People on the move: KPMG; Knights Professional Services; Clough & Willis; PBF Solutions; Nothing But Epic; BES Utilities; Stephensons; Excello Law

THE Liverpool office of business advisory firm KPMG has promoted Jennifer Lee to tax director to further develop its tax consultancy offering in the city region.
 
Lee has provided tax advice to the Liverpool and the wider Merseyside business community for 15 years having joined KPMG in 2001, qualifying as a chartered accountant and chartered tax adviser.
 
The practice helps the region’s growth sectors and established industries understand and manage their tax obligations. It also advises foreign companies looking to invest in the North West on the complexities of the UK tax system.
 
In addition, KPMG has added five graduate recruits and two school leavers to its audit team as the firm invests in developing future talent to support the fundamental reporting requirements of businesses across the region.

KPMG’s Liverpool office now comprises 103 professionals.

Lee said: “The tax landscape for businesses is constantly evolving at both a national and local level. Of course, with such political and economic uncertainty, we are focused on making sure our clients in the region have access to the latest guidance, insight and expertise that can help their business remain competitive, compliant and responsible.”
 
Chris Fry, office senior partner at KPMG in Liverpool, said: “Liverpool has proven its resilience in recent years and continues to chart its own development story with ever-growing ambitions in emerging sectors – from digital and creative technologies to maritime and logistics.

“In tandem, we are building the city region’s most comprehensive range of audit, tax and advisory services that can provide the support our local business community deserves and needs.

“Jennifer is an excellent tax and business adviser and is a tremendous asset to both our Liverpool office and also to the Liverpool business community generally. Her promotion and our new intake of graduates and school leavers embodies our commitment to invest in existing and future talent.”

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KNIGHTS Professional Services, with offices in Chester and Hale, Greater Manchester has acquired a team of 10 legal professionals from the North West, adding Heineken, E-on, Sony and Talk Talk to its growing client list.
 
The team, which has a wealth of expertise in complex commercial litiga
ion and debt recovery, will boost Knights’ national dispute resolution offering.

John Lord joins as a partner and is leading the team’s transfer to Knights with David White, also joining as a partner.

“Collectively, we have been hugely impressed by Knights’ recent growth and the vision to provide a regional leading professional services businesses,” said Lord.

“Having worked with David Beech before, I am familiar with Knights’ culture and the vision to invest in established teams to help boost an already impressive client base.

“Our team chose Knights because it is managed differently to a traditional law firm and it is able to adapt and grow much quicker whilst offering the security of a sustainable business. I’m really excited to be joining Knights at such an exciting time in its journey.”

The partners, associates and paralegals join weeks after Knights secured a multi-million pound finance deal from Permira Debt Managers (PDM), the debt management and advisory arm of Permira.
 
Knights chief executive David Beech said: “John and the team are a real asset to Knights and a perfect cultural fit evidenced by the long-term relationships they have developed with their clients.

“Investing in established teams is part of our strategy for growth and our business is structured to ensure that we can consistently maintain an ongoing recruitment programme across our six regional locations.  

“With a team of 400 professionals and ambitious plans to grow further, we’re able to meet the demand for our services.”

The new appointments include: John Lord, partner; David White, partner; Joanne Gardner-Boyes, partner and team leader; Graham Higgins, associate; Alison Hunter, paralegal; Anne Broughton, paralegal; Didi Ogbo, paralegal; James Gifford, paralegal; Jennifer Harrison, paralegal and Jonathan Clegg, paralegal.

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CLOUGH & Willis – the Bury & Bolton based law firm – has made two new appointments and announced the promotions of two existing team members.

Susan Mackintosh joins the firm as a residential conveyancing and private client solicitor.

Her last position was at Woodcocks Haworth & Nuttall in Bury where she worked for 15 years. Her new role at Clough & Willis will see her handle a broad portfolio of property and private client work.
 
She Daniel Rostron who is Clough & Willis’s new marketing & business development executive.

Rostron is responsible for all internal and external marketing and advertising for the firm, developing new business lines and seeking out new business opportunities for all departments.

He has a background in IT having worked for the NHS and large private sector organisations such as Enterprise PLC and IDH Group.

More recently he worked as marketing & development manager for Early Break – the local young people’s charity.

Clough & Willis has also made two internal promotions. Sally Cook has been made a salaried partner. She joined the firm in February 2014 as head of the Private Client team. She focuses on a variety of core work including: wealth and succession planning, inheritance tax advice, trust creation and administration, wills, lasting powers of attorney and estate administration.
 
Dominique Oliviero has also been made an associate solicitor in the property team where she specialises in land transactions and all aspects of residential conveyancing, including sales & purchases, remortgage work, advising landlords & tenants, sales and purchases at auction and purchases of freeholds.

She joined Clough & Willis in 2008 and acts for all types of clients, from individuals to companies across Bury, Manchester, the North West, and nationally across the UK.
 
Shefali Talukdar – managing partner of Clough & Willis – said: “The last 12 months have been strong for the firm and the arrival of Susan and Daniel further consolidate our position. Both bring a wealth of talent and experience which I’m sure will add great value.

“Sally and Dominique are first class lawyers so their promotions are hugely deserved – especially as they are both committed to always offering the very best possible service to their clients.”

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MANCHESTER-based financial technology specialist PBF Solutions has appointed Rod Hyde as chairman to help guide the company through its next phase of growth.

Rod has an established reputation in the venture capital market, consulting on corporate financing for companies preparing for external capital investment.

As Chairman, Rod will work with PBF’s senior management team to plan the company’s next stages of development. He was Chief Executive of Hasgrove, an AIM listed corporate communications, digital and design business, before retiring from the role in late 2011.

He is now non-executive chair of three companies, dividing his time between this and pro-bono work.

Kevin Mountford, chief executive of PBF Solutions, said: “I’m excited to be working with Rod. He has an impressive track record in guiding businesses as they scale their operations, and ensuring they continue to deliver real value to stakeholders.

“He will be a major asset to the board and a key driving force behind our next phase of growth.”

Hyde said: “What appealed to me about PBF is that it occupies a unique position; helping challenger banks to reach wider markets and enabling both businesses and consumers to explore and take advantage of alternative financial products that give better returns than high-street banks.

“With interest rates at a historic low, PBF is ideally positioned to help new entrants to the banking sector achieve their customer acquisition targets, and to help people explore the savings options to make the most of their investments.”

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RAPIDLY-expanding Manchester-based digital agency Nothing But Epic continues to add to its growing team with three new appointments in the past month following a raft of client wins and industry accolades.
 
Greg Clayton takes up the role of lead web developer while Mark Enright joins as head of content. Completing the team is Emma Merchant who starts this month as social media executive.  

Established just 18 months ago by University of Manchester graduate Mike Anderson, 27, and Craig Tomkins, 25, the appointments take the team to 10 full-time members of staff, just 18 months after it launched.

Based on Chester Street, the agency plans to expand to a team of 15 over the next six months.

Nothing But Epic’s Craig Tomkins said: “Greg, Mark and Emma join us at a pivotal time and will help us to expand our B2B offering, increase our influencer marketing service and also bring an added dimension to our content marketing team.

“We will continue to invest further into the team to ensure that we have the best talent in place to take us forward in 2017 and beyond.”

He added: “The past 18 months have been an incredible journey for us and our rapid growth has exceeded all of our early expectations. In September we won the Business Growth Hub’s £30,000 Venturefest prize and on the same day we were also highly commended in the Northern E-commerce Awards for Best Small Digital Agency.”

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FLEETWOOD-based commercial utility supplier BES Utilities has appointed a new managing director to its board, as part of a senior level restructure.

Nick Dilworth joined BES’s senior management team in April 2016 and recently replaced the former managing director Andy Pilley who has now taken up the role of chairman.

Dilworth will work alongside the chairman and existing board of directors, and his appointment follows a series of senior appointments over recent months as the business continues its focus on compliant growth.

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STEPHENS, the national full service law firm, has announced the appointment of finance director Catherine Powell, who will work out of its Manchester office.

Powell has more than 10 years of experience in senior financial management positions across a variety of sectors. She joins the firm from a large housing and social care group.

She will hold responsibility alongside the partners for the accounting of client’s money in accordance with the strict rules set out by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.  

Powell will oversee the management of robust systems and controls across the firm, ensuring integrity and confidentiality are maintained at all times.

Catherine’s role is key to sustaining the long term financial health of the firm, ensuring Stephensons is able to manage any financial risks which may arise.
 
Powell said: “I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to join Stephensons and contribute to the future growth of this already strong firm”.
 
Chairwoman Ann Harrison, Stephensons, said: “We are so pleased to welcome Catherine to the firm. This appointment is crucial to the growth and financial wellbeing of the firm. Catherine is not only a well-respected Finance Director but also shares our vision for the future of Stephensons.”

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IAN Vicary, a senior corporate lawyer who has been working in the north west for over 25 years, has joined national commercial law firm Excello Law’s Liverpool office from Top 50 firm Weightmans where he was a former head of corporate and more recently led the Liverpool company and commercial team.

Vicary qualified in 1990 from Chester College of Law and specialises in significant acquisitions, disposals and refinancing, as well as shareholder disputes, banking and general commercial transactions.

He has previously worked as head of corporate for Aaron & Partners and as a partner at Hill Dickinson, where he advised on one of the North West’s largest transactions – the sale of Norse Merchant Shipping Group to Maersk for £250m.
In the past year Ian has advised on the sale of the Afonwen laundry business to Johnsons Services Group for in excess of £50m.

George Bisnought, founder and managing director of Excello Law, said: “Ian is a major corporate lawyer across the North West and has been involved in some of the region’s largest transactions.  

“He brings a wealth of expertise and first-class contacts to our growing business across the region and will be a great asset as we continue to expand our legal services and capabilities.”

Vicary said: “I was attracted to the Excello Law business model due to the flexibility it offers lawyers to focus on developing our services to clients in the way we see best, complemented by a collaborative culture across a national team of senior, commercial lawyers.”