Appointments: Big hitter joins Citation; Widdall in at BGF; EMS; Stephensons; Mitchell Charlesworth

CITATION, the Cheshire-based consultancy which advises SMEs on employment law and health and safety regulations, has strengthened its board with the appointment of media company boss Duncan Painter as a non-executive director.

Mr Painter is chief executive of Top Right Group, the publisher formerly known as Emap. Top Right Group is the parent group of i2i Events Group, 4C Group, EMAP and Lions Festivals, jointly owned by the Guardian Media Group and private equity firm, Apax.

He has more than  25 years’ experience leading successful B2B and data companies, holding previous senior roles at BSkyB, Experian Marketing Services, Hitachi Data Systems and consumer intelligence company, ClarityBlue.

Citation chief executive Chris Morris said: “Duncan brings with him a wealth of knowledge in B2B and subscription businesses which will add great value to our plans for growth. We have built a strong senior management team and identified a strategy to dominate the HR and health and safety compliance market.”

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THE Business Growth Fund (BGF) has appointed Matt Widdall as a senior investment manager based at its Manchester office.

He will be responsible for identifying businesses to support and working with them to achieve their growth plans.

Widdall has joined BGF from Lloyds Acquisition Finance in Manchester where he was a director. Prior to this he spent 12 years in the corporate finance advisory team at Deloitte.

The Business Growth Fund was launched as part of wider efforts to improve lending to business. The organisation provides capital of between £2m and £10m in profitable businesses with turnovers of between £5m and £100m in return for minority stakes in businesses of between 10% and 40%.

Regional director Andy Gregory said: “He is very experienced in originating and leading transactions of different sizes of businesses, across a wide range of sectors. He also has particularly strong management and interpersonal skills and understands the needs of management teams, corporate boards, shareholders and funders having worked with each stakeholder group at a senior level over many years.”

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PETER Blyth has been appointed operations director at Ellesmere Port company Event Marketing Solutions.

Mr Blyth, who has held senior roles with DHL, Coca Cola and Rentokil Initial Group, will help the company, which runs roadshow truck tours for corporate and publci sector clients, to expand into new markets such as China and South Africa.

His is EMS’ second recent major hire following the recruitment of advertising executive, Brian Child to drive the sales and marketing function.
 
Chief executive Keith Austin said: “We have ambitious plans for growth globally, and we are realigning our business to ensure that it has the capabilities to meet and exceed our targets.”

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MERSEYSIDE legal practice Maxwell Hodge has made anumber of new hires and announced three promotions.

The newcomers are John Gorman and Mark Fergusson who have brought more than 15 years’ of specialist commercial experience to the firm.

Meanwhile Brad Armstrong has become head of the commercial department. He has worked in the team for five years. In other moves, wills specialist Andrea Ashton has been appointed as head of lifetime planning, and solicitor Jennifer Howell will manage the firm’s Heswall office.

Maxwell Hodge has eight offices in the region stretching from Formby to Wirral including an office in Liverpool city centre.

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CLINICAL negligence solicitor, Nicola Hamblett, has joined North West law firm Stephensons Solicitors.

Hamblett will act for people who have suffered negligence at the hands of medical professionals and will be based at the firm’s Wigan office.
 
She gained a law degree at Lancaster University, followed by the Legal Practice Course at the College of Law in London.

She then worked in Toronto, Canada, before returning to the UK in 2010 to take up a position with Duncan Gibblins Solicitors, overseeing cases in personal injury and clinical negligence.

She said: “Since joining the firm I have been specialising solely in clinical negligence and working among respected and high profile clinical negligence lawyers. I chose to progress my career at Stephensons as it has an excellent reputation in the North West for litigation and the teams are ranked in the Legal 500. Several of the partners in the clinical negligence team are highly regarded for their work and I wanted to be a part of that team and to learn from the best.”

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ACCOUNTANCY firm Mitchell Charlesworth has appointed business restructuring expert Mike Gregory to lead a new solvent restructuring service.

The team aims to help businesses reduce costs and return value to shareholders bystriking off or liquidating solvent companies which have reached the end of their useful life. It will also advise on streamlining cumbersome group structures and help businesses increase dividends to shareholders by reducing share capital.

Mitchell Charlesworth has offices in Manchester, Liverpool, Chester, Warrington and Widnes.

Partner and head of corporate recovery and insolvency Jeremy Oddie said: “We are delighted and excited to have Mike on board. His skills will add to the already high standard of services that we offer contacts and clients. His knowledge of solvent restructuring is first class.”

Mr Gregory has previously worked for big-four firms PwC and KPMG.