Appointments: Chase Templeton; Dow Schofield Watts, MSIF & more
CHASE Templeton, the private equity backed private medical insurance provider has re-jigged its senior team to allow it to continue its recent acquisition activity.
The Darwen, Blackburn-headquartered intermediary has appointed former finance director Jeff Tate to the new role of mergers and acquisitions director. Mr Tate had recently been drawn into deals activity as the company stepped-up its buy and build strategy.
Replacing him as FD is Jamie McGivern, who steps up from his role as financial analyst which he took when joining the company last year. A chartered accountant Mr McGivern has extensive accounting experience – including four years with KPMG.
Chief executive Warren Dickson said: “The strength and pace of our acquisitions under buy and build has necessitated an expansion of our executive finance function. By appointing Jamie, an exceptionally capable and highly experienced finance professional, to the board we are freeing up Jeff to focus exclusively on the swift and smooth completion of deals.”
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DOW Schofield Watts, the Daresbury-based corporate finance advisory and equity finance firm, has promoted two members of its team, Dave Graham and Tony Meakin, to director level.
Mr Graham, joined Dow Schofield Watts Corporate Finance in 2007. Since then he has been involved in a number of high profile M&A deals.
Oxford graduate, Mr Meakin, also joined in 2007 and was previously with Ernst & Young. He has becomes a director at DSW’s investment fund PHD Equity Partners.
James Dow, founding partner of Dow Schofield Watts, said: “These promotions are richly deserved, both Dave and Tony have developed industry wide experience working with the North West investment community.
“Their contribution to the development of Dow Schofield Watts Corporate Finance and PHD Equity Partners has been phenomenal, and a key driver in the growth of our business.”
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MERSEYSIDE Special Investment Fund (MSIF) has recruited a new investment manager.
Lisa Ashby joins the firm from Liverpool Vision where she worked as a business growth manager.
Her role will be to manage lending through the Start Up Loans Fund, a government-backed scheme designed to help fund new business start-up costs.
She said: “Start-up companies are really important to the local economy yet they can find it very difficult to get finance from traditional sources. MSIF is one of the few organisations lending to start-up businesses and offers a range of flexible funding packages to support them.”
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WARINGTON-based Optionis Group has made two promotions as it looks to further enhance its services to contractors, freelancers, recruitment firms and small businesses.
Employment law specialist Juliet Byrne, formerly head of legal at the firm, is now legal and technical director, assuming overall responsibility for legislative compliance.
Meanwhile, operations delivery manager Shelley Ankers-Wainwright has been made head of sales operations. In her new role she will implement smoother processes within the business development function of Optionis’ brands Parasol and ClearSky Contractor Accounting.
Optionis group managing director Derek Kelly said: “This is a crucial time in the evolution of Optionis, so we need talented people like Juliet and Shelley at the forefront. Both have shown tremendous dedication, loyalty and skill during their time with us, and I would like to congratulate them on their promotions.”
Optionis employs 250 staff at sites in Warrington, Middleton in Greater Manchester, Dorset and London.
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ED Kennedy has been appointed as manager of Grosvenor Shopping Centre in Macclesfield.
Mr Kennedy, 49, has had a long career in retail and has worked for Sainsbury’s, Asda, Woolworths and Disney stores, before managing an outlet shopping centre in the Potteries.
He said: “We’ve got 36 shops at the Grosvenor Centre at the moment, plus some occasional pop-up stores. As everybody knows, there are plans in place for expansion and I think there are exciting times ahead.”
