Appointments: Birchall Blackburn; Styles & Wood & more
BIRCHALL Blackburn Law, which has offices in Chester, Lancashire and Manchester has promoted compliance partner, Paul Pickering, to its board.
Pickering joined the firm in 1998 and progressed from a newly qualified solicitor to a senior commercial litigation lawyer before taking on the full-time, internal compliance and regulation role in 2008.
The promotion will see him play a more senior role in shaping the vision and growth of Birchall Blackburn Law, which achieved a record turnover of £15m in the last financial year.
Michael Foxford, senior partner at Birchall Blackburn Law, said: “Paul has played a key part in helping the firm achieve sustained growth and the directors are delighted to welcome him to the board. The move not only signals just how seriously we take compliance and ethics, but also demonstrates the opportunities available at Birchall Blackburn Law for people who apply skill and dedication.”
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BOLTON-based construction company Seddon has appointed a new regional director for its social housing division.
Duncan Williams brings with him more than 20 years’ experience in social housing construction and maintenance.
Seddon has already secured £31m of social housing contracts in the North West this year, having been awarded new build and planned maintenance contracts by several new and existing registered provider clients.
Jonathan Seddon, managing director of Seddon, said: “Duncan’s appointment shows our commitment to delivering high-quality developments for our social housing clients. We are delighted to have attracted someone of Duncan’s calibre to our team. It is an exciting time to join Seddon as we continue to win new contracts, frameworks and develop new talent through our apprenticeship programmes.”
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MARK Holleran, a former corporate lawyer turned investment banker, has joined the board of Hillstone Products the Manchester-based designer and manufacturer of loadbanks, which are used in electricity supply.
Holleran, who spent 10 years with Eversheds in Manchester before leaving to join broker XCAP Securities, joins the Bury firm as non-executive director.
Hillstone chief executive Paul Smethurst, said: “We have worked with Mark on our strategic development both in the UK and overseas over the last six months and his legal, corporate and commercial expertise and business acumen will be invaluable to us as we move Hillstone to its next stages of development, particularly in the international datacentre marketplace.”
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PROPERTY services company Styles & Wood Group has appointed Business Growth Fund executive Matt Widdall as a non executive director.
Widdall, an accountant who worked for Lloyds Acquisition Finance before joining BGFt, is representing the fund which has taken a shareholding in the AIM-listed company.
Tony Lenehan, chief executive of Timperley-based Styles & Wood, said: “I am delighted to welcome Matt to the group. The investment commitment from the Business Growth Fund together with Matt’s direct participation at board level provides real momentum in support of the Group’s growth agenda.”
