People: Together; Forbes; Swinton Insurance & more

SPECIALIST lender Together, based in Cheadle, Greater Manchester, has announced two senior appointments to its leadership team, as it embarks on ambitious growth plans.

The group of companies has separated its retail and commercial activities under a new corporate governance structure, with the different divisions managed independently.

Ron Baxter, currently a senior advisor at the Prudential Regulation Authority – part of the Bank of England – who has over 30 years’ experience within the industry, joins as an independent non-executive director in the retail division.

Baxter has also been a senior advisor at the Financial Conduct Authority (previously the Financial Services Authority) for over 10 years and has been involved in a wide variety of regulatory initiatives.

Previous roles include a non-executive directorship with fund management and life assurance group Skandia Life Holdings Co, and group chief executive with Scottish Legal Life Assurance Group.

Baxter said: “The business has been successfully nurtured over many years, underpinned by real drive coupled with real common sense. These qualities will stand Together in good stead as it moves into its next phase of development and I am delighted to be joining at this time.”

Wayne Bowser, who has joined from HSBC, where he was deputy head of commercial banking, takes up the role of group non-executive director and chairman of the audit committee.

Bowser has held non-executive directorships at various leading firms, in sectors including housebuilding, motor dealership and investment.

Bowser said: “It’s a business with a very exciting future and I’m looking forward to being a part of that.

“Together operates in a different marketplace to the mainstream lenders and the alternative finance sector is really booming in the current economic climate. The company’s strong financial position and extensive product offering, combined with robust market demand, place it firmly at the forefront of this high-growth industry.”

David Bennett, who previously chaired the audit committee, is now chairman of the retail division.

In addition, Nigel Dale, previously a partner at Eversheds, was recently announced as general counsel after joining  the group recently.

Chairman Mike McTighe said: “Together is experiencing exponential growth at present and these appointments highlight our commitment to taking the business forward under a leadership team of the very highest calibre.

“Ron’s expertise spans all areas of financial services and his regulatory knowledge is second to none and will be invaluable as we drive growth in our retail division.

“Similarly, Wayne’s extensive management experience will be a great asset and we’re pleased to welcome them both to the group.”

Together takes a common sense approach to lending and has a current loan book in excess of £1.6bn, with total new lending for the year ended 31 December 2015 at £878m.

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SOCIAL housing expert Sarah Mansfield has joined North West law firm Forbes to boost the continued expansion of its specialist housing team.

Mansfield, who is based at the Preston office, joins from her previous role as partner and head of the housing litigation team at BLM (previously Berrymans Lace Mawer).
 
She has widespread experience of providing legal risk management advice to many public and private sector clients and is regularly invited as an external speaker at housing events across the UK.
 
Mansfield was one of the committee members charged with drawing up the pre-action protocol for housing disrepair and acts as a consultant for the Northern Housing Consortium. She is the author of ‘Housing Disrepair Toolkit’ which has become the standard reference work for many housing associations and local authorities.

She has also worked as a consultant to the Repairs Benchmarking Group for North & East London Housing Associations and Local Authorities.
 
She is a member of Liverpool Law Society and the Association of Women Solicitors; was a board member, Chair of the Innovations and Support Committee (previously Operations) and diversity champion for St Vincent’s Housing Association.
 
Mansfield said: “Forbes has a market-leading reputation in the housing sector and I am delighted to be taking up such a key position.”

Stuart Penswick, partner and head of housing & regeneration (litigation) at Forbes, said: “Sarah’s reputation and track record in the social housing field is second to none and we are thrilled that she has agreed to join our successful team.”

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SWINTON Insurance, the UK’s largest high street insurance broker, has appointed Jacqui Holt as head of branch delivery in the North.
 
Reporting to distribution director Richard Beaven, Holt will optimise Swinton’s programme of investment in its high street branch network.
 
She joins Swinton from Thomas Cook where she held a number of senior leadership roles including head of Thomas Cook Sport and head of retail sales North, leading a retail team of more than 2,500 staff across 600 high street stores. She will be based in Swinton’s Manchester city centre head office.

Beaven said: “It’s a pleasure to welcome Jacqui to our Distribution team, and to bring on board expertise from outside of the insurance industry.

“Her fresh perspective and experience in leading customer-facing retail divisions will be invaluable as we move ahead with our investment programme to modernise and restructure our high street branch network.”

Holt added: “Swinton has a unique business model in the insurance market and is a brand trusted by its 1.6 million customers. The team is clearly passionate about the work it is doing to develop its multi-channel approach, and the branch network lies at the heart of that.”

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ELECTRICITY North West has appointed Peter Emery as its new chief executive from May 17.

He will be taking over from Steve Johnson who has held this post since 2008.

Emery will be joining the company from Drax Group plc where he served for over a decade and most recently in the post of group operations director.

The former Altrincham Grammar School pupil is returning to the North West region with a wealth of global energy experience garnered over a 30-year career in the sector.  

Emery has also worked with Government and regulators to enable the delivery of ambitious national and international climate change goals.
 
John Roberts, chairman of Electricity North West said; “Throughout his career, Peter has demonstrated a clear focus on achieving the highest levels of customer service delivered through colleagues working in a safe operating environment.  His appointment will enable the company to build on its successful record in these important areas.”

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SENECA Investment Managers, the multi-asset value investment house based in Liverpool, has appointed David Binnion as finance and operations Manager, a newly created position, to support the growth of the firm.
 
He will act as a senior member of the operations, finance and compliance team.
Binnion joins Seneca with more than 15 years of experience in various financial, management and fund accounting roles in a number of sectors, including private equity, property and oil and gas.

He spent five years with Greenpark Capital prior to their takeover by Stepstone Group and most recently, Bibby Financial Services.
    
David Thomas, chief executive, Seneca said:  “David has a long and successful track record with exceptional experience across all financial and operational aspects of the investment business.

“Seneca has made good progress in the past year and David’s appointment is another signal of intent in terms of Seneca’s drive for growth.”