People: Kirwans; NJL Consulting; Wates Construction & more

NORTH-west law firm Kirwans has expanded its commercial team and boosted two other practice areas as the firm, which has offices in Wirral, Liverpool and Southport continues to grow.

Corporate and commercial law specialist James Pressley joins  from Excello Law and will focus on the development and expansion of the firms’ commercial services.

Pressley brings a wealth of experience to the team, including mergers and acquisitions, business insolvency and advising on shareholder and partnership arrangements.

His expertise in intellectual property and e-commerce will provide new service lines that will further enhance Kirwans’ commercial offering.
 
Pressley said: “Kirwans has a long tradition of serving the local community and my initial focus is on supporting small and medium-sized businesses, which are the mainstay of the regional economy.
 
“It’s an exciting move for me personally. Whilst the market remains fairly challenging for many of the clients we serve, we have a strong, competitive service proposition which I am confident will add value to any business looking to protect itself and grow.”
 
In addition to its investment in commercial services, Kirwans also boosts its Property and Family law teams. James is joined by Chartered Legal Executive Katha Lunt, Solicitor Laura O’Farrell, and Legal Clerk Hannah Bibby.

Lunt has more than 10 years’ experience advising and representing clients on a broad range of family law matters. Prior to joining Kirwans, Luntworked at specialist family law firms Canter Levin and Berg Solicitors and RMNJ Solicitors.

Solicitor, Laura O’Farrell, is a valued addition to the property team. O’Farrell represents private individuals in residential property matters and also commercial clients.
 
Graduate Hannah Bibby joins the firm after completing a law degree and Legal Practice Course at Manchester Metropolitan University.
 
Senior partner David Kirwan said: “We are delighted to welcome James, Katha, Laura and Hannah to our team.

“They are exceptional legal professionals and their appointments demonstrate our ambitions to grow with the very best talent.”

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NJL Consulting is also expanding its team in Manchester with new recruits James Ashford and Laura Hayes who have been brought in to assist on a growing portfolio of project work including key Northern Powerhouse schemes.
 
Ashford joins as a planner from Peter Brett Associates where he specialised in the preparation of CIL studies for local authorities, and will work on strategic and residential development projects as well as advising on s106 negotiation work.
 
Hayes joins at a graduate level from Styles and Wood where she provided town planning support as well as technical drawing production and surveying. Laura is also an elected RTPI North West Young Planner committee member.

Francesca Petho has also taken on the role of office manager. The recent recruitment programme brings the total number of staff to 16 delivering a wide range of planning consultancy services to clients with housing, retail, commercial and mixed use schemes.

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WATES Construction has appointed Craig Abson as construction director and Stefan Hargreaves as regional commercial manager, bolstering the contractor’s intended growth into Cumbria.

The move to grow Wates’ regional team in the North West at Manchester follows the announcement that 2016 will see the contractor target new opportunities in Carlisle and Barrow-in-Furness across the manufacturing, defence and pharmaceuticals markets.

Tony Shenton, Business Unit Director for Wates Construction North West, commented: “Wates is making great strides in its growth trajectory and this is reflective of our expanding presence across the North West.  Welcoming Craig and Stefan to the team is a fundamental move to ensuring that our progression into the Cumbria market is implemented effectively and sustainably.

“Their combined expertise bolsters the breadth of knowledge we currently have in our workforce and furthermore strengthens our collective expertise in large-scale projects. The proficiency we are cultivating really lends itself to the pipeline of high-end engineering developments on the horizon and we look forward to further building on the strength of our team in the coming year.”

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ONE of the UK’s largest privately-owned infrastructure firms made a significant hire as part of a major plan to accelerate business growth in the North West.

Industry figurehead Carl Wilde was appointed by Robertson Construction England as regional managing director, North West and will run the division out of their Oldham office.

With more than 32 years’ experience to draw from, Carl plans to grow the regional business’s annual turnover from £18m to £55m in the next five years.

Wilde said: “I came to Robertson because I liked the history of the business. I’ve always worked for people with strong family values and that’s something Robertson has in droves.

“Robertson is a massive name north of the border and it has ambitions to become just as big in England. And I believe that we can do that.

“My appointment is one of a few recent senior hires in the north of England, which shows just how serious the business is about sustainable growth.”

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INTELLECTUAL property law firm Appleyard Lees has appointed Cristina Rivas Graver as its new marketing and business development director, working across its Manchester, Leeds and Halifax offices.
 
Rivas Graver will be working with the Appleyard Lees senior team to build on the firm’s accelerated growth over the past few years and to elevate its profile and presence in the regional, national and global IP marketplace.
 
She brings a wealth of marketing and IP experience to the role having most recently spent ten years at intellectual property firm HGF where she specialised in international marketing and overseas strategy, with responsibility for all aspects of IP, particularly trade marks, life sciences and chemistry.
 
Rivas Graver has also played a key role at global corporates including API where she was responsible for all export and in the Ernst Young marketing team where she supported the introduction of initiatives including the Non-Executive Programme and the Yorkshire FD Awards.
 
Joanne King, managing director at Appleyard Lees, said: “Our business has undergone unprecedented growth and expansion in the past few years and IP has never had such a critical role to play, something that we are seeing on a daily basis in our work with business, universities and legal partners.

“Cristina has expertise to enable us to capitalise on a fast changing market, as well as playing a key role in our business strategy and we are delighted to welcome her as part of the team.”