Appointments: Phil Cusack joins Capita; Gaskell on the up; Coy in at KBS

PHIL Cusack, the respected property professional and current president of Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, has joined Capita as North West business development director.

He was previously with AECOM for nine years was a member of its Northern senior management team.

At Capita his role will consist of representing the property and infrastructure business across the North West, raising the profile of the company in Greater Manchester and contributing to Capita’s developing strategy across all of its built environment activities as a key member of the management team.

Simon Birchall, executive director, design and management, at Capita said: “Phil is a great appointment for our company.  He is well known throughout the North West region and nationally and will be a key component in developing our business and helping customers to access the breadth and quality of our design and management offer.”

Mr Cusack has an MA in Business Management and a BA  in Urban and Regional Planning as well as postgraduate diplomas in both marketing and management Studies.

Prior to AECOM he held senior roles with Kier Group, Morgan Sindall Group and Wimpey Construction UK.

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FORMER Manchester corporate financier James Gaskell has moved up the corporate ladder with US company Actuant.

Mr Gaskell, 39, who trained as a barrister before moving into corporate finance, where he worked for Rothschild in Manchester, has been promoted as global business development leader for the energy division at Actuant Corportation.

Actuant acquired Viking SeaTech – the business Mr Gaskell left Rothschild to join in 2009 – last year. After living in Norway for part of his time with Viking, his new position is based in Aberdeen.

Commenting on his new role, he said: ” I am very much looking forward to joining the energy segment leadership team and supporting its continued growth and diversification in the chapter ahead.”  

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JULIAN  Coy has been appointed to head KBS Corporate Finance in Manchester as it aims to become a major player in the UK M&A mid-market.

Mr Coy was previously head of corporate finance for Manchester and the North at BDO and more recently ran his own boutique practice, CHA Corporate Finance.

He is joined by his former BDO colleague, John Hunt, who has taken on the role of director at KBS Corporate Finance.

Managing director John Rigby said: “The M&A market is extremely buoyant and there is renewed appetite among companies to do deals as the economic recovery gathers momentum.  KBS Corporate Finance offers our larger corporate clients a team of high quality advisers and we are pleased to welcome Julian and John on board to develop it into a major player in the M&A mid-market.”

KBS Corporate Finance operates in the mid-market, advising owner managers on deals valued between £5m and £25m. It is a division of Bolton-based KBS Corporate.

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PAUL Magee, a commercial litigation solicitor at law firm Linder Myers’ Chester office, has been promoted to associate.

Born in Belfast, he specialises in property and land disputes including dilapidations, possession and rent arrears, issues relating to land boundaries and disputes over defective building work.

Peter Kaye, head of commercial litigation at Linder Myers said: “Paul has extensive experience specifically in dealing with property matters and his promotion is well deserved. Working in the Chester area for more than 10 years, he has excellent local knowledge and a strong track record of resolving often highly contentious disputes.”

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BOLTON-based personal injury law firm Asons Solicitors has promoted Stephanie Matthews, a solicitor in its industrial disease department as head of department.

She has been with Asons for two years and she holds the firm’s record for the most settled cases in one month.

Asons principal, Kamran Akram said: “Stephanie is consistently successful and in a very short space of time has proven that she has what it takes to succeed in industrial disease. She has a great work ethic and continues to gain great feedback from her clients. As the head of a department, you need to lead by example, and I can’t think of a better example for our fee earners to follow. I’m proud to have her with us.”