Appointments: BDP, Britain’s Energy Coast, Aintree, and more…
ARCHITECTURAL firm BDP has appointed a new associate to strengthen the urban planning team at its Manchester Studio.
Sarah Peel was promoted after working for public and private sector clients across the North, and in the Middle East.
Ms Peel, 32, who lives in South Manchester, joined BDP as a senior planning consultant in 2009 having previously worked for both the public and private sector in a number of different planning roles, including Salford City Council, Liverpool City Council, and a planning role at former sports and leisure consultancy, PMP in Cheshire.
BDP Manchester Studio planning director, Andy Teage, said: “Sarah is an outstanding town planner and an excellent team player. Her contributions to BDP Manchester’s projects at home and abroad continue to impress, and I look forward to her strategic input in her new role as associate.”
::
BRITAIN’S Energy Coast – West Cumbria’s economic development agency – has appointed Steven Szostak as its new chief executive officer.
Mr Szostak, 56, has joined from Regenerate Pennine Lancashire where he was deputy managing director and head of investment.
Britain’s Energy Coast is funded by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, Nuclear Management Partners and Sellafield to deliver socio-economic developments across West Cumbria.
He said: “My passion has always been to help build stronger, business-friendly economies that improve the job and career prospects of local people. West Cumbria is in the extremely fortunate position of facing huge investment in the local nuclear industry and has all the ingredients to grasp opportunities in clean technologies, in particular wet renewables. BEC exists to help build a strong and diverse economy that brings benefits to all and I’m honoured to be leading the organisation in this exciting period.”
Originally an urban planner, Mr Szostak spent 20 years running several economic development and business support partnership operations including Doncaster Central Development Trust and Business Link Bradford and District.
::
SPACE Invader, the commercial interior design studio, has strengthened its Manchester based team with the appointment of Howard Powsney as a senior designer.
Mr Powsney, previously at Sheppard Robson, has 10 years’ experience working at architectural practices on projects spanning residential, education, retail and commercial.
Recently he played a key role in designing schemes for both the BBC’s and ITV’s new offices at MediaCityUK. The appointment brings the Space Invader team up to six and comes on the back of project wins to the value of £2.5m in construction value during 2012.
Director Simon Millington said: “Howard is an extremely talented designer with a wealth of commercial experience and a proven track record of delivering inspirational working and media environments.
“As a growing business, we are always looking out for designers with flare and a real understanding of what it takes to take a client brief and bring it to life. We have a number of high profile projects both in the North West and in London, so we are looking forward to putting Howard’s expertise into practice.”
Space Invader was established in 2010 by Simon Millington and John Williams, both previously of HKR Architects and Ryder Architects respectively. Since then, the business has completed projects for the likes of Everything Everywhere, Iveco Trucks, Bruntwood, Hotel La Tour, NCC Group, Astra Zeneca, Zodiac Maritime and Ignis Asset Management.
::
AINTREE Racecourse has appointed a new business development management as part of ongoing expansion plans.
Gemma Nichols joins from Thistle and Goman Hotels where she worked as national account director in new business. She has more than six years’ experience in the conference and events sector and will be working as part of the conference and events team at Aintree to increase bookings for non-race day events.
She said: “It’s an exciting time to be joining the Jockey Club [which runs the course] with our new restructure and continued investment in facilities, from the new champagne bar, to recent developments such as the racecourse’s Equestrian centre which has given the course one of the major exhibition venues in the region.
“I’m looking forward to making my own mark at the racecourse, in particular building relationships with some of the big blue chip firms and building on the excellent work the racecourse already does.”
The racecourse invested more than £35m in a redevelopment of facilities in 2007 and more recently invested more than £450,000 in the refurbishment of Princess Royal Stand to create a new lounge and event’s space.
