People: Irwin Mitchell; Booth King; Beever and Struthers & more

THE Manchester office of law firm Irwin Mitchell has appointed Duncan Hope as commercial litigation partner as it continues to invest in expanding its business legal services (BLS) team.

Moving from DWF in Manchester, Hope acts for a variety of clients including private companies, banks, and central and local government departments. He advises on a range of commercial litigation matters and specialises in contractual disputes, shareholder disagreements, professional negligence, pension disputes, fraud and arbitration.

Roy Beckett, real estate partner and head of BLS in Manchester, said: “Duncan is another important appointment for Irwin Mitchell in Manchester, particularly as his arrival broadens the range of services that we can offer to our business clients.
 
“We are excited about the growth opportunities that exist across the North West and remain committed to building on our recent investment with further recruitment announcements in the near future.”
 
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BOOTH King – structural and civil engineers – has welcomed five new engineers to its office in Ramsbottom, near Bury.

Mohamed Ali Yusuf, Clinton Kazadi, Kostas Goudas, Theofytos Theodorou and David Murray have all recently started with the company and will assist the team with it’s current list of prestigious projects which include the Maggies Centre in Oldham – where planning has just been submitted – Water Street in Manchester and continued work with Whitbread on a national program of Premier Inn and Costa outlets.

Managing director Mark Moppett said: “Due to an increase in projects and new and exciting opportunities, we have had a huge recruitment drive, increasing our employee numbers by 33%.

“We have also opened an Edinburgh office this year and are progressing plans for a central Manchester office which will open by the end of 2015.”

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SUE Hutchinson has been promoted to partner at accountants and business advisors Beever and Struthers within a year of joining the firm from a top 10 competitor firm.

She was appointed as audit director just 12 months ago to specialise in the provision of audit services for clients in the social housing, not-for-profit and education sectors.

Hutchinson has some 15 years of experience in the provision of specialist audit and business assurance services for charities, academies, social housing providers and further education institutions.

In her new role as partner, Sue is responsible for the development of the audit team at Beever and Struthers to ensure it remains abreast of all sector developments that affect clients of the firm.

She will operate out of the firm’s offices in Manchester, Blackburn and London.

Chris Porritt, senior partner and head of social housing at Beever and Struthers, said: “Sue was a major strategic hire for us and brought with her a wealth of invaluable experience to give fresh impetus to our on-going drive to further heighten our hard earned and widely respected profile and reputation in social housing, not-for-profit and education nationwide.”

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TOSCAFUND has announced its latest senior hire to head up credit management and deal underwriting for its new Manchester-based regional debt fund.

Mark Metcalf, 47, will join Toscafund Asset Management as the head of credit for the Tosca Debt Capital Fund (TDCF) after spending more than 10 years as credit risk director with the Manchester office of Wells Fargo Capital Finance (formerly Burdale Financial), where he was responsible for a portfolio of more than £0.5bn of facilities.

With nearly 30 years’ lending experience, he has held senior roles at a number of high profile lending institutions, including 18 years in the asset based lending industry in portfolio management and credit underwriting roles.

Metcalf said: “This move is an exciting new challenge for me. SMEs are currently under-serviced in private debt financing and my role will be crucial in facilitating the execution of deals and sanctioning of credit in short timescales to help businesses enter the next phase of growth.”

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CESTRIAN, the Cheshire-based large format print manufacturer and installer, has strengthened its ambitious growth plans with the appointment of Alex Jessup as finance director. 

The newly created position bolsters Cestrian’s strategy to grow the company, increasing turnover by over 50% from £11.5m in 2015 to £18m in 2018. The move comes following a business restructure in 2014 that saw Phill Reynolds become majority shareholder.

Joining the business from dental membership plan company, Practice Plan, Jessup is involved in all aspects of the business and is responsible for driving its strategic development and creating a step change in Cestrian’s financial performance as well as being responsible for HR, focusing in particular on increasing employee engagement.

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INTERNATIONAL accounting and advisory firm Mazars has announced the promotion of Neil Robinson to partner heading up the transaction services team in Manchester and the North West.

Peter Terry, head of corporate finance in Manchester said: “2015 is proving to be another great year for the firm, with sustained growth and a significant rise in new opportunities as we continue to invest in new areas.

“The NW Mergers & Acquisitions market is back in business and Neil and his growing team are excited about the future.”

Robinson is one of 11 new partners in the UK.