after working across a range of industries, including retail and care home specification, over the course of his five-year career.
Roxtec’s managing director, Clive Sharp, said: “We were impressed with Jacob’s positive personality and knew he’d be an ideal cultural fit for Roxtec. We’re excited about further building our presence in Central and South Western England by appointing Jacob.
“This region offers huge potential in the power and process industries. This means that there are many opportunities for Jacob to take on a variety of projects and customers, while building valuable relationships with both new and existing clients.”
Jacob said: “Roxtec is a global market leader with strong core values. The team offers exceptional ongoing training and I’m learning something new every day.
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Matthew Kelly
Law firm, Freeths, has announced its latest round of promotions, with more than 80 elevating their roles across the business, including nine new partners.
Freeths, which has 13 offices, said, as a certified B Corporation the business is also committed to creating an inclusive workplace which ensures equality and is reflected in 50% of those promoted in 2025 being women.
Matthew Kelly, based in the restructuring and insolvency team in Manchester, has been recognised for his outstanding leadership, client focus, and getting results on challenging contentious work across the entire scope of personal and corporate insolvency.
National managing partner, Karl Jansen, welcomed the promotion, saying: “I hope they are as proud of this achievement as we are to be able to reward their endeavours.
“I wish them every success in their new roles, as they help shape and drive the future of the firm.”
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Fergal O’Cleirigh, left, with James Harris
North west law firm, Bermans, has strengthened its property and construction team with the appointment of James Harris as a partner.
James, who is based in the firm’s Liverpool office, has more than 20 years’ experience as a commercial property specialist.
He advises clients across the North West, North Wales, the Midlands, the London area and other parts of the UK, with a focus on acting for landowners, developers, high net worth individuals and owner-managed businesses on residential and commercial property developments.
He also advises licensees of restaurants and pubs.
He is currently advising Manchester-based residential developer and development
manager, Zentra Group, as it seeks to complete the acquisition from Urban Splash of a site in the city’s New Islington area. The land is earmarked for a six-storey apartment block and a ground-floor commercial unit.
James has joined Bermans from Manchester practice Pannone Corporate. Before joining Pannone Corporate, he worked at Knights and was managing partner at Jolliffe & Co.
At Bermans, he is a senior member of the property team. As client partner for his network, he will be working with the corporate, employment, private client and property finance teams.
Further recruitment of commercial property specialists is under way as Bermans continues to expand.
James said: “Much of my existing client base is in the Liverpool City Region and Chester, so being at Bermans enables me to better service these businesses, as well as to continue operating in the Manchester property scene.”
Fergal O’Cleirigh, head of the property and construction team at Bermans, said: “James has a wealth of experience and is a great addition to the firm.
“He brings with him an impressive list of clients and contacts who will benefit not only the property team but the firm as a whole. We are also looking forward to introducing his client base to our existing network for the benefit of all.”
Bermans recently bolstered its litigation, asset-based lending recoveries and private client teams with the arrival of partner, Mike Carter, senior associate, Adam Tiesteel and associate Jobeth Copping-Barrett, who are based in the Manchester office.
Their arrival followed the recent appointments of property partner Usha Sharma, corporate partner, Paul Edels, and paralegal, Paul Rabbette at the Liverpool office.
Bermans is part of MAPD Group, which was founded by Brian Cullen and Joanna Kingston-Davies in 2020 to power the growth of local law firms nationally through acquisition. The initials stand for Making a Positive Difference.
