Appointments: RBS in real estate hire; Donohue moves to PR: EHL Ingredients & more

ROYAL Bank of Scotland Corporate and Institutional Banking  has appointed Heath Thomas as director of real estate finance in the North.

In his new role Mr Thomas will join the team supporting property clients in Manchester, Liverpool, Preston and Chester city regions.

Prior to joining RBS, he worked at The Mansion Group in Manchester where was director of fund management and banking relations. He also worked at Barclays.

Stuart Heslop regional managing director, real estate finance said: “RBS is committed to the real estate market in the UK and being on the ground around the country is extremely important to our understanding of the market and our ability up support our clients.

“Heath will be looking for new opportunities to support new and existing clients to acquire property investments and develop new commercial and residential development schemes. The regional market is showing real signs of recovery and we expect 2014 to be a very active year.”

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GVA has strengthened its Manchester office with the appointment of Janine Wood as an associate in its national industrial and logistics team.
 
Ms Wood, who joins from P3 Property Consultants, has more than 13 years’ experience working in industrial property for clients including SEGRO, VALAD and Royal Mail.

Robert Dunston, head of GVA’s industrial and distribution team in the North West, said: “Janine is highly experienced in the sector and brings with her a great breadth of knowledge and connections.”

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ACCOUNTANTS and business advisers CLB Coopers has hired Tamrin Illidge as an audit senior and also taken in two new graduate trainees.

Managing partner David Travis said: “The firm starts the New Year as it ended 2013, committed to continued investment in growth and supporting clients.”

CLB Coopers has offices in Manchester Bolton and Lancaster.

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SIMON Donohue, a former senior business and features journalist has joined Manchester PR agency Judge & Howard – becoming the agency’s 10th member of staff.

Mr Donohue, who spent 15 years at the Manchester Evening News before leaving last year, joins as a senior consultant.

Judge & Howard co-founder Libby Howard said: “Despite the tough economic climate, our business continues to thrive, thanks to our ethos of five-star service delivered by a senior team.  
 
“Simon is a perfect fit for our high-level client portfolio – which includes four PLCs – and his wide-ranging journalism experience will be a major asset in the era of content-driven communication.”

The appointment comes on the back of several client wins in the health sector, including Bolton healthcare sector software specialist Ascribe.

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TURLEY Associates has made several appointments and promotions in its economic planning team in Manchester.
 
Matthew Spilsbury has been promoted to associate director, Gavin Amos joins as an economic planner from Capita’s Urban Vision Partnership and  Andrew Lowe joins the team as an assistant planner from The University of Sheffield.
 
Richard Laming, head of economic planning at Turley said: “We have seen our portfolio of housing and mixed use work grow as confidence returns to the North West’s property market.

“Our investment in the team adds new expertise in terms of measuring the economic impacts of development, promoting sites, working with developer consortia to bid for land, advising on viability and deliverability and calculating housing requirements.”
 
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TAYLORS, the North West commercial law firm, has boosted its employment team, with the appointment of Tom Saville.
 
He joins the firm, which has offices in Blackburn and Manchester from Altrincham firm Myers Lister Price, where he was lead employment lawyer.
 
He will be based at the firm’s Manchester office and will support the firm’s head of employment, Will Clayton.

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STOCKPORT-based food ingredient supplier, EHL Ingredients, has strengthened its sales team with the appointment of Roger Toll as  national sales manager.

Mr Toll, 56, previously worked for a European-based herb and spice manufacturer and supplier. During this time, he developed strong relationships with many major UK and European food manufacturers and ingredient suppliers.

Sales and marketing director Tasneem Backhouse said: “This is an exciting development for EHL Ingredients and Roger will be a great asset to the team as we grow our customer base and expand our product portfolio.

“His knowledge, experience and great reputation within the food industry will support the whole company. He has a great track record of growing company sales and we’re looking forward to working together as we expand the business.”