People on the move: Delph Property Group; GCA Altium; Mitchell Charlesworth; Hit Search; RMS PR; WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff

RESIDENTIAL investment company Delph Property Group has appointed Emma Keller to lead the company’s new business drive to lead its major investment activities across the North West.
 
Keller will help Delph partner with house builders and developers to acquire new sites for Delph’s regional PRS portfolio.

Delph has £500m allocated for investment in PRS in city centre locations outside of London in the next five years.

She joins from media planning and buying agency MC&C Media and has an undergraduate degree from Dublin Business School and a Master’s from Trinity College Dublin.
 
Nicholas Belkin, head of acquisition at Delph, said: “Delph has £500m earmarked for investment over the next five years and Emma has the right skills and experience to help us secure the partnerships we need to support such an ambitious investment strategy. Emma will be a welcome addition to our team.”

Keller said: “I’m delighted to be joining Delph at such an exciting time for the company. I look forward to talking to house builders and developers about Delph’s regional PRS programme and the investment package we are offering.”

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GLOBAL investment bank GCA Altium has continued to invest in its Manchester team following three senior promotions.
 
Dominic Orsini and Adam Sivner become directors, while Mark Smith takes the role of assistant director.

Orsini has spent four years at GCA Altium, joining the company as an associate in September 2012. During his time at the firm, he has predominantly focused on the TMT sector, being involved in high profile transactions including Ascribe, Metronet, TotalMobile and Guestline.

Sivner joined GCA Altium as an analyst in 2008, and has built considerable expertise of the energy and industrials sectors. He has been at the heart of a number of the region’s deals, including Bifold, Fircroft, Alkane and most recently, Steadfast Engineering.

Following six years at KPMG, Smith joined GCA Altium in 2014, and has since worked on deals across a wide range of sectors. This includes Bifold, Enterprise Foods and The Riverside Company’s investment into Brookson.

With these promotions, GCA Altium now boasts a team of 22 at its Manchester office, making it one of the largest local teams outside London. The company recently merged with GCA Savvian to create the one of the largest listed M&A advisory firm in the world, with more than $185m in advisory revenues last year.

Phil Adams, chief executive at GCA Altium, said: “Strengthening our deal teams in the UK is an important part of our growth plan. Dominic, Adam and Mark have each made a significant impact on our team in Manchester, demonstrating their ability to get deals over the line, and developing strong sector expertise in key focus areas.

“It is an exciting time for the business, with the merger opening up integrated global coverage across 14 offices in ten countries. This will enable us to provide the highest quality advice to our clients, and Dominic, Adam and Mark will continue to play a key role in this.”

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CHESTER accountancy firm Mitchell Charlesworth has promoted Heather Townsend to a managerial role after years of committed service.

Partner and chairman Rob Hall said the move comes after the firm recorded a 15% increase in client fees between April 2015 and April 2016.

“Heather delivers first class customer service and been unstinting in her hard work for many years,” said Mr Hall.

“We are delighted with her progression as she continues to diligently build her career. A recent increase in business has also meant that the Chester office requires greater support within its senior team.

“Heather is skilled, experienced and well equipped for the challenge. She will now join two other senior managers helping train and manage other colleagues as the total staff count has now risen to 25. They will be further supported by myself and two other senior partners Marlon Armstrong and Tim Adcock.”
 
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LIVERPOOL-based digital agency Hit Search has promoted three of its staff to a senior level.

It has promoted Miriam Sauter, Jenny Maddock and Agnes Gizynska to digital strategy director, account director and junior paid media manager, respectively.
 
Showcasing that the agency is truly outstanding in the moments that matter, the promotions follow the company’s successful office relocation in July.

Having previously worked at Transglobal Express, Sauter’s follows a successful stint as digital strategy and performance manager and board member since joining the company in June 2015 from Shop Direct.
 
Since joining Hit Search in January 2016, Maddock has been responsible for the performance of all digital channels across a broad range of clients and verticals.

Her promotion allows her to focus on leading a team of four account managers and account executives to support on strategic thinking, overcoming obstacles and identifying opportunities that will support the growth of our client accounts.

Gizynska joined Hit Search in June 2016 from Click Consult and has enjoyed a successful raise in profile.

Her daily responsibilities include growing the existing client base and services and building campaign strategies and setting performance targets for clients.

Company director Andy Redfern said: “At Hit Search we have incredibly talented, passionate and knowledgeable staff and I am excited to see how these new promotions move the company forward in 2017 and help us build on the great successes of 2016.”

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INTEGRATED marketing agency RMS PR has expanded its digital marketing and web development teams to cope with increased demand and position it for further growth.

Dave Bryan has left Media City to join the Altrincham, Greater Manchester-based agency as a digital marketing executive.

He will support a range of professional services, business and consumer clients, including Slater Heelis, Character World and Garratt Solicitors.
Scott Evans joins as a senior web developer after working in-house at a large construction company.
 
Agency managing director Ruth Shearn said: “Demand for our web development and digital marketing services has increased significantly. I’m thrilled to have recruited yet more talented people to our growing team.
 
“Dave has a really impressive track record for delivering highly effective digital marketing campaigns that deliver tangible results for clients, while Scott brings additional skills to our web team that mean we’ll be able to develop even more complex websites and bespoke applications.

“As well as having fantastic technical skills, Dave and Scott are a great fit for us.  They’ve slotted in perfectly and have a can-do attitude that’s synonymous with our culture.  

“They’re already looking at a complete revamp of our own website.”

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THE Manchester office of global professional services and engineering consultancy WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff has made a strategic senior hire to its energy business as it looks to harness a growing number of contracts within the power generation sector in the UK and beyond.

Steve Elliott rejoins the company as power systems director from his previous role as programme director in the global power systems arm of Mott MacDonald.

Elliott, who has more than 26 years’ experience in the sector and worked for the company in the mid-90s and early 2000s, is a specialist in transmission and generation system analysis.

He has led on a number of major projects worldwide including working with the Irish transmission system operator, EirGrid, to analyse opportunities for its power generation fleet to transition to renewable wind energy as part of the country’s ongoing drive to switch to more low carbon energy sources.

Elliott will lead the 25-strong power systems team with a remit to expand the business to meet the growing demand from countries across Europe, the Middle East and Africa which are ramping up investment into the complex process of transitioning their existing power networks to run using ‘clean’ energy sources including wind, solar, hydro, district heating, bioenergy and nuclear.
 
He is the second major hire to the energy team in the last quarter, with Chris Conboy joining as development director for the energy and industry team with a specific focus on growing the nuclear arm of the business.

WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff is working on a number of high profile energy projects in the UK, including Galloper windfarm, Port Clarence Renewable energy plant in Teesside and Gateshead district energy centre.  Key North-West projects include Omega Warrington; Muse Developments and Warrington Borough Council’s Bridge Street regeneration scheme, and the Transport for Greater Manchester consultancy framework.