People: ICS; Ascend Properties; Lambert Smith Hampton & more

CONTRACTOR accountancy and administration firm ICS has strengthened its senior management team with the appointment of three new department heads.  

Steve Cornwall is now head of finance, while Martin Hall has been appointed to the newly-created role of head of compliance and risk and Simon Malpas has joined ICS from Giant as the new head of sales.

Cornwall was recruited from Sale Sharks where he was finance and operations director. In his new role, he will head up ICS Accounting and ICS Umbrella, as well as managing the internal finance department.

Oxford graduate Hall joined ICS as a customer service executive seven years ago. He then progressed to senior financial accountant and was later promoted to operations manager, before his appointment as head of compliance early this year.
 
Hall’s key responsibilities will be monitoring legislation and managing any necessary changes, as well as overseeing all compliance and risk elements within the company.
 
Malpas was recruited from Giant at the end of last year. He joins ICS with a wealth of experience in recruitment, sales, business development and umbrella solutions.

ICS provides accountancy, administration and payroll services to contractors, freelancers and small businesses across the UK. Based in Lancaster, the firm currently employs 40 local people.

ICS managing director, John Lyon, said: “We have made some changes to the structure of the company and I am delighted to welcome Steve, Martin and Simon to the senior team.”

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ESTATE and letting agent Ascend Properties has appointed Ged McPartlin as sales director to spearhead the growth the young Manchester agency.  

McPartlin previously spent 10 years as the driving force behind Curtis and Bains where he gained a wealth of property experience and managed a team of 16 to help achieve an annual turnover of £1.5m.

In 2014, McPartlin sold the business to Countrywide and remained as their lettings director before leaving to pursue a number of development projects in Manchester as well as focusing on international property transactions.

McPartlin is now back at home on Deansgate, Manchester city centre. The award-winning young agents have celebrated an incredibly successful 18 months of trading and have appointed McPartlin to push ahead with their £1m turnover target by the end of 2016.

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PROPERTY consultancy Lambert Smith Hampton has promoted Abid Jaffry to the role of head of northern capital markets.  
 
Jaffry has more than 15 years’ experience in the investment arena and will now head up the business’s capital markets team right across its five offices in the North of England.

The move marks a full-time return to his investment roots and he will now coordinate transactional activities in each city.
 
LSH is investing heavily in seizing opportunities presented by the northern powerhouse, being the UK’s only commercial property consultancy to have an office in the five core cities of Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield and Newcastle.
 
Following his promotion Abid Jaffry will now take forward the key focus of LSH’s growth strategy.    
He said: “I am really excited about the role. The North’s regions hold so much untapped opportunity and our unrivalled network of offices means we provide the best market knowledge and service to clients.”

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CITIGATE Dewe Rogerson has appointed Matthew Pears as an associate director in its Manchester office.

Pears previously worked for Manchester-based PR and marketing firm SkyParlour, where he advised clients in the fraud, eCommerce, mCommerce and payment technology sectors.

A chartered marketer, he will work on a range of Citigate’s corporate and business-to-business PR clients and help to develop its client base, particularly in the North West.

Citigate is part of international communications group Huntsworth and has an established network of wholly-owned or affiliate offices across the globe, including its London headquarters, Beijing, Shanghai, Moscow, Paris and Amsterdam. It opened its Manchester office in late 2013.

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MICHELLE Geraghty has joined the debt recovery team at Napthens solicitors at its Preston office.
The experienced adviser, who joins from a role in the NHS, has wide experience of customer service including the Civil Service.

She holds qualifications including an NVQ Level 3 in customer care and a Level 3 CIPD qualification, along with a law degree from the University of Central Lancashire.

At Napthens Michelle, of Poulton-le-Fylde, will work alongside debt recovery manager Suzanne Dean, and help clients to deal efficiently and effectively with the recovery of debts.

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RESTAURANT chain Gusto has appointed Stacey Callagher as the business development manager for its soon-to-open £1m restaurant at Lytham St Annes.

Stacey Callagher, who hails from the  Lancashire coastal town, has been appointed to lead marketing, training and development.

Stacey, 37, has lived almost all her life in Lytham having attended St Bede’s High School, and joins Gusto from the University of Central Lancashire where she worked in marketing and at the campus Law School.

She said: “Outside of a few years in London I have lived all my life in Lytham and I cannot think of anywhere better to live and work than in this wonderful town.”

Gusto – has 12 restaurants across the UK.

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HEALTH insurance industry stalwart Helen Chambers has been appointed senior consultant at Willis PMI Group, part of Willis Towers Watson.

Having worked at the Northwich-based company for 19 years, most recently as Head of Client Services, Helen’s new position will see her managing health and risk contracts for both corporate and SME clients.

The move will help further develop Willis PMI Group’s service to business customers.

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BOLTON-based accountancy firm Cowgill Holloway, which also has offices in Manchester and Liverpool has recruited Dylan Fearon as a tax trainee within its tax team.

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BUILDER and developer Seddon has appointed Ed Wootton as its new regional director for North West Construction, as the firm combines its family values with commercial acumen to target ambitious growth.

Wootton joins the £190m turnover firm from Galliford Try, where he began his career as a graduate trainee engineer 22 years ago.

“This is an extremely exciting opportunity and one that I could not pass up,” said Wootton, who will now head up the division based at Seddon’s North West offices in Bolton.