Appointments: Irwin Mitchell; WRG; Mazars & more
THE Manchester office of law firm Irwin Mitchell has appointed commercial litigation partner Jonathon Crook.
Mr Crook has joined from Eversheds where he built a significant commercial litigation practice with an emphasis on banking and financial services. Before moving to Eversheds in 2001, he built up extensive international experience spending six years in Hong Kong as a partner at Simmons & Simmons and Clifford Chance.
Commenting on his move, he said: “I am excited about the prospect of joining the firm’s Manchester office, particularly at a time when it is making considerable investment in growing its business legal services team.”
Roy Beckett, Irwin Mitchell partner and head of business legal services in Manchester, added: “Jonathon is an expert in his field and this latest move demonstrates our intention to grow our market share by investing in highly talented people who have an innovative approach to law and a proven track record when it comes to supporting the complex needs of clients.”
Meanwhile the firm has promoted Chris Rawstron to the position of national head of corporate.
Mr Rawstron will be responsible for leading the firm’s 14-partner corporate and commercial offering across offices in Manchester, London, Birmingham Sheffield and Leeds.
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RATIO Law, the Manchester commercial firm, has strengthening its commercial property offering with the appointment of Nick Trowell, as a partner.
Mr Trowell has previously been a partner at Eversheds, head of property at Heatons and one of the founding partners of Hewlett Swanson,
Gisella Alberici, partner at Ratio Law and a former colleague of Mr Trowell at Heatons and Eversheds, said: “Nick is well respected in the industry for offering no nonsense, straightforward and commercially sound advice, which fits well into our ethos at Ratio. We put a lot of emphasis on the quality of support we provide our clients, something that Nick will be able to help us improve on even further thanks to his technical expertise and solid industry experience.”
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WRG, the Manchester-based live communications company, has strengthened its senior team with the appointment of Carol Smith as strategic business development director.
WRG chief operating officer David Sharrock, said: “As part of our plans to accelerate our growth and expand our global operations Carol’s role will be crucial. She’ll be responsible for our brand and ensuring we have the right strategic approach to new business acquisition across key sectors and global regions.”
Carol’s most recent role was as managing director at Cheshire-based Cirrus, where she led the 2013 merger with The Raft.
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THE Manchester office of accountancy firm Mazars has appointed Tom Campbell as an executive to its corporate finance team.
Mr Campbell, who joins from Saffery Champness, will bolster the team which has just completed om three deals in recent weeks.
Corporate finance partner Peter Terry said: “It has been a busy few months and we have a significant number of deals in the pipeline as the economic recovery gathers momentum. Tom will be a valuable addition to the team.”
Mazars advised on the £30m sale of Radcliffe-based electronic cigarette maker VIP, Warrington-based Phoenix Inspection Systems acquisition by US firm Nova Instruments and the sale of BMW dealership and body shop, Blue Bell Wilmslow, to Halliwell Jones.
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LIVERPOOL law firm Cassell Moore has made a further two appointments in its family department, which it launched 12 months ago with the hire of partner Pauline McNamara.
The latest recruits are associate solicitor Sara Ismail and solicitor Caroline Hamilton.
Pauline McNamara, Cassell Moore partner and head of family, said: “When I joined Cassell Moore my ambition was to establish the fastest growing family law team in the city. Twelve months on I’m thrilled by the growth of the department and the calibre of candidates we’ve recruited.”
