People: Rider Levett Bucknall; RMS PR; Mitchell Charlesworth & more
PROPERTY and cost consultant Rider Levett Bucknall has appointed seven new team members, strengthening its Manchester based quantity surveying and project management teams.
Joe D’Alessio and Ilyas Patel join as project management partner and quantity surveying partner respectively; senior project manager Riyaaz Patel and project manager Raymond Chui have been appointed to support the PM team; while Jessica Ling, Sam Tosh, and Kathryn Morton join Ilyas Patel in the QS team.
Russell Bolton, managing partner of RLB Manchester, said: “The market in Manchester and the wider North West region is at its strongest since pre-recession times and as a business, we are working on some of the most high profile, complex and interesting schemes currently under way.
“We pride ourselves on building strong teams, staffed by individuals with technical skill, experience and potential which enable us to meet and often exceed our clients’ expectations.
“These seven new members of the team will help us to continue to do that.”
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PR and marketing agency RMS PR has boosted its senior team with the appointment of Dave Beresford as account director.
A former journalist Beresford has joined the Altrincham-based agency from Marketecture.
He will provide strategic marketing and PR advice to a varied portfolio of clients that includes leading manufacturing, property development and financial services companies.
Having started his career in the script department of TV series Hollyoaks, Beresford moved into business journalism before transitioning into media relations and marketing.
Agency boss Ruth Shearn said, “Dave is a great all-rounder. Increasingly, clients want advisers who understand the whole marketing landscape and who they can trust to advise them on the most suitable activity to meet their commercial goals.”
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WIDNES accountancy firm Mitchell Charlesworth is announcing specialist staff appointments and promotions to help guide an ambitious “2020” vision.
Mitchell Charlesworth is investing in local talent, upskilling staff to future proof the firm and boosting its overall client offering. It is part of a broader vision to drive turnover to £10m by 2020.
The firm has appointed Joanna Greska as an accountant assistant and whose fluent Polish speaking and writing skills will give a big boost to dealing with eastern European clients.
Greska, who lives in Warrington, has a Polish business and taxes degree and will be preparing year-end accounts, plus personal and VAT returns. She has been a Member of the Association of Accounting Technicians (MAAT) since 2011 and previously worked for an independent accountant firm in Warrington.
Newly promoted in the Widnes office is Danny Reid, who has had 24 years’ service with Mitchell Charlesworth and has been an assistant manager for the last 15 years. Reid, a certified accountant who lives in Runcorn, will have responsibilities for audit work, handling £10m – £20m corporates.
Lucy Buck has also been promoted to assistant manager in the Widnes office after eight years’ service. Lucy, who lives in Widnes, is a fully qualified ACA (Associate of The Institute of Chartered Accountants) and her sector focus is sports/entertainment, OMBs and family run businesses.
Mitchell Charlesworth Widnes partner Lorraine Whittaker said the firm can offer greater value for money in terms of range and depth of services compared to any other regional accountancy practice.
“Mitchell Charlesworth is focussing on delivering locally based, complete financial solutions for businesses and individuals,” she said. “We intend to become a £10m turnover practice by 2020 and become the top SME (small and medium sized enterprise) advisor in North West England.”
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ONE of the UK’s leading claims management businesses has appointed a new chief executive to steer the company through continued long-term expansion.
James Boyd, former chief executive at law firm Birchall Blackburn, has joined Sale-based Stanton Fisher and will immediately focus on the company’s rebrand.
With more than 20 years’ experience as part of an executive management team and working at board level James’ experience in developing the business and its people will be vital to the future plans of growth, according to chairman, Brady Collins.
He said: “James has a strong track record of working at a strategic level and using his communication and influencing skills to lead very effective and long term working relationships with colleagues and stakeholders.
“His record of creating a high-performing team culture, achieving best practice and delivering exceptional customer satisfaction, will be fundamental to Stanton Fisher achieving its ambitious growth plans.”
Stanton Fisher handles claims for PPI, flight delays and packaged bank accounts, and continues to see a growth in the number of people with valid claims against banks and financial institutions for mis-selling.
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MANCHESTER-based digital marketing agency theEword has relocated to larger offices following a successful start to 2016 and added six members of staff to its content marketing team.
The award-winning agency moved into its new 3,200 sq ft, three-storey Northern Quarter offices on Monday 15 February, having relocated from Trafford Park and Media City.
The move to the new premises – based in Swan Square on Tib Street – comes as part of a string of developments for the company.
Elena Manighetti has been appointed as head of content marketing – a role which will see her join the agency’s senior management team and further develop theEword’s content marketing department.
Manighetti previously worked for Venn Digital and London agency Greenlight Digital, so brings a wealth of experience within the creative development and promotion of hard-working content.
She joins five other new recruits – Rosa Mitchell, Adam Maidment, Tilly Martin, Cal Salvaggio and Amy Hirst (due to start on 29 February) – who have joined to team to generate creative content marketing campaigns and work on both PPC and social media campaigns for a wide range of clients.
Daniel Nolan, managing director at theEword, said: “It’s such an exciting time for the new team members to join theEword, especially now we’ve got a city centre base.
“We’ve also restructured our accounts so that each client has a dedicated, full-service team behind them, which will really help enhance the delivery of integrated campaigns and maximise the results for our clients.”
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MERIDIAN Business Support, the Altrincham based recruitment specialist with 67 nationwide branches and a turnover of £120m, has announced that its HR director Steve Jeffers recently became an Institute of Recruitment Professionals (IRP), regional director in the North West.
The IRP regional directors are made up of both IRP and Recruitment and Employment Confederation corporate members.
The directors work on a voluntary basis, raising the awareness of the IRP and improving standards within the industry. All regional directors have considerable experience and are perfectly placed to provide informal regional support, best practice information as well as networking events.
Kevin Green, chief executive of the REC said: “Our industry is very dynamic and is all about making personal connections.
“So in addition to the traditional methods of communication like email and mail-outs to our members we rely on our regional directors to make those personal connections with their colleagues and peers to help spread the word about the IRP.
We’re really glad to welcome Steve to this new role in the North West and look forward to working closely with him to help promote the professionalism and quality in recruitment that the IRP stands for.”
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MANCHESTER law firm Kuits has continued to expand its corporate and commercial team with the hire of Anne Marie Coles, who joins from Fieldings Porter, where she trained and worked as a newly-qualified solicitor.
The growing team now boasts 12 members, following the arrival of former DWF partner Peter Allen in July and partner Martin Lewis who joined from Addleshaws last March.
Last month, Kuits reported that its corporate team had advised on deals worth a combined total of £45m in December alone, completing nine transactions before close of play on New Year’s Eve.
Head of corporate and commercial Rob Buckley said: “The team had a very busy second half to 2015, and we expect 2016 to be even more significant in terms of the volume and value of deals.
“Having won several new clients with ambitious growth plans, it has been imperative for us that we grow the team at all levels to enable us to continue to offer the same high-level of service to our clients. With this in mind, we plan to grow the team further in the next 12 months.
“We are delighted to welcome Anne Marie to the team and she has already got stuck in with a number of ongoing transactions.”
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MOORHOUSES, the acclaimed ‘Pendle Witches’ cask-ale brewery, has strengthened and reshaped its sales team in a push to grow business with publicans across its Northern heartland.
Under sales director Mark Boardman, the leading Lancashire independent has bolstered the sales team with two new recruits. Storme Lockwood, from Dewsbury, joins as Yorkshire sales executive for York, Leeds, Huddersfield, Dewsbury and South Yorkshire to complement the sales operation in the Yorkshire Pennines and Dales.
She has several years’ sales experience in the region’s catering and drinks industry, including with Hungryhouse in Leeds, covering Bradford for JUST EAT and with Carlsberg UK.
Former publican Dan Yates has been appointed to take on the Ribble Valley area from Glynn Wright, who moves to the Lakes & Fylde. Dan has a family history in the licensed trade and was formerly general manager at the Camra praised Shoulder of Mutton at Holcombe, Ramsbottom, Greater Manchester.
Rhys Foster moves from the Lakes & Fylde area to develop the potential of Greater Manchester – seen as a substantial growth market for the Burnley brewer’s fastest growing Blond Witch, White Witch and Pride of Pendle brands.
Managing director David Grant said: “In recent years we have built business nationally. Now we have enhanced our talented team to tackle the challenges we face in today’s highly competitive market and further raise our profile as a leading cask brewery for the north.”
