People: Business Growth Fund; Select Property Group; MPD & more

THE Busines Growth Fund (BGF) is continuing to expand its team covering the North of England with the appointment of Pinesh Mehta who will be based in its Manchester office.
 
Before joining BGF Mehta spent 11 years at KPMG including eight years in the corporate finance team in Manchester where he advised vendors, private equity and management teams on a range of mid-market M&A transactions.

He joins BGF’s 60-strong nationwide investment team responsible for identifying investment opportunities and managing the deal process from origination through to completion. BGF’s investors also provide support either as board members or observers in the companies they back.

BGF has also today announced the appointment of Rob Johnson who will be based in the firm’s Leeds office. He joins BGF from Deloitte where he worked across mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and restructuring.

BGF has become the UK’s most active provider of growth capital, having made more than 100 investments since 2011. Drawing from its £2.5bn investment pot, BGF has backed 21 businesses across the North of England including Boost Juice Bars, Barburrito, Better Bathrooms and AIM-listed Styles & Wood. The firm recently announced its first exit in the North following an MBO at York Mailing, a business it backed in 2013.

Andy Gregory, BGF’s regional director for the North, North Wales and Northern Ireland said: “Pinesh is a great addition to the team following a particularly active period for BGF in the North.

“So far this year, the teams in Manchester and Leeds have made five new investments, completed BGF’s first partial exit and its second AIM-listed deal.

“With a number of interesting opportunities in the pipeline, we’re delighted to have Pinesh on board.”

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GLOBAL property investment business Select Property Group has recruited David Ancell as head of digital to be based at its office in Alderley Edge, Cheshire.

His appointment comes as the group continues to invest heavily into its e-commerce websites and customer-centric social and content strategy.

With Select experiencing a significant period of growth as it launches its ground-breaking Private Rented Sector (PRS) brand – Affinity Living – and expands its Vita Student and CitySuites brands, Ancell’s new role will see him maximise online engagement with its predominantly student and young professional customer base.

Ancell will be responsible for ensuring Select continues to lead the way in developing new strategies for the business to positively engage with its technology-savvy audience who are avid users of existing and emerging social media platforms and apps.

With more than 10 years’ experience at Manchester agencies Amaze and TBWA, Ancell is a true digital strategist working across a range of disciplines including website and app development, PPC, SEO and social media. Former clients include Dyson, Pizza Hut, Lexus and leading the EA Games account across all European markets.

He said: “Select is revolutionising the sector with dynamic brands that focus completely on the customer experience. There is a huge opportunity to put digital at the very core of the customer journey, both at the purchasing stage, and by integrating digital into the living experience in every Select property.”

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MPD Group, the Manchester-based fulfilment and delivery software specialist, has appointed Susie Lee-Kilgariff as marketing director.

Based at the company’s headquarters in Trafford Park, Lee-Kilgariff will head up the six-strong in-house marketing team to steer the company through a continued period of growth.

She will initially focus on the launch phase and development of MPD’s new delivery management platform, Electio, as well as driving greater awareness of established parcel delivery comparison website, My Parcel Delivery.

MPD chief executive David Grimes said: “We’re really excited to have Susie as part of the team. Her in-depth knowledge of the business, passion for data insight, and relentless focus on the customer leaves us with no doubt that she’ll be able to deliver on our vision to be the delivery industry’s leading challenger brand.”

Susie joins MPD Group from Northern Light Marketing, a boutique marketing agency which she founded and ran for four years. MPD Group has been a client of Northern Light for the past three years, giving Susie first-hand knowledge of the business and the delivery industry.

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CHESHIRE manufacturer Cygnet Group has appointed Gary Lynch as chief operations officer of its Cygnet Texkimp business, which provides engineering solutions and equipment for the production, processing and handling of technical fibres.

Lynch joins Cygnet Texkimp’s board of directors with 28 years’ experience in operations roles, most recently as director of a $190m turnover business division of international energy transformation company GE Power Conversion.

“We’ve brought Gary on board to release capacity for our next phase of growth across international markets,” saud Matthew Kimpton-Smith, chief executive of Cygnet Texkimp, which manufactures specialist machinery to process technical fibres, including high-grade carbon fibres used in the automotive, aerospace and wind energy sectors.

“He is a long-term strategist with an impressive track-record of success, but most importantly, his focus is on our people; on creating an environment where they are more empowered and equipped than ever to deliver value to our customers.”

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NORTH West law firm ABH Law has added three solicitors to its growing team.

The appointments further strengthen the Wigan based firm’s commercial litigation, probate and conveyancing divisions.

Tim Meers is the most experienced of the trio with more than 30 years’ experience in the property sector working for firms including Nabarro, Dechert, Speechlys and more recently DAC Beachcroft.
 
With a decade of experience in conveyancing, Liam Prescott joins from Countrywide Property Lawyers Ltd. Also on board is Sean Devlin who worked at Mark Reynolds Solicitors and becomes part of the wills and probate division.

ABH Law was formed 18 months ago, following the merger between Alker and Ball and Healds Solicitors, and joint managing partner Gary Shepherd says it has been a period of continued growth.

“ABH Law has a team of around 50 people, helping hundreds of clients every month,” he said.