People on the move: Macclesfield College; Sigma Capital; Rotherham Taylor; Morecrofts; CYFOR; WSP; McGoff; Enterprise Ventures
MACCLESFIELD College has made two senior hires in line with its strategic vision to strengthen education delivery and meet the needs of the local and national business community.
Ella Tsui-Lau and Ian Carten join the College to lead its STEM and Creative & Commercial departments respectively.
The new lead for the STEM centre is a strategic hire to ensure the college’s curriculum and its delivery meets the needs of employers by providing the new generation of work-ready engineers.
With in excess of 16 years of experience, Tsui-Lau joins the college from her role as a quality assurance educational consultant. She will oversee the delivery of science, IT, engineering, aeronautical, automotive and construction courses at the college.
Ian Carten, who will head up the Creative & Commercial department, boasts 20 years of teaching and training experience. He has managed a range of curriculum areas in FE and Sixth Form Colleges and worked in industry as a music school and product specialist.
Chief executive and principal of Macclesfield College Rachel Kay, said: “While the engineering sector has a shortage gap, the UK’s creative industry offers 1.9m jobs across the country and is growing faster than any other sector.
“We want to ensure that our curriculum reflects economic trends and that the education delivery at Macclesfield College equips our students with the necessary skills and makes them stand out from the crowd when looking for employment.”
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MANCHESTER-based Sigma Capital Group, the private rented sector, residential development and urban regeneration specialist, is continuing its growth strategy with the recruitment of Tom Shepherd as development manager.
Shepherd joins the company following 10 years at Deloitte. As part of the national capital markets team, he was responsible for the acquisition and disposal of commercial land and investment assets, including the forward funding of a several commercial and student schemes.
His new role will include managing the delivery of Sigma’s growing private rented sector portfolio, as well as assisting with the appraising and structuring of new initiatives in this sector.
Earlier this month Sigma announced the completion and letting of its milestone 1,000th private rental home. As one of the UK’s PRS industry leaders, Shepherd’s investment advisory expertise will be yet another great competitive advantage to Sigma.
Shepherd said: “Sigma is an established leader in the PRS sector, an industry which I consider to be of significant importance considering the current housing shortage and limited affordability for first time buyers. I’m looking forward to being part of such a specialist team and applying my wealth of experience gained over the last 10 years.”
With the addition of Shepherd and 10 other new recruits this year, Sigma now employees 28 people.
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A PRESTON-based accountancy firm is expanding with the appointment of a new trainee accountant.
Rotherham Taylor has welcomed Joseph Scott-Bentley to its team. Scott-Bentley joins the firm having completed a BA Hons degree in accounting and an MA in accounting and finance.
He will soon be involved in delivering services including the preparation of accounts for sole traders and partnerships, completing VAT returns and processing payroll.
Scott-Bentley said: “I am very excited to be joining Rotherham Taylor Limited. The firm has an excellent reputation and I am looking forward to being able to make a difference for our clients.”
Nick Smith, a director at Rotherham Taylor, said: “We are delighted to be able to welcome Joseph to the team.
“He already boasts excellent academic credentials and I am sure that our clients will value his input as he works towards qualification.”
Scott-Bentley is the third new appointment at Rotherham Taylor since September 2015.
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MORECROFTS Solicitors has recruited half a dozen of the region’s brightest young lawyers across its Liverpool and Wirral offices.
The six new fee-earners will further strengthen the law firm’s award-winning employment, commercial and family law departments in response to an increase in new client engagements.
Solicitor Josh Makin has joined Morecrofts’ commercial law team, based at its Liverpool headquarters, following a two-year spell at DDE Law. Makin qualified as a solicitor in 2015 after completing his legal practice course with a commendation.
Michael Gossage has also qualified as a solicitor following a successful training contract with Morecrofts and has been appointed to work in the firm’s litigation team.
Kelly Faulkner has been appointed as a paralegal in the employment law team following her completion of the LPC with distinction at the University of Law in Chester.
Her previous roles include financial claims handler at Huntswood and a paralegal at Weightmans.
She is joined by Ryan McAvoy, who completed his law degree at Liverpool John Moores University and this year received the vice-chancellor’s award of £10,000 to complete a Master of Laws in international business corporate finance law.
McAvoy will work across the firm’s employment law, commercial litigation and personal injury teams.
Meanwhile, Morecrofts has boosted its family law team with the appointments of paralegals Eleanor Slater and Rebecca Dobbs, who will both be based at the firm’s Wirral office.
Dobbs graduated earlier this year with a first class law degree from the University of Liverpool, where she served as the pro bono officer for the Legal Society and volunteered as a counsellor for NSPCC.
Slater studied law at the University of Liverpool, completed the BPTC and LPC with distinction and is currently working towards her Masters at BPP Liverpool.
She was previously an advocate in RTA claims and worked in employment and public litigation at Hill Dickinson.
Alison Lobb, managing partner at Morecrofts Solicitors, said: “We felt it was an important move to recruit some of the most promising young lawyers on Merseyside as we continue to build a platform for future growth.”
L-R Michael Gossage, Eleanor Slater, Rebecca Dobbs, Kelly Faulkner, Josh Makin and Ryan McAvoy
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CYBER security and ediscovery specialists CYFOR, based in Bury, has announced the appointment of new finance director Paul Beechinor.
He has been taken on board to continue CYFOR’s success into 2017 after a succession of new client wins, overseeing all financial aspects of the business as well as key operational elements.
Beechinor qualified as a chartered accountant with Price Waterhouse and has more than 20 years’ financial experience working in various sectors including PR, retail, logistics and manufacturing.
He has held senior financial positions within Matalan, Dean House Plc and joins CYFOR from Mason Williams Communications, where he acted as finance director for the past 16 years.
Joel Tobias, managing director, said: “Paul brings a huge wealth of knowledge and experience to the role. The team and I look forward to working with him at our Manchester head office, as we build on the momentum of recent months.”
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THE Manchester office of global professional services and engineering consultancy WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff is continuing its strategic growth strategy with four new senior hires to its specialist building services team.
Andy Temple joins as director, with a remit to strengthen and lead the continued growth of the building services business across the North West.
Temple was previously a technical director in the London office of WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff and brings with him specialist knowledge of healthcare, education, commercial, residential and high rise sectors having delivered a number of high profile schemes.
Supporting Temple in the management of the Manchester office will be Craig Smith as technical director with more than 20 years’ experience in the industry.
Smith has spent the last six years heading the UK Building Services ‘Complimentary Resource Centre’ (CRC) in India supporting the delivery of major building services projects both in the UK and globally.
Meanwhile, James Saywell has transferred to Manchester from WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff’s San Francisco office as an associate director.
He brings a wealth of green building expertise to the team having led the built ecology team in North America.
Brendan Duigenan joins the building services team as technical director for science and technology.
He previously headed up the pharmaceutical arm of the PM Group in Birmingham with career highlights including working on a high containment facility for the Pirbright Institute in Surrey – a specialist research facility dedicated to the study of infectious diseases of farm animals.
The latest appointments join the rapidly expanding building services team, which is now 30 strong, and recently helped developer, Renaker, achieve planning permission for Manchester’s new tallest building; the planned 64-storey Owen Street skyscraper.
The building services team is also engaged on other key projects across the North West including the first phase of Allied London’s planned ‘vertical village’, on the land formerly part of the ITV estate in Manchester; FEC’s Angel Meadows; Muse Developments Warrington Borough Council’s Bridge Street regeneration scheme and the Transport for Greater Manchester consultancy framework.
Matt Hann, building services director for the North of England and Scotland at WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff said: “The new additions to our Manchester office add further leadership, technical excellence and specialist knowledge to the already wide-ranging expertise of our building services team.”
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THE McGoff Group, based in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, has appointed Emma James as head of support services and business 0perations.
Following the group recently securing £150m worth of new projects across its core work streams, including a brace of Healthcare projects in Chester and Lichfield, a large luxury residential scheme of 368 units in Manchester and two multi-million pound hotel schemes with family entertainment giant Merlin Entertainments at Alton Towers and Legoland in Windsor, the company has strengthened its team accordingly to ensure each project and all clients receive the very best service.
James will lead a team that provides holistic operational compliance, business operations, human resources, recruitment and supply chain management expertise as the group expands its unique service offering that acquires, designs, builds, operates and maintains for its related businesses as well as its revered blue chip client base.
James said: “The Support Services team will provide a robust and consistent level of support across the Group as we grow and flourish over the coming years.
“I am excited to take this new professional challenge in my career and confident that with the passionate, forward thinking people in my team we can continue making a real difference in creating value for our clients, employees and stakeholders.”
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ENTERPRISE Ventures has appointed a new investment manager to its SME loans team to manage the increasing business activity in the North of England.
Chris Carter, who has over 11 years’ experience in the financial industry, will primarily be investing in established SMEs, working across Enterprise Ventures’ offices in Manchester, Liverpool and Preston.
Carter will be focusing on new investment opportunities into established, profitable businesses.
He will offer loans between £150,000 and £1mi for development capital purposes or to fund transactions such as Management Buy-Outs or share acquisitions.
Carter began his career in finance in 2005. He spent three years at HSBC before moving on to NatWest Bank as a Business Manager, during which time he covered the East Lancashire area.
After working in several finance roles across Liverpool and Manchester, he worked at RBS Corporate Banking in Leeds, first as an assistant director and subsequently as a relationship director. Carter focused on mid-market origination whilst managing relationships with a number of corporate clients.
Carter said: “I have supported businesses across the North of England throughout my career and have seen their potential to boost the local and national economy and create jobs for the community.
“Enterprise Ventures has a good track record of backing growing SMEs and I look forward to working with the team to support the increasing number of businesses in the region that are seeking capital.”
Investment director Paul Taberner said:“We are delighted to have appointed Chris to the loans team. Enterprise Ventures is keen to work with the banking community to invest in SMEs alongside traditional bank debt. Chris’s networks within regional banking will enable us to do just that.”
The Enterprise Ventures SME Loans fund was launched in June 2015 and provides loan capital to established and growing SMEs nationally, but with a particular focus on the North West, Yorkshire and Humberside. At launch, the fund received £40.0m of investment from Greater Manchester Pension Fund and Santander UK plc.
The fund has provided loans to a range of different businesses across the North of England, and works well alongside bank debt and other funders.
