People: Shoosmiths; de Poel Group; Savills & more

THE Manchester office of national law firm, Shoosmiths has welcomed two new associates to its commercial practice, already one of the largest of its kind in the city.

The new appointments will enhance the firm’s Manchester-based projects and commercial litigation capabilities, both growth areas for the business.
 
Helen Cairns has joined the Shoosmiths projects team having previously been at Pinsent Masons.
 
She specialised in structuring and delivering large public projects and procurements for a range of high-profile clients (both central and local government) including the Ministry of Justice, Newcastle City Council, Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust and Manchester City Council.

Working with Manchester’s projects partner Ursula Gould and former Pinsents colleague Dan Hargreaves, Cairns will continue to develop the projects team in Manchester.
 
The commercial litigation team has welcomed new associate Sylwena Sempa who joins from DWF where she handled a wide range of commercial disputes including High Court employment cases, franchise related disputes and high-value pensions litigation. Prior to DWF, Sylwena was with Cobbetts.

Reporting to commercial litigation partner and Manchester deputy office head Kath Livingston, Sempa will bring her experience to bear as the team supports a range of clients in varied and complex disputes.

Stephen Dawson, head of the commercial group in Manchester, said: ‘The appointment of these two highly specialised fee-earners will enable us to further enhance our reputation for leading expertise in the regional marketplace.”

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KNUTSFORD-based recruiter de Poel Group has appointed Yasmin Parvizi and Steve Bacon in newly created head of operations roles, with responsibility for supporting the strategic development and operations of the core business.

The duo join Denise Turnbull, head of operations for de Poel’s sister company and specialist healthcare division, de Poel health+care, reporting directly to Andrew Preston, managing director of the entire group. 

The announcement highlights the Cheshire temporary labour procurer’s continued significant investment in senior management, commitment to rewarding talent and ambitious expansion plans, in support of their positioning as one of the recognised frontrunners in the market.

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SAVILLS has announced eight promotions in its Manchester office.

Nick Okell, who specialises in commercial investment, has been promoted to director along with Richard Lowe of the office agency team.  Also promoted to director is Matthew Sobic of the planning department.

Moving up to associate director is Phil Coombes who works across both the Manchester and Leeds offices as part of the Northern retail team.  He is joined by Robin Grimshaw of the building and project consultancy department who has also been promoted to associate director.
 
The Manchester-based property management team has also received a boost with Christopher Bardsley, Lizzie Maher and Mark Rimmer all moving up to associate level.
 
James Evans, head of Savills Manchester, said: “Each of these individuals has played a key role in the success of their divisions and the Manchester office as a whole.  I’d like to congratulate them all on their promotions, which are very well deserved.”

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BURY-based Woodcocks Haworth and Nuttall Solicitors has bolstered its specialist dispute resolution department after one of its trainees qualified as a solicitor.

Amy Richardson, who is 25 and lives in Ramsbottom, has been retained by the firm’s commercial department and will be based at its Bury office.

Richardson commenced her training contract with WHN upon joining the firm as a trainee solicitor in 2014.

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ONE of Merseyside and North Wales’ best-known, up-coming family lawyers has joined Chester based Jolliffe & Co.

Daniel Jones who was previously a partner at a leading law firm in North Wales will be strengthening the matrimonial and family team at Jolliffes.

Partner Simon Williams said: “Daniel is an experienced lawyer with a great reputation for matrimonial related work.” 

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NORTH West business to business marketing communications agency BDB has bolstered its team with a series of new hires.

Following a sustained period of growth, the Altrincham, Greater Manchester-based has appointed three further account executives and a production executive.

The latest recruits come after last month’s announcement which saw BDB’s new managing director Matt Smith and three senior marketing and communications professionals appointed to its new leadership team.

Dinah Harrison joins  an account executive from The Scott Partnership alongside Chloe Kendall in the same role and who has arrived from Roland Dransfield PR.

Neil Robertson joins BDB as an account executive from Refresh Public Relations and has experience representing a range of clients from interior architects to CCTV manufacturers. Before his role in PR, Robertson worked as a journalist for local newspapers including the Bolton News and the Bury Times.

Alex Cutler has arrived at the agency as production executive. A photography and fine art graduate from the University of Central Lancashire, he has worked as a freelancer photographer photographing architecture, art galleries and high-end design shows, such as TENT London.

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NORTHEDGE Capital, the private equity house that invests in businesses in the North of England, has hired David Walters as its digital and data director to help maximise online, data and technology opportunities for portfolio companies.

Walters has more than 25 years’ experience leading technology, digital, product and analytics teams across a range of sectors including media, automotive, marketing and insurance.

Most recently, he held the position of Interim Group CTO at Watchstone Group, helping the organisation to launch the useage based insurance business Hubio in the UK and USA.

In this role, he played a central part in developing outsourcing relationships and joint ventures, as well as progressing the Watchstone Group’s telematics and big data strategy across its other businesses, including Himex, QETS and QSI. 

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LABORATORY relocations specialist aport, headquartered in Chorley, has appointed a new sales manager to work with existing and potential customers to promote its wide range of services and unique approach.

Tom Wickstead joins the team after previously working in business development for aport’s sister firm, relocations company Andrew Porter, in Adlington.

His professional experience also includes a role as an associate within a London-based investment management firm.

Wickstead’s responsibilities will include ongoing customer support and liaison and identifying opportunities for business growth in aport’s markets throughout the world. 

aport is a specialist in the management of complex and business critical laboratory relocation requirements including end to end project management, all of which is performed to industry recognised GxP standards.