People on the move: Brabners; Stagecoach; Keppie Massey; ELe; UK Carline

Commercial law firm Brabners has appointed partner Ian Mylrea to head up the firm’s national pensions practice.

He will be based in the firm’s Manchester office managing the team across the city and Liverpool.
 
With more than nine years’ experience, Mylrea has spent his legal career specialising in pensions law at national and international firms including DLA Piper. Prior to this, he worked for the accountancy firm KPMG and as a professional trustee at Merrill Lynch.

He advises corporates, trustees, providers and insurers on both contentious and non-contentious pensions matters, including corporate M&A, employer debt issues, funding negotiations and pensions litigation. He also has significant expertise in executive and off-shore pension schemes.

Mylrea said: “Brabners has a well-established pensions practice and I’m looking forward to working with the team as we build on this together, and continue to provide a high-quality service to a range of clients, both in the North West and further afield.

“The practice regularly receives a large number of internal referrals, particularly from the firm’s corporate team, which is one of the most active in the UK.

“This, combined with increased regulation and public interest in corporate pensions, which continues to raise awareness of the legal responsibilities regarding pensions among businesses, is leading to greater demand for specialist pensions advice and will help drive future growth.

“The increasing number of internal referrals also creates frequent opportunities for us to refer work to other, complementary pension professionals such as actuaries, corporate trustees, employer covenant specialists and even other law firms where there are conflicts.”

Mark Brandwood, managing partner at Brabners, added: “Ian is highly regarded in the pensions sector and his experience of working across both the legal and corporate spheres makes him the ideal candidate to lead the growth of our pensions division.

“Having worked at major corporates and gained hands-on experience of managing a pension scheme, he has a keen understanding of the clients’ perspective. This will be invaluable and ensure our pensions team continues to deliver the highest quality service to clients.”

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Stagecoach Merseyside and South Lancashire has bolstered its Liverpool management team with the appointment of a new operations director.

Alex Crane, has been promoted to the role having previously held the same position at three different Stagecoach companies.

He began his career with Stagecoach in 1998, starting as a trainee driver and progressed quickly, securing roles as a driving instructor and then inspector.

After completing the Stagecoach staff development scheme, he secured his first managerial role at Preston and has subsequently held operations management roles in Aberdeen, Wigan and Gillmoss.

His new role is based at Stagecoach’s operating company of Merseyside and South Lancashire where he is responsible for overseeing operations across four depots with 1180 staff and 356 vehicles operating a mixture of local, urban and intercity work. Alex will work closely with stakeholders and with the ground-breaking Bus Alliance in Merseyside.

Rob Jones, managing director of Stagecoach Merseyside and South Lancashire, said: “We’re delighted to be promoting Alex to this pivotal role within the business. He is someone who has grown with the business from trainee level and proven himself time and time again as an exceptional manager.

Alex Crane said: “I’m pleased and proud to be taking the next step with Stagecoach, it is a fantastic business and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my journey with the company over the last 19 years.

“I’m looking forward to supporting Rob and working closely with our team to continue to drive the business forward and deliver great results.”

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Tim Garnett has joined the commercial agency department at property consultancy Keppie Massie in Liverpool.  

He has been actively involved for more than 14 years within Merseyside and North West markets.  

Garnett moves to lead the commercial agency following previous roles as head of Ccommercial at Venmores, and prior agency roles at CBRE and Matthews and Goodman.
He will focus on the disposal and acquisition of all aspects of commercial property to include office, industrial, retail, development and investment.

Garnett said: “I am absolutely delighted to be joining Keppie Massie, a renowned source of expert advice within the North West and further afield. I’m looking forward to embracing the ethos of the business as we broaden the already excellent instruction base.”

Keppie Massie has a headcount of 30.

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North West energy innovator Extreme Low Energy (ELe) has added a new UK channel manager to its growing team.

Fiaz Sadiq has worked within the sustainable technology arena for the past decade and joins the award-winning ELe after four years in a similar role with boutique technology distributor Eurosimm/Prowise UK in Greater Manchester.

Sadiq has worked previously within the low energy computing sector and is returning to this field with ELe who are specialists in DC power infrastructures and low energy technology solutions.

ELe’s director and founder, Mark Buchanan, who has more than 20 years’ experience working within the technology professional services industry, said: “ELe is committed to the development of innovative new technologies for supply to our trusted re-seller network, in order to keep the offer fresh for our customers.

“The addition of Fiaz to our commercial team will strengthen both our brand and the support we offer to our re-sellers throughout the UK.”

Sadiq said: “I’m excited about the game-changing technology pioneered by ELe and how it’s helping to power modern computer systems in both education and business sectors.

“I’m looking forward to helping springboard ELe’s partner network across the country.”

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Preston-based UK Carline has appointed Mark Tillotson as a business development manager.

He is tasked with driving growth in the company’s personal leasing market.
With the company experiencing significant expansion, particularly in commercial vehicles and personal contract hire, he brings with him a wealth of experience in these sectors.

Tillotson has worked in the vehicle leasing industry for the past 12 years and started his new role with UK Carline at the beginning of January.

Also joining UK Carline are Lee Harrison and Natalie Middlemas as account managers. Harrison brings with him 11 years of fleet sales experience with Citroen and Middlemass has joined the company following a corporate sales role with Mini/BMW.